When did you start to know you were different?

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I'm not sure exactly when. I think it was when I was in kindergarten. I remember already being aware of it in first grade. I just noticed how I didn't fit in with the rest and that I was somehow different. I wasn't able to put my finger on exactly how I was different though until my early twenties.

When I was about three and I am not sure why. Maybe because the other kids were interacting and they were all playing together and I didn't do those things. I continued seeing why I was different as I got older. Now I don't feel so different anymore.

I've always had a feeling I was different, like in elementary school I did weird stuff sometimes.. when i became a loner i didnt think i was different, just thought that I was a loser.. but before that i was more aware I think.. my destruction of self confidence seemed to desguise my disorder because I just thought I was pathetic, not mentally ill..

I knew I was different as soon as I met a kid who wasn't one of my brothers. I think I was about 3. My language was much more developed than hers so there wasn't much of a basis for understanding there. Then in the first grade it became apparent that even though some of the same words came out of our mouths (I had a much larger vocabulary than most) the meaning was different. My interests were different. I could care less about Barbies and clothes. Talk with me about infinity, or how the mind works, or the nature of time. Without shared meaning and interest, where is the rapport that says we are the same species? It wasn't there. At first it hurt to not fit in, but over the years I've discovered that it's ok to be different. I don't want to be "normal". I just want to be comfortable enough to survive, get what I need without too much damage, and find a few friends.

I didn't really feel different until 6th grade. A girl who was a friend of mine in 5th grade suddenly didn't like me anymore and hung out with these populars. I remember I thought they were my friends and when they ran away to the other side of the school yard to get rid of me I followed. I liked flapping my arms as I ran and spinning around for no reason. Everyone made fun of me for still watching cartoons and not cursing all the time (though that one's changed). Boys called my best friend my bodyguard since she defended me a lot. Then she transferred schools and I was alone. At lunch for most of the year I sat in one spot (always that one spot) and read whatever book I had that day (since I *gasp* read for FUN). This year was just as bad. I sat with this one girl every day. She was quiet and didn't have many other friends, so I just went on and on talking my head off to her. I actually did my homework instead of copying or just making something up (BSing it) and couldn't tell one pair of jeans from the other (unless they had a rip or design). I was walking down the hall and heard someone ask "Where'd you get those jeans?" I looked at the jeans and couldn't find anything distinctive about them. I thought to myself "They look like every other f**king pair of jeans, what's the f**king difference?" (I was in a bad mood) So that's me.

My mom, on the other hand, knew since I was 3 when I taught myself to read. She had me tested but all of them said I wasn't an aspie until the one three months ago.

I realised when I was 7 that I was different, however I was convinced that I was the 'normie' and everyone else were the freaks! It was my different posture and tip-toe walk which made me realise I was different.

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

When I started kindergarden at 4 as I felt like an outcast, ended up by myself most of the time and started already to think that life stunk and something was wrong with me. It went downward after that as the only few friends I had in school where only a couple of other outcasts.

All my life.

i was about 12 when i first time heard about asperger in that time being in net was expensive (it was counted per minute)so i couldnt really look at it before i was 15 but that word still made me think what a hell it means

Not until fifth grade.

That's when the first wave of puberty hit everyone.

I didn't notice until late just because my brother had it too, so when I got home from school we'd resume the autistic style of playing that I mentioned on another thread. I didn't think this was anything out-of-the ordinary untill kids didn't want to play in the dirt anymore. and until my manipulative best friend got me to tell her why I was different, for the sole purpose of drama-injecting it so no-one else would talk to me.

And also because people were nicer to me in fourth grade!

I knew around kindergarten that I was different. Even though I did well enough on the kindergarten entrance test to enter school at 4, I had some problems because English was my second language. According to my kindergarten report, I practically couldn't do anything. A year later, however, I was reading English at fifth grade level. (I would eventually go on to get a Master's in English when I was 26.)

Socially, I thought of myself as a failure, although other people years later said they liked me.

I still think of myself as different, even though I am much improved from my childhood. I still feel that way when I do something incredibly stupid.

It became apparent I was different when I first started school. I'm not sure I was aware of it then, though. I would guess it was when I was about 8 or 9. When I was younger I just thought I was better than everyone else, lol.

When I was in preschool. All the kids always played games with each other and I was always on the opposite end of the room reading a book.

however corny it's gonna sound- I think that deep down I always knew. I'd never heard about AS before I got diagnosed though (a week ago, at 25) so I just thought I was a bit of a social idiot, romantically challenged, excentric etc and I didn't mind it that much (apart from the romantically challenged bit :p). I can't wait to tell my best friends though, I bet it's gonna be a real revelation to them to read about AS and get all those questions answerd about why I am the way I am (a bit special as they call it ;p)

There's no specific moment for me. I think I knew before I went to school, though. My parents always knew that I was unique, so they would always tell me that when I was three and four. So, I always took pride in my uniqueness, and I think that knowing from such an early age that I was different and that it was okay to be different was the reason why I never felt isolated from the other children. I never had friends, but I just didn't care. I was my own best friend, and I was perfectly content playing on my own and ignoring the "typical" children who I perceived as incredibly annoying and immature.
-OddDuckNash99-

Mainly on the playground at school, specifically around 6 or 7 years old, and noticing all the other children running around, playing and engaging with each other. My question to myself was, "Why don't I know how to be like they are?" It was a very isolating and lonely experience which made me feel quite sad.