Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, newbie here!
I have been lurking on online autism communities like Reddit's autism subreddits and elsewhere. I have been given the diagnosis of autism 3 times by 3 different psychologists. However, I don't relate to the majority of autistic experiences ( at least, those discussed online). There is a very strong emphasis on sensory issues- I was a very hypersensitive child, but as an adult, I'm *hypo*sensitive to sound and a lot of other stimuli. I'm quite sensory seeking too- I'm always running my hand over surfaces and touching things, so the hallmark autistic experiences of overstimulation and hypersensitivity are quite alien to me, at least as an adult. ( Of course, I'm not saying these experiences aren't valid! They absolutely are!)
Conversely, I don't see much discussion about the autistic traits that I experience to a significant degree- the need for things to be very predictable and always the same, especially in work situations (which has made most jobs a very bad fit for me- I need to do repetitive tasks that seldom change), difficulty with tasks that aren't part of my regular routine, and getting meltdowns when unexpected tasks arise.
It does make me feel kind of lonely when my manifestation of autism isn't all that common ( at least as far as I can see) and I can't find all that many people who experience what I experience. It's like I don't fit in neurotypical world or the autistic world. Am I just some kind of mutant?
What aspects do you feel arn't reflected? Autism is a whole raft of experiences and differences its why its called a syndrome, rather than say a disease where everybody has the same symptoms.
I often don't feel my experiences are reflected much either, I mostly put that down to being older than many posters and having no help or recognition until I was 50, I still don't have much in the way of help, only here really.
You don't say how old you are or where you live, I think age can make a huge difference and different countries and societies deal with autism very differently.
If I went along with what's "said" what I ought to do and not do, I'd be a totally different person, I wouldn't be the person who's been avidly watching local and mayoral elections, I wouldn't like or understand politics. I'd be good at maths and tech, which I'm terrible at. Rhink far to much focus is on what we ought not to do and not on we can do and certainly none on what the NT world could learn from us.