Mom says I had no symptoms as a child

Page 1 of 2 [ 22 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

krazykikikat
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

Joined: 19 Nov 2017
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 8

20 Nov 2017, 8:12 pm

Of course, when I told her my psych thought I was on the spectrum, her first response was "but you have empathy!" So maybe she needs more education on the subject.

But I'm curious what this means. My parents were pretty attentive, I feel like they would have noticed symptoms. On the other hand, people often tell me I'm smart when I don't feel smart. I've developed an array of coping skills. Is it possible that I was asymptomatic as a child because there wasn't much pressure on me? Maybe small signs went unnoticed because I was still functioning fine?

Has anyone here been diagnosed despite a lack of early signs?



TheAP
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 28 Dec 2014
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Posts: 20,314
Location: Canada

20 Nov 2017, 8:45 pm

What ages are we talking here? Did you have no symptoms throughout your whole childhood, or just your early childhood?



lostonearth35
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Jan 2010
Age: 50
Gender: Female
Posts: 11,790
Location: Lost on Earth, waddya think?

20 Nov 2017, 10:29 pm

One more mention of empathy, and I am going to run into a McDonald's, brutally stab several people and myself. 8O

I. HATE. MY. LIFE.



krazykikikat
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

Joined: 19 Nov 2017
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 8

20 Nov 2017, 11:37 pm

TheAP wrote:
What ages are we talking here? Did you have no symptoms throughout your whole childhood, or just your early childhood?


Hmm. That is a surprisingly hard question to answer. I don't remember much before I was about 7, just little bits here and there. If I had symptoms when I was 7 or younger, they must have been subtle. There are snippets I remember, and stories I've been told. Mostly subjective things, they could mean something or nothing.

Like, when my family took me to Sea World and for some reason one of the shows included the song "Tequila", where they encouraged the audience to shout the eponymous line. My name rhymes loosely with tequila, so my family thought it would be cute to shout my name instead at that part. I apparently burst into tears and wailed, "How do they all know my name?!" because I thought the whole crowd was shouting it.
I was about 3 or 4?
Or the time my mom said I suddenly darted off through a crowd during a show outside that pirate-themed hotel in Vegas. It was a mock ship battle, they shot off cannons, and I took off.
I'm not sure if this one is relevant, I mostly remember these stories because my mom thought they were funny. There was a yodeler at a party we went to once (I was probably 2 or 3). Apparently I crept closer and closer to the man while he was performing, until I was two feet away from him. After he finished the song, he pretended to burst into sudden, noisy tears. I clapped my hands over my ears and scrunched up my face like the sound was unbearable.

But, from what I remember and what my mom says, I didn't display any of the big signs. Maybe I liked dresses better than jeans because they were easy to put on and easy to move in. But I didn't have meltdowns when forced to wear pants. I didn't have any language delays, and was reading earlier and better than most of my peers. I responded to my own name. I was a picky eater, but again, no tantrums as I remember. I did have night terrors for a time. My mom took me to therapy when I was 8 or 9, but that was because she was married to an abusive man and was worried it was affecting me. I had no idea.

Anyway, the more notable symptoms started appearing around age 10, and worsened in adolescence, and until I was about 20. I have learned how to be a more effective person since then (just turned 27 today...not the greatest birthday but that's another story).

I should sit down with my mom and ask her more. Any pointers for questions I should ask? When I do find someone to do tests, I wonder if they'll want to talk to her. Might give them more than I could by summarising for her.



