Adults On The Autism Spectrum

Posted by Mamacita, Alumna Mentor @mamacita, Apr 29, 2018

Maybe you were really shy as a child. Perhaps you took home a huge stack of books from the school library, read them, and returned them the next day. Or did your best friend find you crying in your closet, unable to answer the question "Why?" At any rate, your life could be traced to the Self-Help section of the local bookstore. Unfortunately, most of the books were not much help. ADHD seemed to fit, at times. Your shrink said you might be Bi-Polar, although she wasn't really certain. All you knew was that you rarely fit in, anywhere. One day at work, it hit you square in the face: I don't speak these people's language! Really, it was like you were all playing this game, and everyone knew the rules but you. You couldn't tell a joke, and you never "got" any joke your co-worker tried to tell you. People started getting annoyed with you, because you had a memory like a steel trap. They didn't appreciate it when you called them on the carpet. Who knew? This was my life, and worse. I finally aced several tests that pointed me to the answer to my questions. The Autism Spectrum. Guess what? Little kids with Autism grow up to be Adults with Autism. Diagnosed late in life? This is the place for you!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Autism (ASD) Support Group.

@sirgalahad

indeed I was making a general comment in that we in Australia get a running commentary regarding presidential elections in our newspapers radio for the next 18months I don't wanna know except the really sad impact of policies on the elderly mentally physically and spiritually ill which makes me really really sad

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@sirgalahad I understand. The impact of the current policies makes me sad as well.

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@gingerw

@sirgalahad Please be gentle on yourself. Dealing like you do with stressful news can't be good on your system over the long haul.
Ginger

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thank you miss ginger in regards to cancer I work at westmead children's oncology unit westmead Sydney and I spen lots of time working with blood and scanning blood slides for cancer and chemo treatment and also xmatches blood transfusion for surgeries etc .
no I am really sad because we as a family are genetically definetly to get cancer . we either have BRCA 1 OR 2 and that leads to a variety of cancers . my issue is that my eldest sister had a major falling out years ago because I wouldn't fund her travel to INDIA AND HER STUDIES TO BECOME A GURU .SHE NEVER FORGAVE AMD . also I WORK IN BLOOD AND CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIO ISOTOPE SAND PET SCANS .WHILE her world was naturaltherapies and herbal mediecine I believ that it has its place but not with major diseases like cancer to aid recovery yes but not and wont kill off the cancer cells

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Well,@sirgalahad, we can talk their ears off but we can't make them see the light. They have to see the light for themselves.

You keep shining your light, doing God's work for those precious children.

Mamacita

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Greeting my friends from New Mexico! Thanks to my Grandson I am finally able to post a message to you! Wi fi here at our lovely hotel has been on the blink. I had a good message to you all written up the very first day. A phone message blew it out of the water.

I am really glad we came here. I have met two special education experts while I have been here, one who specializes in Autism. I have been giving out Mayo Clinic Connect fliers coming and going to people who need them. Our physical conditions have not fared too well in this elevated atmosphere. But what we lack in physical strength we find more than enough strength powered by our Great Father Above. We are in Indian territory, so I am smack dab in the middle of my roots. We are blessed.

I have so much to share with you when we get home. Take good care of yourselves and remember, we are better together.

Mamacita

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On the road again, Auties and Allies. This time to see the Grands in Georgia. We had a marvelous time in New Mexico and I can't wait to go back sometime!

I have this awesome catalog that arrived awhile back. Almost every single thing in it has to to with the Spectrum. Several books really spoke to my heart. One is about co-morbidities that frequently appear alongside our commonly held Autism traits. Strengths and challenges alike are dealt with in various ways.

The first book deals with anxiety. The second book specifically addresses the topic of Adult Asperpers. Although technically this term is no longer used in clinical settings, many of us were diagnosed at a time when it was indeed used. Some of us still refer to ourselves as Aspie, and even write blogs about it.

While attending our conference in New Mexico, a dear friend described me to another individual as "High Functioning Autistic." I may have winced a little bit at that, mainly because the Auties I communicate with have entirely washed their hands of the idea of using " function levels" in describing children or adults.

No matter. Peace out.

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@mamacita

On the road again, Auties and Allies. This time to see the Grands in Georgia. We had a marvelous time in New Mexico and I can't wait to go back sometime!

I have this awesome catalog that arrived awhile back. Almost every single thing in it has to to with the Spectrum. Several books really spoke to my heart. One is about co-morbidities that frequently appear alongside our commonly held Autism traits. Strengths and challenges alike are dealt with in various ways.

