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I'm Writing A Book About What It's Like

Reedstorm17

Reedstorm17

Well-Known Member
So, last March I started writing a book called 2/29. The book is basically my life story, or at least a major part of it. It's about what it's like to be a teen with high-functioning autism.

Today, I reached the part of the book where I will explain a lot of the struggles of Asperger's Syndrome. I don't want to leave anything out, so does anyone have something that it might be good to explain in my book?
 
One of the things that stood out for me as a teen (and still does, sometimes) was shutting down when overwhelmed.
For example, sitting in the middle of a birthday dinner in a busy restaurant and getting so overwhelmed by all the different people talking and the background noises that I try to retreat into my own head to shut everything out. I stop talking, I stop making eye contact, sometimes I have to close my eyes altogether to prevent myself from crying. This behavior doesn't go unnoticed and I remember getting into a huge argument with my mother because she thought I was ruining my father's birthday by being moody. This ended with me locking myself in the bathroom to get some peace and quiet and my mother kicking the door to get me to come out. At this point none of us were aware I had ASD, we all just knew that I'd occasionally get so uncomfortable at large gatherings that I would flee to a quiet room and cry uncontrollably for reasons beyond my comprehension.

My mom might sound like a horrible person in this story, but in truth she just desperately wanted me to behave like the friendly, funny, functional human being I usually appeared to be, or for short, act normal.
 
I definitely have experienced this shutting down when I'm overwhelmed. I've mentioned it a few times briefly throughout the story, but there's a point further on where I plan to elaborate on it.
 
Bolletje said:
One of the things that stood out for me as a teen (and still does, sometimes) was shutting down when overwhelmed.
For example, sitting in the middle of a birthday dinner in a busy restaurant and getting so overwhelmed by all the different people talking and the background noises that I try to retreat into my own head to shut everything out. I stop talking, I stop making eye contact, sometimes I have to close my eyes altogether to prevent myself from crying. This behavior doesn't go unnoticed and I remember getting into a huge argument with my mother because she thought I was ruining my father's birthday by being moody. This ended with me locking myself in the bathroom to get some peace and quiet and my mother kicking the door to get me to come out. At this point none of us were aware I had ASD, we all just knew that I'd occasionally get so uncomfortable at large gatherings that I would flee to a quiet room and cry uncontrollably for reasons beyond my comprehension.

My mom might sound like a horrible person in this story, but in truth she just desperately wanted me to behave like the friendly, funny, functional human being I usually appeared to be, or for short, act normal.
Click to expand...

Oh wow, I'd never have even thought of this...but reading your post has made me remember the numerous times this happened to me growing up. Pretty much exactly as you've described, even down to people telling me to stop being in such a bad mood, except it would have been my Dad rather than my Mum making a point.

To be honest, they know now that I'm an aspie, but it wouldn't make any difference as they've pretty much decided the diagnosis is wrong. They can think what they like though, as they haven't really been all that accepting of any of the diagnoses I've received.

Thank you so much for your reply to this thread :smile:
 
My parents have known pretty much my entire life, so they usually understand why I'm overwhelmed, but they still push me to at least try to stay focused.
 
I would love to read your book! I hope it does really well. One of my biggest struggles is loneliness. I have a real hard time making friends so I have spent much of my life lonely.
 
This is my first draft of it, so it may be a while before it gets published. I could post a few paragraphs of it while I'm still working on it, though.
 
One thing I struggle with is how to best raise my aspie daughter. Even as an aspie myself I sometimes have no idea what is best for my girl. There are no clear cut rules for how to raise neurodiverse children.

Misunderstandings from the general population can also be a struggle.
 
When I look back on the way I've been raised, I feel like it was the best way possible. There's just one regret, which is a main point in my book.
 
Reedstorm17 said:
This is my first draft of it, so it may be a while before it gets published. I could post a few paragraphs of it while I'm still working on it, though.
Click to expand...

If you would like help proofreading sometime in the future send me a message.
 
That's awesome. I love to write but do not possess the talent nor persistence to write a full novel.

I think now especially, growing up in the time of the internet, there is a sense of isolation in that there are so many people out there to connect with and yet I am still alone. I've been lucky not to experience a lot of harsh bullying, but interacting with peers is still difficult. I have acquaintances in my classes, but getting to the next step of making them my friend is still quite elusive.
 
That's basically how my life has been. No one's necessarily mean to me, but I still don't quite fit in. I've come to accept that, but it's still kind of hard sometimes.
 
So, about fifteen minutes ago, I was writing my book, and I ended up explaining in words why I can remember the exact date several things have happened. I didn't even really know until I wrote about it, and it felt great to realize I could finally explain another major thing about myself.
 
Might be an idea to start blogging small chunks of it. Blogs can get popular and if you get a readership you will have a base to launch your book at.

You will also get good feedback.
 
reedstorm,ill definitely read your book,we need more spectrumers telling their story as there is so much garbage out there saying we have to fit a cookie cutter style of HFA or LFA, the more we talk the more people will listen.

have you got a publisher?
I tried writing a book once about my experiences with autism but I just waffled and waffled as I cant edit my long train of thinking.
 
I'm starting to look for a publisher for my first fiction book (this is my third book), although the teacher who said he'd help me find one hasn't gotten back to me, so there's no way of knowing exactly when I'll get past the self-editing phase. I'm getting near the end of the first draft, so if I had to guess I'd say it'll probably be published sometime while I'm in college, depending.
 
This sounds awesome! I love reading about people's experiences with autism. I'd love to read your book when you're ready to share.
 
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