hannahjrob
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

Joined: 5 Feb 2016
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 136

21 Nov 2017, 3:51 am

I kind of have the same dilemma. I haven't been diagnosed, but I do have an appointment with a psychologist in a couple weeks. The one thing that does make me wonder whether I'd actually get a diagnosis is the fact that I had a pretty normal childhood. Like you, I wasn't really prone to meltdowns or tantrums except for a very short window of time when I was a toddler. But I guess all toddlers (ASD or not) have meltdowns sometimes. My mom has said that when I went through that phase, I didn't typically throw fits because I wanted something or was demanding to get my own way and wasn't getting it like a lot of kids do. It seemed like I just "flared up" sometimes for no real reason (it possibly could have been sensory issues, but obviously this is too far back for me to remember). There were two instances where I actually self-harmed...once I scratched my chest up until I was bleeding, and another time I bashed my head into a brick wall really hard! (Thankfully there was no lasting damage). But this behavior didn't continue when I got older...once I got to be about 3 or 3 and a half, I was actually a really calm, shy child for the most part. Like you, I didn't have speech or any major developmental delays. I always did pretty well in school. I did seem to have somewhat delayed motor skill development (so while I was usually fine in school, P.E. was the one subject that I hated! I was awful at sports.). I was late learning how to use tools like scissors, and had difficulty learning to tie shoes and ride a bike. To this day I still seem to struggle with simple tasks like getting doors unlocked, folding things a certain way, and setting up/using tools, machines, appliances, and other things (even with directions right in front of me). I've always been awkward and clumsy and driving can be difficult and cause a lot of anxiety. I'm fine just driving to school, work, and staying in familiar territory around my hometown. But driving somewhere unfamiliar is difficult and makes me panic. I don't even know how I would have survived had I lived in a time before GPS and Google maps, because I'm awful with directions and it's the only way I can get to unfamiliar places! I also feel like I have poor spatial awareness, so I tend to have trouble merging into traffic.

And again, I was really shy as a kid, and I'm just not sure whether I was just a typical shy kid or if I actually had subtle signs of AS. I was almost practically mute in my preschool/early elementary years and would pretty much only speak at school and around unfamiliar people if they asked me a question that required more than a nod or shaking my head. If a teacher called on me and I didn't know the answer, I just froze up and didn't know what to say so I'd just sit there in awkward silence. I did open up a little when I was around 8 or 9 and was able to talk to people a little more easily, but I was definitely still pretty introverted. One of the biggest issues I had and still have is knowing how to approach people to ask for help. Part of it is/was just being shy and afraid to ask, but I've also always just felt like I don't know HOW I should ask or what I should say. When I was little, I practically refused to raise my hand and ask the teacher for help, and I would just sit there forever trying to figure it out on my own. I did and often still do have difficulty following instructions, especially when they're verbal and have multiple steps. I will just get overwhelmed and shut down if someone gives me too many directions at once.

And I have always seemed to be sensitive to bright lights and loud noises...just not enough to where I have a complete meltdown. I'm also sensitive about how my clothes feel and I definitely just dress for comfort. I can never really bring myself to care about being fashionable.

But yeah, my mom also never thought I had signs of ASD and she insists that I've always been "fine with people." I mean, I don't feel like I'm the most socially awkward person on the planet, but I do feel like I've had some difficulties that I've just been able to mask pretty well. Except lately, I'm seeming to be struggling more, as I have more responsibilities as an adult and a lot more complex social interactions that are harder to deal with. And I've just felt like something is a little different/weird about me since I was around late elementary or middle school. At that point, I just started to feel like I was socially/emotionally immature compared to my peers and always wondered why. I still feel that way today and people always think I'm way younger than I am (I FEEL way younger than I am too). While I don't make friends and connect with people very easily, I have always managed to have just a very few close friends. It's always seemed like they are all either just like me (nerdy, shy, and kind of act young/have juvenile interests compared to our peers) OR the opposite of me (really extroverted compared to me but also friendly and totally non-judgmental). I'm not really sure what to think, so I'm just going to see the psychologist and see what she thinks.



Embla
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

Joined: 4 Oct 2017
Gender: Female
Posts: 490

21 Nov 2017, 5:19 am

I was just about to post a topic with the same issue. What a relief that I'm not the only one!
I felt like I was given my manual along with the diagnosis, and it explained everything. But it kind of rocked my world when I told my father about it and he said "That can't be. You were so friendly as a child. Like, super empathetic and kind and friends with everyone. Everybody liked you", and I thought - Is that possible?
There were other signs there from the start, like throwing tantrums at every social event, lots of tics, being able to memorize long bits of text and dialogue and reciting them over and over, extremely picky with food and higher sensitivity to light, enjoying to play by myself, started adding shadows to drawings at a suspiciously young age (also drawing constantly, and still do)... I also have a brother who's low functioning, who took most of my parent's attention, so I guess it's hard to notice that the first kid is acting weirdly when the second one is way worse off.
But still. It seemed so suspicious that the key thing - the social development - was just fine from the start.
It seems like I started off socially in the same place as everyone else, but just couldn't keep up with the others as they developed. The older I got, the harder it was to connect with my peers.

