How does one separate them as things I once assumed to be my unique character I was surprized to find them to be autism traits. BUT what is me? What parts are me?
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The answer is "All those parts are you."How does one separate them as things I once assumed to be my unique character I was surprized to find them to be autism traits. BUT what is me? What parts are me?
Sort of my experience, as well. My wife was not a believer initially and even after a few months after my diagnosis, she said to me that I wasn't THAT autistic. Of course, all my test results put me on the rather extreme end of the autism spectrum. All I can figure is that when most people think of autism, they want to imagine a severely debilitated child, not an adult, let alone one that is of normal to high intelligence. I am of the mind, the more intelligent one is, the more likely that we find ways to adapt and overcome, as well as self-consciously hide our autistic traits. I don't know, I mean, I am very conscious of my autistic traits and it's very obvious to me, but I don't think others around me are so perceptive nor can put my behaviors into an autism context.I was a bit taken aback when I saw the results of my assessment as they were deeper into the autism side than I expected! I initially thought I was boarderline, as I had gone through life without being assessed. Always was different from most and was excluded for being so, so I learned to keep myself to myself which is what one does when in this situation so one can avoid being picked on or bullied.
But being much further onto the spectrum than one thought is an eyeopener! I am somewhat embarissed by this because those who are not on the spectrum themselves would not understand. I can't explain myself very well, as I go off on tangent after tangent and never reach the point, and besides that, putting inner feelings into thoughts is not that easy! And yet, very few people apart from those who know they are on the spectrum themselves know much about autism, as the natural thoughts of people (Including those who themselves are on the spectrum who for years didn't know) stem around the worst case senarios they see on the news. Example of this is a lady schoolteacher who didn't teach me, but when in conversation my Mum.mentioned I was on the list to be assessed said to me "You can't be autistic. You are not in a wheelchair!"
So most of us who spent most of our lives undiagnosed have really gone through some tough times but not been able to realize why!
I remember thinking to myself when failing at certain subjects at school where the teachers themselves knew I was above average intelligence and I knew that too, but for me everything was such an effort to be rewarded with the words "Must try harder" when I jolly well knew I did not have any harder left to give! Yet those who I knew were not blessed with much intelligence were doing the same lessons and getting better results and I knew they were not even trying! (Likewize in other subjects the opposite was the case where I was getting good results and they were not, but what was strange was their results were constant and did not vary too much, and mine were even up and down to the extremes in the same subject from one exam to the other!
My scores are very similar to yours in the tagline. I used to blame everything on being deaf. Now I don't know what's deaf and what's autism. It is what it is.Sort of my experience, as well. My wife was not a believer initially and even after a few months after my diagnosis, she said to me that I wasn't THAT autistic. Of course, all my test results put me on the rather extreme end of the autism spectrum. All I can figure is that when most people think of autism, they want to imagine a severely debilitated child, not an adult, let alone one that is of normal to high intelligence. I am of the mind, the more intelligent one is, the more likely that we find ways to adapt and overcome, as well as self-consciously hide our autistic traits. I don't know, I mean, I am very conscious of my autistic traits and it's very obvious to me, but I don't think others around me are so perceptive nor can put my behaviors into an autism context.
My wife has turned around in her thinking, but it took a long time to settle into her mind.
No single trait is unique to autism - or NOT autism. Autism is a collection of traits that frequently appear together. Not all autistic people have identical collections. If you have met one autistic person, you have met one autistic person. the next may be different.How does one separate them as things I once assumed to be my unique character I was surprized to find them to be autism traits. BUT what is me? What parts are me?