*sigh* this explains so much about my life. #autism #neurodiversity #hyperlexia

https://youtu.be/1bkz9WJouLg?si=GDLFoadY8lVTRsnM

I mentioned I got a formal autism dx end of 2022, which came with a lit of pennies falling, including autigender.

yesterday was hyperlexia. I knew about it, it was in dx questionary I think but i did not connect the dots to how it affected me and still makes a lot of things different.

I sort of taught myself reading sometime before 5, no idea when, with limited input of my analphabet grandmother, who knew the shapes of some words in road signs.

my parents convinced everybody of early schooling base on that. it put a target on my back for other older kids, and I was not specially ready for math etc, even if Iemorized all multiplication tables quite fast. I got first terrible at math and latter quite good when somebody would teach me using writing on paper. I did not and I still don't get much from classes (and I abhorr vídeo tutorials and Instagram videos).

I have trouble with spoken instructions, and while I love talking, it costs me a lot of energy and I need a lot of time without speaking (which can and should be social). I sometimes relax by writing code, or reading Wikipedia rabit holes on unlikely topics. no need to nap or body scans, this refreshes my brain.

I learn languages (5 at the moment) and other symbols (Cyrillic, Thai script..) easily, only I hate grammar and rules, because so logical and empirical so I don't speak any language correctly, including my mother tongue, in spite of having a lot of vocabulary.. I live in Germany where I did not grow, and I get daily shit because of my poor grammar in spite of 2 decades here.

I have of course terrible auditory processing and you will not see me in a bar nor any loud place where people speak all at the same time. I used to think I was hard of hearing.

at school teachers would treat me either as a bit dumb or the latter good at math but only sometimes. because I could no engage in spoken lessons, I had terrible marks in behaviour and could be quite disruptive. I had no idea what was happening.

It is easier to talk to ppl on the Internet than to meet in person.

and I suspect my trouble with using the right pronouns when talking (I seldom use wrong pronouns writing) is related to this (I want to use and I defend chosen pronouns in case it is not clear).

pennies falling everywhere, it is deafening.

(on going)

#hyperlexia #actuallyautistic @actuallyautistic

I learned to read when I was two or three. I suppose that means I have/had hyperlexia. My vocabulary has gotten me in trouble. I've been accused of being pretentious, but there's no pretense. I know what the words mean. I was also accused of plagiarism in university because "no second year student can write that well."

That accusation resulted in serious writer's block. I did the research for my paper, but I couldn't make myself write it. I was worried I'd just be accused of plagiarism again.

Another time I wrote a paper and a prof was upset that I used uncommon words without defining them. I didn't know which words she meant because I read a lot and know a lot of words. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to know which words needed to be defined.

When I don't know what a word means, I look it up. I love learning new words.

I was a very unpopular, bullied child, and I learned my vocabulary from all sorts of books. I read pretty much everything with words, from toilet cleaner labels to Regency romances to westerns to dictionaries to Beowulf. And when I was in high school, I read medical journals for fun.

I guess it should be no surprise I ended up being a writer. #hyperlexia #ActuallyAutistic #WritingCommunity

I'm now on a Wikipedia streak on all things autistic. It's been a while since I did this kind of thing in Wiki and I'm loving it. Personal discovery of this morning is that hyperlexia, precocious reading, usually without training, highly overlaps with autism.

I learned to read when I was four, spontaneously. I don't remember this myself but my mother later told me how I was standing next to her while she was sitting on a chair, reading a letter from her friend. Suddenly I started to read out loud what was said in the letter.

Been fascinated by language since then, especially in written form.

#ActuallyAutistic #hyperlexia

The first rule of #hyperlexia club is you can't stop talking about hyperlexia club.

#ActuallyAutistic