I did look it up, and apparently it's quite common for people with AS/HFA to not start showing signs of those problems until later.
I was doubting myself and my diagnosis for a while there, but then again, nothing has made more sense to me than finding out I have AS. It explains so much, I feel really at home in these forums, learning a lot about myself, and my support group meetings is the only place where I've ever felt like I belong in a group.
There's really no doubt about it. And my psychiatrist agrees.



krazykikikat
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

Joined: 19 Nov 2017
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 8

21 Nov 2017, 9:15 am

Quote:
It seems like I started off socially in the same place as everyone else, but just couldn't keep up with the others as they developed. The older I got, the harder it was to connect with my peers.


I feel the same. Until 5th grade I had a small tight group of friends, people who were like me, and I didn't socialize much outside of them. Once I tried to play matchmaker for other kids in 5th grade. I found out two people liked each other and told them both, and couldn't understand why they didn't go be together.

My problems seemed to start in middle school. I thought I was an outcast because I had glasses and liked school. I was bullied mercilessly, and had trouble seeing the invisible lines between the different cliques. My clique was the outcasts.

From an early age I do know that I had an easier time socializing with adults than with my peers. Adults always thought I was so smart and precocious. Kids just thought I was weird.

I also remember having an abnormal level of empathy. If a class got rowdy, I felt like I could feel the teacher's blood pressure rising. Once I cried because a teacher cried. In 7th grade. I've always had a huge sense of second-hand embarrassment. I can't even listen to prank call comedy bits, it makes me so uncomfortable.

Maybe it is just that being an adult requires more complex interactions.

Good to know there are people who can relate.



League_Girl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Feb 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 27,205
Location: Pacific Northwest

21 Nov 2017, 9:22 am

My mom told me the same too. Didn't have any until puberty and my hormones changed and started having anxiety and then I slipped onto the criteria. But I remember I have always had them and even "autistic like" and "autistic behavior" were listed so I know I am not imagining my childhood and my brain isn't making things up. My IEP even said mine were not as prominent as I develop language and social skills when I was eight. Did she forget?


_________________
Son: Diagnosed w/anxiety and ADHD. Also academic delayed.

Daughter: NT, no diagnoses.


Trogluddite
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Feb 2016
Age: 53
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,075
Location: Yorkshire, UK

21 Nov 2017, 11:16 am

My Mum was involved with my autism assessment, and we get on well, so I was able to speak with her about it, and it was very interesting.

When I first told her about the assessment, and explained that they would like to interview here about my childhood, she was adamant that there was nothing to tell them. She knew that I had persistent mental health problems, but the only way that she could relate this to my childhood was to think that her and my Father separating just before my teens had affected me psychologically (I was actually just glad to live in a quieter household!)

Talking to her again after she had been interviewed, her position had completely changed. She was stunned at how many behaviours I showed as a child which she had accepted as perfectly "normal" but which were actually indicators of autism (she also discovered some autism-like traits in herself, such as stimming.)

There are several reasons I can suggest for this:
- Parents don't know what to look for, especially the more subtle signs of Asperger's or HFA.
- If melt-downs are absent, or like me, very quiet "shut downs", they present parents with little difficulty.
- My parents always wanted a kid that went to University. So being introverted and "bookish" was not a problem to them. Had they pushed me to do sports, things might have been very different!
- My Mum's family has a history of "quirky" men, in particular my Uncle - my Mum's little brother that she baby sat a lot as a girl. I am very similar in character to him (he may well be AS himself), so I appeared "normal" because she considers him "normal".
- Denial. Either not wishing to believe that you are "different", or the belief that it is just your fate and you had better deal with it.

If you just ask someone who does not understand autism whether you showed autistic signs, there is a fair chance that some or all of them will not have been noticed. If you can convince your Mum to participate in the assessment, where she will be interviewed by people who know exactly what questions to ask, both you and her may be surprised at what gets turned up.


