Hello. Are there any people here who were born in the 70s and 80s, always different, now diagnosed with high-functioning autism? Like me?

I'm almost 50 years old, and I've always felt I was different. Even in preschool, at the age of three, I felt it clearly. But it wasn't a problem for me. I functioned very well. I asked my mother why the children at preschool were different from me. She didn't understand my questions. So I decided she was different too. As if it were natural that most people are different from me, although I don't know why. But I never wanted to be like those others, even at three or four years old. In a sense, I felt they were a separate species, even though they looked the same. To simplify a bit – like a dog and a cat. Both species, in a simplified description, have the same physical characteristics: fur, four legs, a tail, ears... But they're different species. And that's normal. That's how I felt in preschool. After that, it was different.

Parents
  • I was born in the 70s and I've always had a sense that I was the odd one out, in any social environment. I said to a friend once that I felt like an alien when surrounded by people. I'm glad to finally be diagnosed autistic, even though it came in later life for me. Finally I have the words to explain why I felt so different and I can now extend compassion to myself, instead of internalised criticism and hatred. I'm also now able to understand and meet my autistic needs much better than before. 

    My school reports were all the same....."not reaching her full potential" and  "could do more." I was naturally academic and had a good memory so was considered bright, able and capable by teachers. My social and emotional needs were completely unseen  and unmet and it was those primarily that held me back as I desperately struggled. 

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