✓ Difficulty reading social cues - Struggling to interpret facial expressions, tone of voice, body language, or subtle social signals.

✓ Literal thinking and difficulty with figurative language - Sarcasm, jokes, metaphors, and indirect communication can be confusing or taken literally.

✓ Challenges with conversation flow - Finding it hard to start, maintain, or smoothly switch topics in conversation; may talk at length about interests or struggle with small talk.

✓ Preference for routine and predictability - Strong need for structure; changes to plans or unexpected events can cause anxiety or distress.

✓ Sensory sensitivities - Heightened or reduced sensitivity to sound, light, textures, smells, or touch; may experience sensory overload.

✓ Deep, focused, specialist interests - Highly intense interests that absorb significant time and attention; often linked to expertise or career strengths.

✓ Emotional regulation difficulties - Experiencing overwhelm, shutdowns, or meltdowns; difficulty identifying or expressing emotions (alexithymia is common in autistic men).

✓ Reduced eye contact or discomfort with eye contact - Not avoiding people, but finding eye contact unnatural, tiring, or intrusive.

✓ Repetitive behaviours or self‑soothing actions (stimming) - Rocking, fidgeting, tapping, pacing, or other repetitive movements used to regulate stress or sensory input.

✓ Social exhaustion and masking - Many autistic men mask less than autistic women, but still may hide traits at work or socially, leading to burnout or withdrawal.