_________________
When you are fighting an invisible monster, first throw a bucket of paint over it.


LostGirI
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

Joined: 14 Jun 2017
Gender: Female
Posts: 205
Location: UK

21 Nov 2017, 11:32 am

Trogluddite wrote:
My Mum was involved with my autism assessment, and we get on well, so I was able to speak with her about it, and it was very interesting.

When I first told her about the assessment, and explained that they would like to interview here about my childhood, she was adamant that there was nothing to tell them. She knew that I had persistent mental health problems, but the only way that she could relate this to my childhood was to think that her and my Father separating just before my teens had affected me psychologically (I was actually just glad to live in a quieter household!)

Talking to her again after she had been interviewed, her position had completely changed. She was stunned at how many behaviours I showed as a child which she had accepted as perfectly "normal" but which were actually indicators of autism (she also discovered some autism-like traits in herself, such as stimming.)

There are several reasons I can suggest for this:
- Parents don't know what to look for, especially the more subtle signs of Asperger's or HFA.
- If melt-downs are absent, or like me, very quiet "shut downs", they present parents with little difficulty.
- My parents always wanted a kid that went to University. So being introverted and "bookish" was not a problem to them. Had they pushed me to do sports, things might have been very different!
- My Mum's family has a history of "quirky" men, in particular my Uncle - my Mum's little brother that she baby sat a lot as a girl. I am very similar in character to him (he may well be AS himself), so I appeared "normal" because she considers him "normal".
- Denial. Either not wishing to believe that you are "different", or the belief that it is just your fate and you had better deal with it.

If you just ask someone who does not understand autism whether you showed autistic signs, there is a fair chance that some or all of them will not have been noticed. If you can convince your Mum to participate in the assessment, where she will be interviewed by people who know exactly what questions to ask, both you and her may be surprised at what gets turned up.


Your situation with your mum and the assessment sounds similar to mine. Both my parents went to assessment. My dad was pretty much in denial from the off but my mum was more open minded and thought I had some traits but not all. Prior to reading up on ASD they were shocked and couldn't believe that I had it.....that is until they started reading and went to the assessment and were interviewed about me as a child and my childhood. They noticed one or two things and thought they were a bit odd but didn't know why and thought nothing of it. Other things they just thought were normal. But once they were interviewed at the assessment they started putting it all together and they were very upset and blamed themselves for not realising and that I had suffered so much growing up, and even now I still suffer. It also explained a lot of my behaviour to them and over time now they are accepting it.

If you had asked me I would have said I had a normal childhood and when I went to outpatients mental health that is what I told them (or so I thought). I just mentioned how I was always very quiet and shy, and relied on my brother a lot, how I got bullied a little and never ever fit in with the other kids, or played with them. I also mentioned being suicidal in my late teens and feeling miserable for as long as I remember. Even in nursery. I told them memories I had about times as early as nursery and I also mentioned, like Trogluddite said how I was happy when my parents divorced. No more arguing or stress. Just peacefulness. I didn't think I stimmed or anything like that or had repetitive phrases but my mum told them about something I used to do with my leg (which I have only recently stopped doing because I noticed I was drawing attention to myself) and how I repeat a certain phrase over and over, but she couldn't remember what it was. Something about "it's ok". I'm not too sure really. She even commented about how I dressed and types of clothing I'd wear, like wearing full on winter gear even though it was hot and sunny outside. I must admit, even these days I am sometimes tempted because it doesn't feel that warm to me but I don't anymore as I remember my ex commenting and telling me how daft I looked when I had my winter coat on on a warm sunny day. So, what I'm trying to say is you might be surprised that what you think is "normal" in childhood might not necessarily be.

I should add that i didn't have any delay in speech and my mum said I learned to do everything super fast and before others - walking, talking, reading etc


_________________
I'm working with ASD, generalised anxiety disorder and recurrent depression and they frequently kick my ***


StampySquiddyFan
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Jul 2017
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,754
Location: Stampy's Lovely World

21 Nov 2017, 11:48 am

Quote:
and was reading earlier and better than most of my peers.


