Things I'm just finding out

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I asked my mother at what age did I start to talk. She said it was earlier than usual, however, though I could talk, I didn’t. I never said anything. I would sit in a corner alone and draw or color. I was a very good drawer and she said at the age of 2, I was able to stay in the lines. My mother told me that I didn’t want to be bothered with people, and when people spoke to me, I hardly answered them.

When I turned three, I started talking a lot. I wouldn’t shut up. I talked as if I were making up for lost time, then, when I turned 4, I stopped talking again. By the time I was 5, I would talk on occasion, but I never really had anything to say. Except one time when we were in a fabric store, I was told I started conversing with another child completely in Spanish. Obviously I don’t remember this. My mother was surprised. The sales lady asked if my father was Puerto Rican because my Spanish was so good, my mother said, “No.” I don’t know where I learned Spanish from. Back in the day, it wasn’t all over the place like it is now.

I have to ask my mother these questions, so I can relay them to the doctor, but I don’t want to bombard her with questions all at once, then she’ll know I’m phishing. When I asked her about this milestone she wanted to know why I wanted to know. I told her I was just curious. The first thing out of her mouth was, “You were perfectly healthy there was nothing wrong with you, you just didn’t talk.” Not that she would have known that this wasn’t normal. She had my brother to worry about who was the opposite, he was ADHD and she couldn’t handle it. She probably was so happy that I was quiet and calm.

Another odd thing I did was not crawl. I would drag myself along the floor as if I were a quadriplegic. Of course I could crawl, my motor skills were normal. I wonder if this was an early form of stimming.

My mother doesn’t know anything about my stimming. She probably never noticed any of it, and wrote it off as child’s play.

I'm not sure what else I need to ask her that may be of some use. Any ideas?

Busy91, you sound very similar to me...More and more memories are finally come through after all these years , and from my mom recollecting how I was as a baby..She said I was a very quiet, good baby, and as a child would stay in my bed until she told me to rise and shine..What stood out for her was when I was just a baby again, a woman passing by her with me in the stroller, said , "you have a very special baby here"..my guardian angel? I remember I made up my own cursive writing about age 8-9, with a heavy ink pen, and would fill paper after paper with my own style, it was strange, but I did it over and over..I was also an artist, still am.You say you spoke spanish, and I wonder if Sesame Street helped you, as they mix both languages together to explain things...I could cringe a thousand times over with each memory that I recall, but it is who I was and who I turned out to be- mysterious, quiet, learning each day about who I am becoming...

As far as I can recall, Seseme Street in the early days (35 years ago) didn't do the Spanish thing.

Every little nugget of new info I get from her makes me think. It never occured to me to ask her about my speech milestone, because I figured if she thought it was off, she'd have mentioned it, however, she didn't think it was odd. I'm glad I asked.

Yes...in the early days of Sesame Street (1970s), they did alot with teaching Spanish as well as English. I had an older sister who learned a lot of Spanish back then just by sitting in front of the television with Sesame Street on...quite an accomplishment for a three year old.

Did they?
See how my memory is. Guess now we know where I learned it.

I thought so , too..I learned the word for water was "agua"on Sesame Street--today, Dora the Explorer would fill us in on that one! I am 41...

I also watched this show called "Villa Alegre"
Anyone remember that one?

Maybe, if it was on PBS back then...do you remember the old, "ZOOM" show, with Fannie Doolie? That was weird, but it was the 70's after all. I also liked " The Electric Company" , it had Rita Moreno and Morgan Freeman on...I also remember "The Banana Splits", I would watch them before going to kindergarten....

I loved "The Electric Company" and the old ZOOM I also liked 3-2-1 Contact.
Man, am I dating myself. LOL!

So, do aspie kids watch PBS instead of, say, Nickelodeon? I know they didn't have Nickelodeon in the '70s, but there were similar things, right? (Sorry, I wasn't around then.)

Or is it their parents who restrict their TV watching to certain things?

For the record, I was only ever interested in PBS. ZOOM, Arthur, Barney, Sesame Street, Teletubbies, Bill Nye....