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Hello! I am a young adult. While I do have an ASD that is not Aspergers, I do question the origin of my ASD. When I was three years old, they did this test called the DPII and reported that my Social domain was an area of strength like engaging in eye contact with my mother, playing Pat-a-Cake, waving bye, and responding to my name when my mother calls me. But when I was one year old, I was delayed by 50% in Motor, Language, and Cognition Domains. Social and Communication domains was delayed only 25%. When I was eight years old, I was diagnosed with PDD-NOS at 11 years old. My school district had me on an IEP but kept changing diagnosis from Mental retardation to Speech and Language Impairment to Specific Learning Disability and back to Speech and Language Impairment. I did suddenly changed schools in 3rd grade at 8 years, where I was unable to make any friends. I grew more depressed and isolated because of lack of friends and socialization on top of being placed into a Resource Room for my education 75% of the day. I don't know if my diagnoses that was changed to Autism caused by the environmental factors like moving into a new school or my premature birth at less than 500 grams. These days when I'm in my community college, I feel quite like an outsider. I feel like everyone in the class can socialize in a way that I felt have not "acquired" everyone else's style of communicating. I always get the thought in my head "Why on earth when others communicate I feel completely out of place?." Do you think the same way?
Replies to "Hello! I am a young adult. While I do have an ASD that is not Aspergers,..."
Hi there, @justint95. Welcome to this gathering of those on the Spectrum. Many of us here have felt very similar feelings ourselves. Even today I find myself wanting to be sociable, yet not wanting to stray outside my comfort zone. If I had not lived on a hall at University filled with people who were already friends, I might never have made a friend my entire time there. I was too busy trying to learn what the professor was saying, frantically taking notes, and struggling to pick up on what was "normal" behavior so I could mask it all and fit in. That was my main issue with higher education.
With my first job, it was the same situation. Trying so hard to learn the language, the structure, and what was expected of me. It was overwhelming. I became pretty successful at what I was doing in my work. People liked me, and I felt that I had more than a few friends. Then we moved to another city and I had to learn the ways of my new job all over again. Except these co-workers were harder, tougher, and more difficult to understand. Fortunately for me, we had a wonderful family in our church home. They accepted me, quirks and all. Music was an entry way into the social life of the church. Really, the only social life I had at all. I played the piano for worship services and felt like I had arrived home.
Later on, I joined a sports club and became very active there. I had a few friends who were members of the gym, and one of the instructors became a good friend. We had a few neighbors that we were friendly with, but mostly it was church. I have ear plugs that I use when we go to a restaurant that is very loud. We limit our activities to no more then two biggies per day. We do self care and space out the day into three sections, the middle one being the time when I re-charge my batteries. I have learned that one must invest time into other people if we want to have and keep friends. If we can only venture out of our comfort zones once in awhile and test the waters with a special interest group, we may just find that it can be fun. Often we Spectrum dwellers worry too much about what we think other people are thinking. Most neurotypicals are pretty much concentrating on what they want out of life. They may notice us, may even like us. But if we are never up for an activity, or a cup of coffee, we might just miss out on a great friendship.
Welcome to the table. We are here to just sit with you and listen, if that is what you need. We tend to talk about a wide range of subjects. I was misdiagnosed for many years. Tests are great in helping to decide, perhaps, what one is not. My rule of thumb is to look at the possibilities, not the negativities. We are all different. But we have a lot of similarities as well. We can help each other in so many ways. Just by sharing what we have been through, we can show that it is possible not only to survive, but thrive. You have gifts that you will find useful. You are quite capable in more ways than you can imagine. I hope you will come back and tell us more about yourself. We would love to have you here!
Mamacita
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@justint95 Welcome here to our cyber table. No doubt there are others here who can relate to what you have written. Yes, I think the same way, and find interaction with some members of my family make it seem even more pronounced.
Ginger