An Example of Change, moving

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When I was 19, we had to move from our home, 20 minutes away from when I grew up, I livedwith my mom at the time, It was horrible, I went through deep anxiety and depression, I slept when I was home there, I had horrible crying spells for the longest, and would go and stsy with my grandmother during the day while my momwas at work, (I stayed with my grandmother alot then) cause I could not stay in that house alone, it was a long time I literally almost went mad, was this a normal response for an autistic person.

Change effects people differently. Mine depends on my mood of that day and how easily I'm able to mask. Plus as a girl I find one of my meltdowns as a crying fit very well whilst in public if needed, although it can also lead to unwanted attention as I try to self regulate back to normal.

I moved half way across the country in my final year of high school when I was 15, so the only support system I had were my parents, who at the time I resented at the time, also my sister who we just don't get on as we're like chalk and cheese despite both being on the spectrum. So in retaliation to that, after being thrown into a new school for just a year I shaved my head and ran away back to my home town to be with my boyfriend at the time I'm surprised I didn't give my parents more heart attacks with all my antics growing up. It took from September-December to finally settle down, but I never made lasting friends as I was in school for a year, I was social awkward and I was doing different work to everyone else most of time as I had picked exam subjects which weren't on offer in my new school. At the time I didn't know I was moving when I picked them.

Later on when I was in my 20s I did have more the depression your describing but it was for different change. Did you manage to overcome your depression and anxiety though?

I don't think there is a "normal autistic response." We are too varied. However, that is a response more common on the AS - change can be distressing. There's too much new stuff to deal with at once, and too much waste of previous knowledge.

When I initiate the change, I enjoy it (mostly). When the change is made for me, not much at all. My mom recently informed me that my migraines started at age 8 after we moved. So apparently that was my expression of my distress. They were very intense. I've had migraines on and off since then. They intensified again last year because of work stress (a negative change there). Otherwise I tend to pick on everything and my emotional regulation goes out the door. Example, I'll be scared/anxious about hiking up a mountain and instead of recognizing that, I'll be upset about my socks, my backpack, the way somebody looked at me.

On a daily basis I tend to get anxious about change (or the unexpected) and I reason with myself to lower my agitation level: "Really, it's ok that the scissors aren't were they are supposed to be. I know there are more pairs in the house and can look around and find one. If I don't, I can cry then." This is funny to me b/c I dumped a long-time BF in my 20s b/c he didn't put the scissors back. There were other factors but that was the last straw. In my 40s, since my intention is to retain my husband and children, I procured 10 pairs of scissors this year to aid the situation. Surely they can't misplace that many, one will be visible somewhere... right? Now if my (lovingly:) stinking NT son hides them all... that would be a test of my "reasoning" ability.