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Things you did that looking back make your realise you were autistic

EmsaStrange

I was only recently diagnosed a few years ago, and I've been looking back and thinking about things I did when I was a child that were definitely signs of being on the spectrum. 

I went through a very intense phase of eating everything with a spork, especially one meal in particular - rye bread with hummus on, topped with a little bit of green Tabasco sauce. This was after my enlightening experience of going to Leeds Festival for my birthday when I was 12 and camping over the weekend, having eaten everything using a spork. 

That and eating any noodles or pasta with one of those spinning Pot Noodle forks.... good times. :-)

Looking back, I can realise why my mum definitely thought I was autistic. 

I'd love to know if anyone has any similar things that they liked/did that looking back you realise were signs you were autistic. 

  • in reply to Val Aspie

    Hi. Just reading your list with interest. I too am very into things matching.

    Also you mention colour combination and I wonder if that is similar to me. Colours in clothes in particular have to look good together. I often find it difficult to look at people on TV if tops and trousers/skirts don't go or ties with shirts. I am very particular with my own clothes, even the socks.

  • in reply to Deleted User

    The headboard of my childhood bed had an appalling texture. Even thinking about it makes me a bit 'squirmy,' all these years later.

  • I think I showed the autistic signs as a child though it did go on unnoticed until I was at secondary school - I was diagnosed aged 13.

    The things that were autistic in me then that looking back now seem really obvious were...
    Light sensitivity: anything bright really upset me and as a child I used to keep my eyes closed as much as possible. My mum who was luckily understanding got me sunglasses which I would wear nearly all the time, especially when I went outside.
    Lack of speech: as a child I was more less mute. I said very little to anybody. Speaking made me very uncomfortable. I spoke to only a handful of people, mostly only my mum but never said a lot. People outside the family I almost never talked to. So many of my teachers used to write home to my parents about my 'rudeness' where I didn't talk to anybody.
    I'm much the same now. I talk but only really to family and I don't say more than a few words.
    Eye contact: this is the obvious one that's associated with most autistic people of most ages. As a child I never made eye contact. It made very uncomfortable and I always kept my head down so I didn't have to look at people.
    I still don't make eye contact but I do now look at people's noses instead lmao.
    Touch sensitivity: I was sensitive to touch as a child. Clothes used to upset me when in contact with my skin and the same with my duvet. Other people touching me was a big no. Even the air seemed to upset me... My skin was and always has been so sensitive.
    My mum got my gloves which I wore when I went out and when I went to school. That got me a lot of bullying but it did help.
    So yeah, looking back this explains a lot and definitely pointed to me being autistic. My mum said as a child she was the same so I do wonder if she is also autistic? We are both similar in many ways, then and now.
  • in reply to Verity

    Totally get that. I’m 49 now and my mum is everything to me. I often think about when that day comes. 

  • in reply to Deleted User

    Noise was a problem for me as a child. When my parents watched TV or my mum talked loudly on the phone in her phone voice lol I would hide under my bed with the duvet on my head. Noise was one of the biggest things I struggled with at school too. Until I read your post I hadn't considered it would be a sign of autism in myself at that age but actually I guess it probably was.

  • Sensitivity with clothing.

    Meltdowns when things went wrong, but not understood as such. I remember biting things like pillows in frustration.

    Not making eye contact and friends querying this, which I didn't understand.

    Difficulty in being or entering large groups and getting to know new people.

    Wanting to spend time alone in my room as a teenager which did help me to relax.

    Doing repetitive things, like saying phrases in my mind.

    The main problem was that little was known about autism in the community when I was young.

  • in reply to Take5

    As a child I hated being separated from my mum. She's the only person I've ever felt close to and liked to be touched by. At school I used to cry and scream and would have what I now know is meltdowns when she tried to leave.

    I still hated it when I was a teenager at school. I've never liked being away from my mum, I really can't imagine what it will be like when she's no longer here.

