@aparna Well... with the benefit of hindsight, I've been changing that metaphorical bandaid for 30 years or so. I think autistic masking before I hit gender dysphoria, and sorta existed like that. Built up a detailed enough mask to sorta get along.
Gender was sorta... so a bit before all of this my wife was working at a school for special needs kids and I realized hey, these mannerisms and stuff from the autistic kids sounded familiar.