Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello everyone. I am 40 and currently undiagnosed with any ASD, but, particularly in the last year or two, after reading reams of information regarding Asperger's/ASDs I genuinely feel that I was born with it, although my memory is a little clouded by the fact that after anaphylaxia I stopped breathing for...I don't know how long, I, nor my parents, were ever told how long to my knowledge, but I believe that I suffered brain damage which has, I think, caused me to display autistic tendencies/behaviours ever since I suffered the anaphylaxia. This has recently been exacerbated by the fact that I have Hydrocephalus, which, my parents tell me, anyway, as I can't remember, has led to me recently(it seems longer to me)developing sensory problems. I find our HDTV incredibly difficult to watch, and, because my parents are now quite old, my mother needs the volume set at a level that I find almost unbearable. This has led to meltdowns and bad behaviour on my part, and I have no doubt that I must drive them insane.
In the intervening years I have become increasingly secluded, have lost friends because of my reactions to how they have behaved, and now I spend most of my time in my house with my parents. After speaking to a sibling yesterday on skype(I have barely spoken to her face to face since I was 17)I have come to realise that I find face to face communication almost impossible now with anyone new, and I have no interest whatsoever in making new friends. I would much rather spend my time on the computer or reading, which I love, and I would consider one of my special interests to be the attainment of general knowledge, and I absolutely love answering questions on quizzes like The Chase.
This is just a little about me, and I look forward to reading any replies I receive.
Thank you all for reading this post.
That's quite a history to have lived through!
Autism isn't necessarily a catastrophe by any means - I was diagnosed at 56 but have had it all my life and now recognise that it was passed down several generations of my family. It brings difficulties but many people can get through their whole lives without being aware whilst others are more affected and also have other problems. It is hard to spot and hard to diagnose as it is often mixed up and obscured by other consequential and coincident issues.
There are a lot of misconceptions about autism and your parents are likely to associate it with severely handicapped people and are likely alarmed by that. Most autism isn't like that, it is a difficulty or a difference but it is often not the terrible thing that many people fear.