What's the earliest sign you showed of autism?

[the_tortoise]

I didn't approve at first, I thought it was going to just be something else wrong with me, not something that explained everything else that had gone on in my life.

I can relate. Growing up, I became really defensive really early about any hint that someone thought something was wrong with me. (In addition to not understanding their perspectives about stuff being wrong with me, I wanted to avoid their attempts to fix me.....people's help was usually the opposite of helpful.)

And I still don't like being Aspie, I can't get a job, I'm still single at 41, and still a Virgin (and I don't mean I work for Branson)

I'm okay with being autistic but sometimes I'm sad about being neurodevelopmentally disabled (I say it this way because I have autism and ADHD -- which I'm also okay, with on the whole -- and I don't know how to separate them in terms of how they affect my life) ....because it's hard, and I get tired and frustrated with things being so hard.

 

[fairy_girl]

I would talk to my dolls and then line them up in perfect order from tallest to smallest. It wasn't that I was doing it for attention, it just needed to be put in that order. My hand flapping was just considered a quirk, I seemed to have alot of those little things.

 

[Schism]

Interesting for me how many people have mentioned clothes and certain fabrics, nylon in particular. Much to my mother's horror, she'd dress me up in pretty dresses & the minute she turned her back I'd be running around in just pants & barefoot. I hated shoes & long hair too. Still do!
Itchy nylon brings me out in a rash & the feel of it makes me feel sick. I get this odd feeling in my hands sometimes of having to hold??? - I call it sticklebricks? It's a physical sensation - suppressed memory maybe which I can liken to fingernails on a blackboard response. Horrendous memories of a grandmother who insisted on nylon sheets. Other grandmother gave me flannelette, which I would love to stroke & found great comfort in. My favorite gran!
I also spend most of my time up a tree rather than interact with other children. I had a 'pet' praying mantis on an outside tap & a chameleon I considered my friend & obsessed over the the cover of the Jungle Book daily (had the album, not the book). Other children I wasn't remotely interested in apart from an awareness of their family was how 'normal' was supposed to be. It was totally surreal to me, like looking into a dolls house.

 

[dragonfire42]

I don't know if it was the earliest sign, but I do know that I had obsessions very early on. My first was insects and other arthropods. My parents say that one of my first words was "caterpillar," and my earliest distinct memory is of holding a book out to a spider and calling "Here, spider!" because I wanted to hold it but didn't want to risk getting bitten. I was probably two or three at the time.

 

[Kalinychta]

When I was a baby, I cried a lot and would self-soothe by banging my head against the bars of my crib. Head-banging turned to rocking when I became a toddler.

 

[Streetwise]

maybe Squeezing mashed potato between my fingers

 

[Progster]

A lot of frustration meltdowns and lack of social interaction, not wanting to wear certain items of clothing or not understanding things like: the family is getting ready to go out, that means that I'm going out, too. Wanting the same story read, or the same song over and over again and strange fixations - Sellotape, of all things!

 

[Kalinychta]

A lot of frustration meltdowns and lack of social interaction, not wanting to wear certain items of clothing or not understanding things like: the family is getting ready to go out, that means that I'm going out, too. Wanting the same story read, or the same song over and over again and strange fixations - Sellotape, of all things!

Is that an autism thing? Reading the same stories over and over or listening to the same songs over and over? I've done that my entire life, too. That's common amongst autistic people?

 

[Progster]

Is that an autism thing? Reading the same stories over and over or listening to the same songs over and over? I've done that my entire life, too. That's common amongst autistic people?

Probably, it was a fixation I had with the story or a particular song. I think it's quite common among autistic people - watching the same video over and over again is another one I have heard that autistic people do, though with me it was mainly music.

 

[Bolletje]

When I was four I cut the grass on my parents’ lawn with a pair of scissors, trying to make all the grass exactly even.

 

[HannahMarie]

I'm not sure if I'm on the spectrum or not, but I'd say the earliest possible sign was the meltdowns I had when I was a toddler. I'd even hurt myself (bang my head into a hard surface, or scratch myself till I was bleeding). My mom thought I just had a "temper", and according to her, I didn't throw tantrums to get my way a whole lot like a lot of kids do. I just seemed to flare up for whatever reason (could have possibly been sensory issues, but who knows. I was obviously too young to remember now). I only did this for a short period of time though...pretty much just at ages 1 and 2. I became almost the opposite as I got to be 3-4. I was actually very shy (I think I even had selective mutism to a degree) and I never even would have had a meltdown in public or in front of people, because I didn't want to draw attention to myself and would never want to cry or show emotion around unfamiliar people.

 

[Streetwise]

A lot of frustration meltdowns and lack of social interaction, not wanting to wear certain items of clothing or not understanding things like: the family is getting ready to go out, that means that I'm going out, too. Wanting the same story read, or the same song over and over again and strange fixations - Sellotape, of all things!

How did you like Sellotape? I was alright if I put it on my leg for a second ,but I got it on my hand I got panicky.

