Published on 12, July, 2020
The second post from my blog about growing up with undiagnosed autism...
A Martian in the Closet
Don't know if it was an indication of ASD, but finishing an entire set of Encyclopedia's aged 5 and asking my parents about covalent bonds might have been an early one. I read anything back then. Fiction, fact, everything in between. I never had dyspraxia. In fact I was the kid they couldnt keep in nursery. I went out of childproof gates, over 9ft walls, over a couple of wooden gates. i was the nightmare kid that could manipulate a situation and then spring free from confinement. If I didnt manage to escape i'd just hide out somewhere in the playground. im sure they were all close to a nervous breakdown for the year I spent there. ;)
Special schools didn't really exist back then (70's) and my parents even to this day have a view that their is nothing wrong with me, so going to a school for gifted children was never going to be on the books. What they did do was ensure my life was rich with experiences, like holidays abroad for a month, speaking languages abroad, trips to museums, etc. So I cant really complain. But in school it wasn't good. Outside school I made do.
I've just been reading your autobiography in the other section.
We have a few things in common.
I also went to Sheffield Hallam. Although it was still known by its old name of Sheffield city polytechnic. I messed up my final year, partly by being emotionally unstable and the only female I could get along with was a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. Living with her took its toll.
I find it difficult to communicate with normal stable people. It's the unusual personalities that I feel relaxed with.
My main friend is an Aspie. I never knew he was until he was formally diagnosed. I was just drawn to him because we could sit down and have pretty heavy conversations. We met on a college course, maybe 16 years ago, but our friendship can be quite hard, since we can have such crazily opposite views. Also he thinks I have PDA (and I think he's very correct on that assumption). He also has other issues. He is very driven in his life. I seem to be the opposite.