For context, I have a young child. I've spoken to his PCP (we're lucky enough to see a doctor regularly because of my job) about screening for autism but she's so far only given them general developmental milestone screenings. I don't know whether my child is autistic. I am, though I was never officially diagnosed, and there are people on both sides of the family with either formal diagnoses or identify as autistic but can't access medical care (including a diagnosis) for various reasons.

My question for y'all: is there value is pushing harder for autism-specific screenings for my child? If this becomes a diagnosis, would there be value in that, particularly for a child? What resources at school would they get access to, if any? Are there potential harms to a formal diagnosis?

As an adult and given my level of functioning, I don't see any value in seeking a formal diagnosis for myself. I'm...different*...from neurotypical people, and being able to put a label to that has very little practical impact.

*This is the kindest way I would describe myself. I don't and have never had a healthy self-perception. Yes, I've gone to therapy. It ended up being a catch-22 sitatuation: the issues I was hoping to fix prevented therapy from effectively helping me.