InHouseAutistic#AskingAutistics
I'm curious about how old you were, the first time you remember having a thought along the lines of 'I wonder if I might be autistic'?
And when did you know you were?
7 years for me, from 30-37.
Le Kendall@EverAutistic the first time I wondered was when I first started to read stories and see films about autistic people. Hugely stereotyped and yet I recognised something in myself… I might have been 8 or 9 at the time? There was a BSC book about an autistic savant that I found so compelling that I started to seek those stories out.
@EverAutistic I wondered on and off about it over the years but mostly assured myself that given I had been seeing psychiatrists and psychologists for my emotional problems and difficulties with… everything…
My son was diagnosed autistic when he was 3 and I was 36. And more and more I said “I can explain what he’s going through here because it’s just like me”
I was diagnosed at 39.
Thirty years.
@ephant
Same for me. Treatment for mental health since I was 17, but no mention of autism (despite clear ARFID, though it didn't have it's own name at the time). I even had one pyschotherapist tell me I wasn't autistic without me asking! But he also thought autism was an response to trauma, so clearly not someone to listen to.
30 years. Wow. It's validating to know you were right back then, but so frustrating. I'm sure your son is going to benefit so much from your understanding of yourself.
@ephant
That's brilliant. I don't think I even heard the word autism until my mid teens. And it was so much longer until I knew anything past the stereotypes. Even when teaching autistic kids I thought I was just strongly empathetic with them 🤦♀️
What's B2C?
@EverAutistic BSC - babysitters club
@ephant
PS. Your hair is INCREDIBLE!
PS. Your hair is INCREDIBLE!
@EverAutistic not always so many colours these days but I just can’t move on from that profile pic because my hair was SO GOOD.
@ephant
It was indeed! 🌈 ♾️ 🏆
It was indeed! 🌈 ♾️ 🏆
Anxious Cat@ephant @EverAutistic There was a movie that came out the year I graduated from high school called “Little Man Tate” about a child savant who struggles to fit in anywhere. That film resonated deeply with me - I identified with the main character, and the film captured the loneliness I felt so well. I watched it again after I figured out I am autistic, and it’s clear to me now that the main character was autistic, albeit a stereotypical representation.