Early Signs

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I really couldn't check my AS son off any of the current lists of early diagnostic criteria. What I can say is that he was "different" in some undefinable way from the get go. In many ways, he was always "more." "More" in need of attention; "more" awake; "more" active; "more" demanding' "more" difficult. People kept telling me that meant he was really smart; that the smart ones are always difficult. And he is smart. Smart and AS.

I forgot about this part...

I also sort of had a speech delay, except that it wasn't really much of a delay. I apparently said little to nothing until I was 2 and a half. Then, according to my mother, I went straight from no talking to incessant talking in paragraphs. I guess I just lined it all up in my head first.

Well I was stiff as a board as a baby and walked on my tippy toes which made my muscles tense. There was a day that I could not walk at all. I was absolutely facsinated with washing machines as a toddler. I would not talk to any kids at school between the middle of preschool and first grade. I did not understand pretend play, I always felt too mature for such play. I would lay on the floor at about five or six if the sounds of the kids around me were too much.

I was recognized as different, but somewhat glibly attributed to being a gifted student. I had intense interests... astronomy, dinosaurs, Greek and Roman mythology, robotics and computers - all before the age of 7. I made scale representations of the solar system on my dot matrix printer and built elaborate objects with my legos which I kept preserved for months or more at a time. I spent more time on the computer (signed online on a 300 'baud' modem in 1983) than I did with other kids. Was constantly sick at school with stomach or head pain (termed psychosomatic at the time). Had speech difficulties and therapy, as well as accelerated courses because I was otherwise bored/disinterested and would fidget (stim) in class. Given my family situation, it is hard to get information if I rocked - I recall it but tend to discount such things unless there is corroborating stories from others. Went from no eye contact to near-unwavering eye contact in junior high school. Did not have more than one or two friends at any given time growing up; did not understand social interactions... however, observing people became an interest of mine for quite awhile, which did help. There are a lot of little things that pop up in my past as I look back.


M.

I don't remember much about my very early years. I was a clingy baby. In preschool and kindergarten I would get in trouble for taking the rules too literally, or playing with children wrong. When someone broke a rule I told on them, and I thought you were supposed to do that for instance. You have no idea how upset I was when I had to have time-out for that. Or when we were doing pretend play I wasn't sure how to do it so I started running around screaming.

In Elementary I was clumsy, awkward. I talked to teachers and rarely had any friends or talked to the kids. Instead I watched them and enforced the rules. I tried hard to obey all the rules and that was always my focus-- to do good. I was also shy. I had sensory issues with clothes.

Nobody ever said anything because they said I was a sweet kid and I didn't have any problems until later.

I was a very stubborn child. My mum literally had to drag me into the car when we went out. I would kick and scream and cry and do other things I considered other kids did. I had to have the last sip of cola from the can and if not I'd have a tantrum.
There's photos of me stimming in the sand. My fingers are all bending like I'm moving them. In another photo I'm hugging onto my mum tightly because I was scared by birds, but my brother and sister were standing smiling while about two birds each were perched on their hands. In other photos I'm clinging to my mum like a Koala.
I lined things up when I was little. I remember lining up play dough and dominoes.
I also didn't get myself food. Mum would see me sick and in pain and she realised I hadn't got food from the cupboard like my other siblings.
I freaked out when she asked me to make her a tea and when my dad asked me to read a time table.
I cried at my first day of school. I was quiet as a mouse at school.
When I was starting school I still had to be dressed by my mum, so I was a bit of a late bloomer. It took me awhile to talk and walk too. I've always acted younger than other kids my age. Got told I played with baby toys a lot.

To add,

I had pretty much all of the usual HFA ones (which we all know what that entails), of the aloof variant that is. One important one I lacked was echolalia, but people chalk this up to the fact that I didn't talk enough around the time that it's greatly evident (I have it now, but it's quite advanced so as not being noticeable at all).

My memory is highly foggy on all these things, but.
I do recall as a baby, not wanting to eat baby food. (Texture was gross, can you blame me?).

As a kid, both toe and heal walking. Horrible writing. Various issues with self care skills and what not. Bonded with animals more quickly than people. Blah blah blah, pretty much all the same things as now, to varying degrees.

I look back, and it still amazes me how long it toke to get a dx. And it wasn't for lack of effort. My mom always knew I was "different". So.