I've been told to by multiple people but I'm doubting myself!
DS has been struggling since the end of Year 1. At the very end of the school year, if we made any sort of requests of him in the evening he would completely break down. Inconsolable crying and rage, throwing soft furnishings (fortunately I don't think it would occur to him to break anything!) and scratching at himself (limbs and face, not hard enough to mark but still). Saying things like "Nobody loves me" and, once, "I want to be dead".
Obviously we supported him through these (without giving in to what he wants but usually compromising in the end). Over the summer holidays he has been much better and it's not been an issue.
Since starting Year 2 it seems to be starting up again. He says he is "too tired" to do anything and when we insist (such as changing himself into his PJs instead of us doing it for him) he will have meltdowns like this. Sometimes just takes himself off for a cry under the stairs or under his bed. It's by no means every day but concerning. Last night we had "I want to be dead" again 
I understand that he is expressing his levels of emotional overwhelm, but multiple friends (who work in fields relating to SEN so not out of nowhere, they do know what they're talking about) have suggested that he may have ASD.
I myself suspect that I am some level of neurodiverse (show a lot of signs of Autism in Girls in hindsight) and have only felt less anxiety as an adult when I learned how to stop, for want of a better word, masking and be myself more. The relief of that pressure was immense, and I recognise a lot of my own past feelings in him, including a sensation of "just wanting it to stop".
He also has a minor speech delay, he did have speech therapy a few years ago but has come on massively since then (they stopped when he started Reception) but still has a few issues now (stammer and grammatical errors). I think that he could do with some more speech therapy, but isn't this also a possible indicator?
For now I've decided to not ask anything of him for the first hour or so after school to give him time to decompress. He has expressed that he is exhausted and finds it really hard "thinking all day". He struggles socially and is a people pleaser (doing great academically so the work has stepped up too) and I wonder if he's trying so hard to be "on" all day that he's just completely done when he gets home?
Basically what I'm asking is if it sounds like exploring possible ASD is even worthwhile, or if I should be doing the GP/CAMHS route, or if this is some degree of normal and I should bide my time... any advice at all really!
Sorry for the essay, I may end up cross-posting elsewhere for traffic...
Any advice on helping my lovely boy would be much appreciated!