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Hey there

Violet_Poised19

New Member
Hey, my name is Violet and im new here. I joined because as of late I’ve been coming more to terms with my autism and I guess iI just need some advice or help idk.

I was diagnosed with high functioning autism when I was three or four. It was something I always knew I had at a young age but it was something I never understood what it was until couple of years ago. I used to live in a small town so my family had very minimal resources on autism.

Like example; I didn’t know what stimming was until I saw somebody talking about on Tumblr a few years ago. Now my hours of pacing around the house makes sense.

It makes me feel sad that I, an autistic person, didnt and still doesnt the basic stuff about Autism. Like I missed out on a lot and just been wearing a mask. Is it like normal for y’all? Has anyone experience something similar to me?
 
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I only began reading about autism this year, and it made a lot of sense. I mask a lot during the day. It's only when I'm at home on my own, or with my partner that I can truly be myself. Even around my parents I mask - it's exhausting pretending to be normal, when underneath the surface I feel so uncomfortable pretending.

I'm currently waiting for an official assessment for Autism and ADHD. It can feel quite shocking when you read about traits, behaviours and tics and realise that these experiences are very common and normal for people on the spectrum. All the things I keep hidden I felt were strange or defective, and reading about the spectrum helped me to normalise these behaviours.

Of course, everyone is different in life - and whilst you'll probably read and discuss numerous similarities with other people on this forum, each person has a unique approach to living with and adapting to their condition.

This community is very welcoming. Whether you prefer to read other's experiences or share your own - you'll find invaluable information here.

Ed
 
I am sure many of us can relate and have had similar experiences. Although no two of us is exactly alike we do have a lot of common ground. I did certain repetitive motions for years and had no idea why. Then I learned I was on the spectrum and it was called stimming (light bulb comes on in head). I haven't really looked into why we do it beside reading some of the posts on threads here. I am not sure they know exactly. My own observation is it seems to help relax me, or perhaps is a place to put nervous energy. Maybe it helps create a sort of ambient mental noise that helps drown out rambling or over busy thoughts.
 
Hi and welcome. Many of us who are older grew up masking behaviour that doesn't seem to fit with expectations of others, and not knowing that we were on the autistic spectrum. You seem to have not known much about it except having the diagnosis, so it wasn't all that useful to have that, but actually once you do get information about autism, it's possible to understand yourself better, and to find better strategies to manage in the world, I have found.

Hopefully being here, and using the resources and discussion threads, will help you find out more, and use the ideas and support here to get strategies for difficulties in your life that autism effects may cause. I hope you enjoy it here.

:swimmer::rowboat::surfer::snowboarder::runner::walking::rocket:
 
Well, hello there!

I know how you feel. I didn't have a label to put on my feelings until I was 59. All those years thinking all kinds of scenarios about why I am like who I am. Asperger's (aka autism level 1) fit like a key. Understanding why I am what I am doesn't change who I am but it makes stuff that happens so much easier to understand.
 
Hello Violet and welcome, yes for myself and many i think not knowing why i was different, and outstanding at English but struggled with friendships and people generally was very frustrating and troubling, my late diagnosis was a good/bad thing in my mind as Autism is a life long condition and not something i can remove, so i found here about 6 monlths ago and realised the stuff i felt and my 'way of being' was reflected at times within this community, this has given me insight, help with my self acceptance and be it on-line given me a big group to be a part of, no masking required here!!!!
 
Hi @Violet_Poised19

Welcome to the Forums - there is a lot of info in here as well as a wealth of experience.

Hang around a bit, search through older threads and just join in
 

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