could my 6 year old be autistic?

[fulltimedaddy]

It feels really odd to be posting this and in many ways i feel like it's not necessary, but after a conversation with a child therapist recently I just felt like I needed some more advice,
firstly to give a little overall picture of my DS, he's 6 years old, starting year 2 next and in many ways he's an a-typical child, he's bright as a button, never misses a trick, his sense of humour is quite advanced for his age, understands sarcasm etc and makes us laugh every day with the things he comes out with.
educationally his teachers have absolutely no concerns, they say his reading age and understanding of language is really advanced, no concerns regarding behaviour at all, always a model student and the teachers always say they wish they had a class full of kids like him. He has many friends there and also a "best friend" and he'll regale me with stories about his numerous girlfriends that seemingly change on a daily basis.
He has quite varied interests too, he happily goes to a few after school clubs and enjoys the usual boy stuff, video games, being in nature, playing sports etc, he also LOVES roleplay and pretend.. he'll play shops etc for hours if you can keep your enthusiasm up for it , his costume cupboard is absolutely rammed. He's just the loveliest little lad, he has such a big heart and i know that in many ways we're extremely lucky to parent a boy so special

So here are the worries, and why Autism has been mentioned as a possibility,

He has struggles with social interactions with strangers, sometimes he'll just refuse to look at people that are speaking to him, like in shops etc, other times he'll just use one word answers, he's always hesitant to engage in any form of conversation, You'd think with his passion for roleplay that he'd love acting this out in real life but he really doesn't enjoy it. Even if it's just putting a pound in a buskers guitar case, he wants to help the busker, but wants us to do it for him to avoid the interaction.
For as long as we can remember he's had separation anxiety, particularly with my wife, it has waxed and waned at various times, there's been periods where he's happily left us but it's always comes back in some form.
If my wife goes to work upstairs, he'll ask me where she is, when she's coming back etc, We hardly get any help with childcare as my parents don't want to distress him, and school drop offs have been torturous for her every morning, we've tried numerous things but he still has a big problem with the switchover.
During after school clubs he has previously wanted her to be as close to him as physically possible, even when he can see where she is.
Recently however this seems to have improved somewhat, there's been times where he's happily ran off to play with other kids he's only just met for extended periods, and he started a new club with a teacher he'd never met before this week and he seemed really happy to just be in his company without checking in with us.
He's also never still, his body is constantly moving, if he's laid on the sofa, he'll kick his legs or switch positions every ten seconds or so. if you mention this he just says it feels odd when he's too still.
The big one recently though has been OCD based thoughts, he had a stomach bug a few months ago and ever since then he's had an issue with being sick, whether he will be sick or not, or something in his head telling him that he'll be sick, he stopped eating his lunch at school and we had a meeting with his teachers about the issue as he'd cry almost every lunchtime.
We've done a lot of CBT based work with him around this and he's much improved, He rarely mentions it now but we're worried this may change into other worries at some point.
Anxiety in general is quite normal for him, if we go somewhere new like a theme park for example, he'll be really excited at first but then start to worry about it as we get closer, and almost talk himself out of it unless we push him

So we were recently seeking help for his separation anxiety and one person met with him and said she didn't see any worries with regards to neurodiversity, she thought he was just extremely bright for his age, and another said she suspected autism had a role to play in his issues.
Since then our heads have just been spinning with what this could mean for him and his future, we were just hoping it would be something he can just overcome given time and the right therapy, but obviously if it is Autism, it will be with him for life and it feels almost like a death sentence.
Not sure where to go next as he doesn't really have any of the "classic" autism signs so I feel we'd be declined a quick assessment and we're going to be left in limbo

Autism wouldn’t be a death sentence.

Whether it is autism, something else or nothing, DS would benefit from an assessment and support.

1. If he is autistic then he is already "as autistic" as he is going to get (he has been for his whole life), and he is not dead! Although his presentation would slightly change as he ages just as the rest of his personality changes, it is unlikely that he would suddenly lose the abilities you describe above - unless he undergoes a burnout from struggling to mask in a situation where his needs aren't being met or he is being pressured to perform as NT all the time.

2. It is much better to accurately know where you are as then you can make sure you aren't doing things that might accidentally harm him and can make his environment more suitable - especially as autism can often cluster with different things that aren't autism but may have some overlapping presentation, so it is good to have an expert untangle his particular profile. e.g.: anxiety isn't autism (although the way autistic people get treated can often make them into anxious people), ocd isn't autism, adhd isn't autism.

I agree, if he’s autistic then he’s already autistic. A diagnosis is just information and context about who he is and the reason for some of his behaviours.

It can be difficult to come to terms with a diagnosis and your life, perhaps, being different to how you imagined, but ultimately it’s better to have full understanding so that you are equipped to navigate the future.

If you are in the UK then there isn’t a ‘quick’ assessment. You can take your list of concerns to the GP and/or school and ask to be referred for an assessment but even if accepted it will likely be a long wait.

JFC, it's not a fucking death sentence.

You might want to consider that people reading this are likely to be autistic themselves, or have autistic children. Calling it a death sentence is unlikely to endear you to them. Also, it makes you sound a bit silly.

If your kid is autistic, that's not a revelation of some awful fact. It means that the kid you have already - that bright, kind, funny child is one of the things that autism can mean.

I apologise to all that I may have offended, on reflection it was a poor choice of words, I’m just still in a state of shock I guess, I simply meant that it was “for life” rather than a temporary thing that we can help him overcome or that he’ll outgrow