The little I know of the pre teen years

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0-4:Father remembers me watching a lot of television and rushing into the kitchen to share the news of the Kennedy election in the fall of 1960'. Had begun to read a little as would mention Disney Walt; which was in the index of the "Children's encyclopaedia Britannica" my father had bought. Wouldn't go to bed early . Had to have one of my parents with me till I fell asleep . Tended to wake up with nightmares.
My sister related,in letter for my assessment, that my parents had told her that from the age of about 4 I started to become more quiet and perhaps withdrawn.


5-8: School in Bangkok voiced concerns . Was tested at Gt Ormond street c1962/63 for what we now call cerebral palsy .Result was negative . Alternatives weren't explored . My parents didn't pursue the matter further . Stuttered a bit . Was not too well coordinated .Did well academically.

8-13: Started at prep school. Wet the bed for most of the next couple of years . Described as poorly coordinated and bad at drawing and writing . On hindsight I must've come over as odd to the other boys as was told I was the 'missing link' . Started well academically but that took a nose dive when I was 9.5 and developed mumps on the flight back to school for the summer term 1966 . Around age of 11 had handwriting lessons . Around age of 12 insoles were made for my feet as had high instep and flat feet. Headmaster's wife had me do exercises for my feet.

I had hoped people would reply with their pre teen experiences . I can see that my thread title doesn't explicitly indicate the need for replies .

Added to all of it was the lack of friends . I had one person at prep school I regarded as a friend , but it was,on hindsight,an over-estimation of how well we got on . I saw him just once after leaving prep school . That was in the summer holidays prior to starting at public school. Decades later I found him on Twitter, and he blocked me .

I have very few pre-teen memories. Is that odd? I had a single friend from age 6 to 12, then another from 12-15. But always a single friend and never any more than that. Spent a lot of time alone during those times. Did well in school for the most part. Once failed a course for refusing to do a presentation to the rest of the class. Was terrified of speaking in front of the other children. But overall have very few concrete memories of my school years.

0-4 - I was practically an NT then (reached all milestones at the average stages and didn't display any peculiar behaviour that was any different to my NT peers)

4-8 - I showed autism symptoms all in one day when I was nearly 4 and a half, and spent the next 4 years being under a microscope to find out what was wrong with me, then got diagnosed with Asperger's at 8

8-12 - I was more settled at school and fitted in with my peers, but things got harder as I reached 12

Most of my teen years were s**t.

I always tried to sit at the back to lessen the chance of having to say anything .


A little bit about ASD and autobiographical memory.

0-4: Oblivious to the world around me. Couldn’t be taken anywhere, lest I destroy things. Obviously “autistic.”

5-8: Developed speech age 5.5. Started to be aware of the world around me. Certainly “Aspergian” in many ways. Was bullied by even other disabled kids in my special school. A very bad sport. Somewhat frequent tantrums.

9-13: Okay till about age 11. Calmed down a lot. Then became frustrated through loss of best friend. Lonely. Did mild stealing. Went to regular school at 11. Almost got expelled. Thrown out of certain classes every day. Continued to be oblivious to certain cues. Gained weight gradually, till I was 135 lbs at 4 foot 9 at age 13.

^ I was more prone to being bolshy/sulking than my brother and sister .

^ I doubt your time in boarding school helped matters.

0-4: I talked on time (or early, which my mom said, but she mixes me and my siblings up all the time). I remember being able to explain things well to my parents around 2-1/2 to 3, like why I had dug a hole in the yard and filled it with water to make a mud bath, since I had heard that they were good for your skin.
In the church class I was in for toddlers around 3-4 I remember mostly keeping to myself and wanting to do nothing but play with the toys. I have memories of playing with another boy, solely because we both only wanted to play with the Lincoln Logs but would argue over it, so either the teacher made us play together or we decided to just share them after a few arguments. Probably the first proper interaction with another toddler that wasn't my cousins.

5-8: I was very behind when I started school since I never went to preschool, so I didn't know how to act in an actual class nor was I really developmentally ready to go in a kindergarten class yet. Struggled with everything and quickly got picked on by the teacher.
Got tested for autism and ADHD during that year and got diagnosed with just ADD. Ended up in special ed for half of the first grade, and then having help classes in most subjects until the 5th-6th grade. I remember the special ed teacher visiting my kindergarten class during the end of the year to observe me, and just staring at her the entire time because she was looking at me with a concerned(?) expression. Maybe that was before I was diagnosed with ADD.

9-13: Didn't get along with really any of my peers at this point, and had two long term friends which are still the only long term friends I've ever had. Don't have a lot of memories from this period unless they involve playing video games as most of my childhood memories are from when I was younger than 9.