 

[SDRSpark]

I don't know about the earliest, but the strongest early sign that I remember, is that I would stim constantly. I would rock back and forth so hard in the car that I would slam my head into the car seat, repeatedly, until I got a headache. I would spend hours with my blankie over my head, rolling back and forth to music. I trashed two mattresses this way - I wore them until the springs popped through. The second mattress, I was embarrassed to tell my parents that I'd destroyed yet another mattress so I put duct tape over the holes. Eventually my mom noticed the bloody holes in my PJs (the springs were coming through and tearing my skin) and I had to confess to destroying yet another bed. (I was a teenager by this point.) I would do the same thing with a sleeping bag, get upside down in the sleeping bag (head first) and roll back and forth to music. Or I would get on my knees and spin my head around and around in circles. Or I would spin in circles.

I disappeared from class one day when I was in early elementary school (not sure what age) - the teacher panicked and called my mom, who asked if I was outside (because at home I had a tendency to go out). They checked and found me - alone in the middle of the soccer field, spinning.

If that's not stereotypical autism I don't know what is, and I think the only reason why I wasn't diagnosed is because Aspbergers/high functioning autism was just becoming a known thing and it wasn't a diagnosis given to girls at the time (mid 90s).

 

[Progster]

How did you like Sellotape? I was alright if I put it on my leg for a second ,but I got it on my hand I got panicky.

I'm not sure, I was very small and it's mainly my mum who remembers this... I think I liked sticking and unsticking it on things, perhaps I liked the sensation.

 

[Aspychata]

Okay, so l read all the books my age in the children library. It was my goal actually. I had a obsession to go to girlfriend's house after school and spend time putting on, taking barbie shoes. l was memorized by the little shoes and of course listening to dark shadows opening and ending credits. I had issues emotionally throughout childhood. I felt there was something wrong with me because l was content to stay in my room during high school which bugged my mom. l thought it was gross a guy kissed me in jr high. I was so painfully shy, l did my tap dance final only when other students weren't there. I had to be reminded to take showers during jr teen years. l would listen to music over and over. l could sit in my bed and reflect for hours about how materialistic my parents were, and if this was a good thing. l was so shy in high school, l was accused of being stuck-up. l can't have my toes tightly covered with sheets and blankets, it really bothers me. l am not quite as fussy as l use to be. l use to get headaches from too many people downtown in a major city during high school years, but that tapered off.

 

[anxiety247]

I mean what would be the first red flag that you think could have been a trait growing up?

I hated baked beans to the point that I wouldn't eat anything that had been next to the beans. I remember being given a meal at by a friends mum with beans on top of the chips and I didn't eat any of it.

I also used to cry if the train didn't show up on the Magic Roundabout

I never even had the thought I had anything like aspergers because I didnt really knowing anything. But now that I know, I can basically lay my whole life out and have an explanation for everything that has happened in my life.

Double for the not liking baked beans. I remember as a kid I was feeling sick and that night I was doing my best to sleep and not throw up but my mind kept thinking about baked beans and I guess I always relate them to barf ever since. I’ve never tried them either but the smell is pretty awful lol my bf gets annoyed when I wont eat anything if there is baked beans touching it

 

[hiraeth]

Lol. I didn't start talking until I was 3, and then when I did I only just parroted back random things I heard adults say that didn't make any sense whatsoever. I was actually told that "we were so afraid you would be autistic, and once you started actually talking we were SO relieved".

hahahaha.

 

[ASD_Geek]

From the time that I was a baby, I would band my head into my crib and rock myself so much that my parents told me that due to my rocking, my crib would move from the wall into the center of the room. They also said that they would have to frequently tighten all of the nuts and bolts because of my rocking. This continued through my childhood, teen years and even now as an adult, I have to rock myself to sleep. It causes some issues because the rocking movement is so much that it affects my wife's ability to be comfortable and sleep.

 

[Tony Ramirez]

To start my sister has full autism and I use to wonder why I did some things that she did but not everything.

Also growing up with my cousins was quite difficult. They thought I was weird how I did not like to socialize and how I liked to stay by myself instead DX Radio stations for hours while they were on the phone or out with there friends. They tried to include me which was a big fail eventually ditching me anyway.

Then after hearing about Aspergers and the false stereotype that they are smart in school and great in math I was the pollar opposite actually my cousins excelled in school and I just about passed. They tutoring me was touture they actually made learning worse tutoring.

Now I socializing much more going to only one Church group where they understand I did not tell them I have Asperger's but they must know but don't judge unlike my cousins.

 

[SimplyWandering]

Not the earliest, but when I was a kid (and even now) socks not on me correctly would bother the hell out of me and I would keep changing them until they fit.

I would watch the same tv programs over and over and rock myself in a soft blanket.

Tuna could only be eaten cold, if it was heated or cheese was melted on it, I would not eat it. I always got teased about this. It changes the texture and taste!