When I was five years old, a school psychologist suspected something was different about the way I learned and processed the world. They questioned whether I had ADHD or autism, but at the time, having both was not commonly recognized. The uncertainty remained unresolved. In an immigrant household where Spanish and Italian were spoken at home, my differences were explained away as language confusion. I was placed in ESL, received extra help, tutoring, and academic support, yet I continued to struggle. Not just with schoolwork, but with friendships, communication, and understanding unspoken rules that others seemed to grasp naturally.