08 Mar 2011, 10:47 am
Before the age of 15 or so, I was simply a kid who was extremely shy and drew intricate pictures all the time. I didn't do much with friends, though I can name about 5 people who I was somewhat 'close' to at different times during those years.
At 15, I became anorexic, and it wasn't until then that I fell into an extreme need for routine. I am 18 and at a normal weight now, but I always eat the same things now and get mad if I run out of anything or if people want to go out to eat. It was when I was 16 that I first heard of Asperger's syndrome, and it felt 'just like me' because of my obsessive tendencies. But is it all just from my eating disorder? 
The only things I can recall from before that time (when I was actually flexible) were:
- always being sensitive to sound and touch; I have long been (and somewhat remain) afraid of storms, fireworks, and balloons. I also recall feeling extremely uncomfortable and trying to get away when my father would whisper something into my hair 
or if being kissed by a family member.
-As stated, I didn't do much socially.
-I suppose I had a 'special interest' or two. When I was in second grade or so, our g/t program had a unit about snakes. I thereafter learned as much as I could about them, established them as my favorite animal, acquired a collection of stuffed snakes that I slept with 
, and vowed for the next 2 or 3 years that I would grow up to be a herpetologist...
Hmm.
08 Mar 2011, 1:10 pm
From what I have read, not only does autism and AS look different in females from how it looks in males, but there is a theory that eating disorders in females is a manifestation of ASD. So it is quite possible that you were just manifesting your ASD in a feminine fashion. 