  • I upset people by being tactless and honest and unable to say little white lies when I'm put on the spot.

    An example from school back in the 1980s.  Too embarrassing so I'm not saying it.

  • For me there were probably only a few that I can remember. I need to have a good chat with my mum to find out more. 
    The first one is eye contact (this has always been a big deal) and secondly what appeared to be fussiness. Also crying all the time for no apparent reason and huge separation anxiety from my mum even at age 9 or 10. 

  • in reply to Shardovan
    Shardovan said:
    Storing the significance of that moment even though it wasn't some big external event, 'just' an 'oh, this is new' - something I suspect the average NT mind wouldn't do. 

    This! Maybe not for the same thing (though I did notice getting earworms, but I don't recall dates well) but for various things. I even remember deciding to change stim to something not noticeable, ie twitching various muscles very subtly, and thinking that might one day be significant! Not sure if it was just leg jiggling I was trying to stop doing, which my parents would have kept telling me was annoying, or something else, but I find the really interesting thing about the memory is that I felt it worth making a mental note of, and then 40 or so years later lo and behold it actually was significant for my diagnosis.

    Otherwise, so many things. When I read a list of traits of autism in girls I thought %$£&! is any of me actually me or is it all autism?! I did realise later of course I do have individuality, it's just variations on autism rather than variations of the whole population, which is fine. In fact if the majority neurotype was autistic i would be boringly normal rather than eccentrically unusual, which seemed weird at first as my whole identity has always been of being unusual.

    I'm going to stop there or i will end up writing a huge essay and I don't want to.

  • in reply to Martin
    Martin said:
    Acute reactions to some textures - synthetic fibre cloth especially

    Even now the memory of the texture of my parents’ 1970s sofa makes me feel ill.

    Martin said:
    Not being able to follow conversations if there is background noise.

    This is an interesting one. I’ve always had the same problem, making places like pubs almost impossible for me. I could never understand why nobody else seemed to be struggling with it.

  • Let's see.

    Selective mutism as a child.

    Having no interest in food up to being about 8 years old - even now I can fast for up to 7 days without any real distress, though I do now find food interesting.

    Acute reactions to some textures - synthetic fibre cloth especially.

    Off-scale reaction to some smells, perfume and cigarette smoke in particular.

    Not being able to follow conversations if there is background noise.

    Not finding any form of sport remotely interesting, indeed hating that it is foisted on me so often in this inexplicably sport-obsessed society.

    Preferring to have a tooth (that was not hurting me) extracted over going to school.

  • in reply to Deleted User

    Ohh I'm the same. Always left feeling like how on earth did I forget lol.

    Be careful during the summer with lack of drink. I've been hospitalised way too many times due to lack of fluids and food.

  • in reply to Deleted User

    l could do with having that problem for a bit! 

  • Another thing occurs to me, only because it’s just happened again: I get to the end of the day and realise I haven’t eaten or drunk anything all day.

    I've always been like that 

  • in reply to Val Aspie
    Val Aspie said:
    only recently diagnosed and everything that you say makes sense, i thought that was "normal" but never understood why i felt so different from everybody else

    Glad my comment resonates with you!

    You have a very long list of examples that could have led to you being identified as autistic at an earlier age.

    It’s only after the realisation of our autistic identities that we have the opportunity to reflect on our lives in this way.

    By the way, do you know the history of the terms Asperger and Aspie? If not, it is important to be aware of where it comes from.  I have linked to an article about the history of these terms below:

    Trigger Warning- harm and mistreatment of autistic people:

    theautisticadvocate.com/.../

  • in reply to Shardovan
    Shardovan said:
    1981: Noticing I was experiencing my first ear-worm at 3 years old. Heartsong (the Holiday Programme theme) was still going round with perfect recall in a loop having heard it the night before

    I just listened to it on YouTube and it gave me goosebumps! An instant warm feeling from deep childhood Relaxed️