figuring out who i am

Hi and welcome!

HMN said:

if anyone has had any autism-related experiences (like certain behaviours or actions of yours happened because you are autistic) that they wouldn't mind sharing,

There's nothing in my adult life that surprises me, from my addiction to spreadsheets and thorough research to bluntness that cost me promotions. What really amazed me was the light it shone on something from my childhood I've never really thought about until I started looking at the screening questions about communication. I remember having 'speech training' for three years in one of my primary schools. One of my close freinds though I meant elocultion lessons (and so did my assessor at first) when I mentioned it, but it wasn't an add-on ater school; I was pulled out of lessons on Wednesdays to attend the on-site health centre. My mum always said it was because my Blackpool accent was too broad, but that was absurd when I thought about it, because none of my family had broad accents and we moved to London when I was 3. I was 7 by the time I went to the primary school that sent me for 'training' that must have been therapy. It made me really curious to know what problem I had that they wanted to address, but it was so far back in time that the education records would have been destroyed.

I realise that specific example won't be of help, but I mention it because it's representative of events that make us stop and think "Oh!" when we review our lives in terms of our autism. 

HMN said:

I'm also trying to figure out how to non-awkwardly (and hopefully not very anxiety-ridden) tell my friends about my diagnosis. I don't want them to think of or treat me differently but I do want them to know at some point.

I've only told four people - two autistic friends, one really close friend with ADHD and one other. The other took it without comment and hasn't spoken about it again, but she hasn't treated me differently, either. That might be because I haven't behaved differently, up to now. I probably will at times in the future, because it gives me an explanation why I can't invite more than a couple of friends to my house at a time.

I haven't yet worked out how to tell my neighbours why I don't always communicate fluently (social chit-chat or if one rings my doorbell unexpectedly to ask a favour).

Hi and welcome!

HMN said:

if anyone has had any autism-related experiences (like certain behaviours or actions of yours happened because you are autistic) that they wouldn't mind sharing,

There's nothing in my adult life that surprises me, from my addiction to spreadsheets and thorough research to bluntness that cost me promotions. What really amazed me was the light it shone on something from my childhood I've never really thought about until I started looking at the screening questions about communication. I remember having 'speech training' for three years in one of my primary schools. One of my close freinds though I meant elocultion lessons (and so did my assessor at first) when I mentioned it, but it wasn't an add-on ater school; I was pulled out of lessons on Wednesdays to attend the on-site health centre. My mum always said it was because my Blackpool accent was too broad, but that was absurd when I thought about it, because none of my family had broad accents and we moved to London when I was 3. I was 7 by the time I went to the primary school that sent me for 'training' that must have been therapy. It made me really curious to know what problem I had that they wanted to address, but it was so far back in time that the education records would have been destroyed.

I realise that specific example won't be of help, but I mention it because it's representative of events that make us stop and think "Oh!" when we review our lives in terms of our autism. 

HMN said:

I'm also trying to figure out how to non-awkwardly (and hopefully not very anxiety-ridden) tell my friends about my diagnosis. I don't want them to think of or treat me differently but I do want them to know at some point.

I've only told four people - two autistic friends, one really close friend with ADHD and one other. The other took it without comment and hasn't spoken about it again, but she hasn't treated me differently, either. That might be because I haven't behaved differently, up to now. I probably will at times in the future, because it gives me an explanation why I can't invite more than a couple of friends to my house at a time.

I haven't yet worked out how to tell my neighbours why I don't always communicate fluently (social chit-chat or if one rings my doorbell unexpectedly to ask a favour).