This is also a sign of autism. You'll generally find that with certain symptoms, autistic people tend to be at one of two extremes (in this case, hyperlexic or dyslexic). My symptoms did not start later in life, but my sensory issues/meltdowns/stimming sort of changed at around the same age. Have you looked through old photo albums or anything like that? I don't remember doing certain things, but there is evidence of it in old home videos, pictures, etc. Stress definitely aggravated symptoms in me and still continues to. I have also read multiple things online about how some individuals with autism don't show signs until adolescence, so I think it is still a possibility you have ASD, even if you cannot find other symptoms in the early developmental period.

Quote:
One more mention of empathy, and I am going to run into a McDonald's, brutally stab several people and myself. 8O

I. HATE. MY. LIFE.


:lol: same here (although I might not stab people at McDonalds :wink: ). Empathy sucks!


_________________
Hi! I'm Stampy (not the actual YouTuber, just a fan!) and I have been diagnosed professionally with ASD and OCD and likely have TS. If you have any questions or just want to talk, please feel free to PM me!

Current Interests: Stampy Cat, AGT, and Medicine


krazykikikat
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

Joined: 19 Nov 2017
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 8

21 Nov 2017, 2:05 pm

StampySquiddyFan wrote:

Have you looked through old photo albums or anything like that?


I do have quite a few childhood pictures. What should I look for though? I've seen most of them many times and nothing stands out, but maybe looking with fresh eyes I'll see something. I have always had trouble smiling for pictures though. People say I have a great natural smile, but if I'm trying to smile for a photo it comes out horrible. Is this an autistic trait?

One thing that just came to me is that I've always loved pillow/blanket forts. For a year or two when I was around 10, I slept in this super comfy fort I made instead of my bed. One notable feature of this fort was the body pillow I used to line the walls of a small closet. That was where I laid my head, with a cushion all around it. It was so soothing. I realized a year ago that I only grew out of the habit because it's not socially acceptable for adults to make forts. I was helping my little sister make one when we were visiting family and had to sleep in the living room. I realized I wanted to sleep in it too.

I also have a vague feeling that I stimmed at a young age, but I can't think of any specific behaviors. I slept with stuffed animals for way too long (until I was 19) and now have what I call my "snuggle pillow" instead. But again, I just can't remember much from early childhood.

Having my mom interviewed will probably result in some revelations.



fruitloop42
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

Joined: 14 Nov 2017
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 65

21 Nov 2017, 2:20 pm

I'm glad I read this thread! I've posted a couple of threads on the forum in the last few days because I'm trying to figure out whether I might have ASD and the traits that don't fit or the traits that didn't seem to fit til later in life are the things that have been bothering me. I've been thinking about this a little obsessively so it's nice to read such a relevant thread.

People tell me I'm smart too. I guess I am smart, I'm very academic and I always got very high grades. But I frequently feel exceptionally stupid. I'm gullible, sometimes I can't figure out how to work/use simple things (like turning on a shower), I take ages to get jokes - often I just never get them. So that sounds familiar. I guess there are different types of intelligence.

I also can't remember having meltdowns as a child, they started when I was 18 - I did post a thread about this a couple of days ago too. I don't think I had learning delays either. Nobody suspected me of having any kind of mental differences. The things I can think of from my childhood - I was sent for multiple hearing tests because teachers thought I was partially deaf. Apparently I wasn't answering their questions or responding when they spoke to me. I annoyed the teachers a lot by being inattentive and several of them really didn't like me. Maybe they didn't like me for other reasons too, I don't know. I was also terrible at forgetting things. Forgetting to do homework, forgetting to take stuff to or from school, losing things, leaving things all over the place etc. It got me in a lot of trouble. I still am terrible with this, it affects my life quite a lot.

I've read a few of your posts on the forum Embla and a lot of what you say feels very familiar. "being able to memorize long bits of text and dialogue and reciting them over and over" - I did this. I could recite entire films. I once memorized the translation of several chapters of a book written in latin because I didn't want to have to translate during the latin literature exam. So I just remembered the entire english translation instead. I was absolutely terrible at latin but I got As anyway by doing stuff like this. I also used to play board games like monopoly with myself, I would just have teddies and various toys kind of representing each of the playing pieces and I would do their moves for them. Whenever I tell people that story they always say it sounds really sad but I loved playing games that way! I was always quite invested in finding out which toy would win the game.

"I've always had a huge sense of second-hand embarrassment. I can't even listen to prank call comedy bits, it makes me so uncomfortable." - I can identify with this a lot too. I also cry because other people are crying sometimes, I find it difficult to be around crying people. Another thing from my childhood - I have never been able to deal with raised voices, shouting has always made me start crying, even if it's not directed at me. Before I started suspecting ASD I always wondered why because I don't have a history of childhood trauma or anything.

Again, glad I read this thread. Not sure my response helps because I'm not sure yet if I would qualify as ASD but I can definitely relate.



Keladry
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Jul 2017
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,681

21 Nov 2017, 10:56 pm

krazykikikat wrote:
StampySquiddyFan wrote:

Have you looked through old photo albums or anything like that?


I do have quite a few childhood pictures. What should I look for though? I've seen most of them many times and nothing stands out, but maybe looking with fresh eyes I'll see something. I have always had trouble smiling for pictures though. People say I have a great natural smile, but if I'm trying to smile for a photo it comes out horrible. Is this an autistic trait?

One thing that just came to me is that I've always loved pillow/blanket forts. For a year or two when I was around 10, I slept in this super comfy fort I made instead of my bed. One notable feature of this fort was the body pillow I used to line the walls of a small closet. That was where I laid my head, with a cushion all around it. It was so soothing. I realized a year ago that I only grew out of the habit because it's not socially acceptable for adults to make forts. I was helping my little sister make one when we were visiting family and had to sleep in the living room. I realized I wanted to sleep in it too.

I also have a vague feeling that I stimmed at a young age, but I can't think of any specific behaviors. I slept with stuffed animals for way too long (until I was 19) and now have what I call my "snuggle pillow" instead. But again, I just can't remember much from early childhood.

Having my mom interviewed will probably result in some revelations.


blanket forts and tents...how I miss them! I also always used to play inside the clothes racks and stores. :D and I still sleep with stuffed animals and I'm 33 ;)



Embla
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

Joined: 4 Oct 2017
Gender: Female
Posts: 490

22 Nov 2017, 3:40 am

Keladry wrote:
krazykikikat wrote:
StampySquiddyFan wrote:

Have you looked through old photo albums or anything like that?


I do have quite a few childhood pictures. What should I look for though? I've seen most of them many times and nothing stands out, but maybe looking with fresh eyes I'll see something. I have always had trouble smiling for pictures though. People say I have a great natural smile, but if I'm trying to smile for a photo it comes out horrible. Is this an autistic trait?

One thing that just came to me is that I've always loved pillow/blanket forts. For a year or two when I was around 10, I slept in this super comfy fort I made instead of my bed. One notable feature of this fort was the body pillow I used to line the walls of a small closet. That was where I laid my head, with a cushion all around it. It was so soothing. I realized a year ago that I only grew out of the habit because it's not socially acceptable for adults to make forts. I was helping my little sister make one when we were visiting family and had to sleep in the living room. I realized I wanted to sleep in it too.

I also have a vague feeling that I stimmed at a young age, but I can't think of any specific behaviors. I slept with stuffed animals for way too long (until I was 19) and now have what I call my "snuggle pillow" instead. But again, I just can't remember much from early childhood.

Having my mom interviewed will probably result in some revelations.


blanket forts and tents...how I miss them! I also always used to play inside the clothes racks and stores. :D and I still sleep with stuffed animals and I'm 33 ;)


Why would anyone ever stop building blanket forts?
I don't have any stuffed animals anymore, but like squeezing a pillow to sleep, and my bed is more or less a permanent blanket fort XD



crystaltermination
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Nov 2016
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,029
Location: UK

22 Nov 2017, 6:00 am

I had a somewhat late diagnosis at 25, and during my assessment my parents negated quite a lot of the childhood questions they were there to help answer for the evaluation. Had a few issues of note back then such as the huge, somewhat violent tantrums and the fact I couldn't stand certain noises to the point of crying, but like you it surely wasn't enough for ASD to have been detected sooner. Considering the sheer demand for the services here, had I not already been known to the mental health services I doubt I'd have been diagnosed at all.


_________________
On hiatus thanks to someone in real life breaching my privacy here, without my permission! May be back one day. +tips hat+