The first book deals with anxiety. The second book specifically addresses the topic of Adult Asperpers. Although technically this term is no longer used in clinical settings, many of us were diagnosed at a time when it was indeed used. Some of us still refer to ourselves as Aspie, and even write blogs about it.

While attending our conference in New Mexico, a dear friend described me to another individual as "High Functioning Autistic." I may have winced a little bit at that, mainly because the Auties I communicate with have entirely washed their hands of the idea of using " function levels" in describing children or adults.

No matter. Peace out.

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@mamacita Your journey sounds marvelous on many levels. Thanks for checking in and letting us know you are okay!
Ginger

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Function levels are out dated and inappropriate. They only serve to reflect ability or lack of it, during one moment of time. Functioning levels are like a quick snapshot, as opposed to a portrait, painstakingly crafted in the most beautiful detail.

If you saw a picture of me, only one picture, you would have in your mind a picture of an older lady standing in the hot son. Perspiration dripping down my face. Dress sticking to me, eyes squinting as I look around to the many relatives who have just gathered at my cousins' burial.

What I have just described is the picture you see of me when you read or comment in Mayo Clinic Connect, Adults on the Autism Spectrum. But that is not me in my entirety. I am so much more than that. And I got here with the help of friends who would do anything to help me. And did. You are so much more than a functioning label. Let's talk about strategies, skills, and resources to help us live up to our awesome potential, instead.

Who's with me?

Mamacita

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Hi Ginger! I'm pooped! Gonna take a nap. Talk to you later! Love and light!

Mamacita

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@mamacita

I was always different. As a small child, I didn't realize I was different. I only knew as early as the age of three or four that I wanted to kill myself. I had it all planned out how I would do that. If I failed, I planned to run away from home, and I had that figured out as well. That would mean leaving my beloved Father behind. But I knew my Mother didn't care about me, so, I figured I had no choice. She was mentally ill, having suffered terribly at the hands of an abusive male relative for many years. She would frequently tell me all kinds of things that unsettled me. That she was not my "real" mother, that she was just watching me until she could come to get me. In a very real sense, she was not my real mother. My "real" Mother was one of two ladies hired by my Father to take care of me when I was born. My biological mother had a difficult time accepting motherhood. She had some sort of breakdown when I was born, and was unable to care for me. After a year, my parents could no longer afford two nannies. But they let the wrong one go. Just like in the film the Help, I was that little girl crying and screaming, begging the woman who had loved her and raised her not to go. I could read before I went to school, and was used as a teacher's aide to help other kids learn to read and write. I was playing the piano for church services at the age of six, and teaching my third grade class their music lessons at the insistence of my teacher. I had superior hearing, off the charts, actually, when I was finally tested as an adult. I read a huge stack of books every day after school, returned them the next day, then checked out another stack. I felt that if I read enough, one day I would figure it all out. I ended up becoming a Social Worker, then a Special Educator. I read temple Grandin's book, Thinking In Pictures, and was stunned. I had not known until then, that other people did not think in pictures. This was a very big deal to me. I worked directly under a Psychologist for the school system for three years, trying to help a child on the Spectrum to find her place. I suspected at the time that I had ADHD, and had already been diagnosed with Depression. I was already collecting labels by the fistful, and certainly did not desire anymore. But I always knew there was more to me than just depression. Long after I was transferred to another position in the school system, I began studying more about Autism. It was only after the ADHD medicines had become ineffective that I began to understand there was indeed a Spectrum, and that all people with Autism did not present exactly the same way. I am very sociable, for example. I never meet a stranger. I know now that I was miserable for so long, I want to do everything I can to encourage other people struggling with life. Around five or so years ago, I think, I began to read bits and pieces from a woman named Samantha Craft. She wrote Everyday Aspergers, and had a long list of traits that might present in females. This was very significant, because until about this time, most medical professionals didn't recognize Autism in females, except for extreme cases. We know now that girls are much better at "masking" or mimicking what is considered to be normal or typical behavior. After remaining open to the possibility that I could be on the Spectrum, I began to take a series of tests that are commonly given as part of the process in determining Spectrum disorders. It must be understood that I was extremely motivated in determining the truth. I had absolutely no desire whatsoever to attempt to make my scores high enough to "fit" the diagnosis. For me, this was a life or death matter. I have limited access to competent medical professionals who have had good success in working with persons on the Spectrum. Where I live, the closest place would be Birmingham, AL. I am raising a thirteen year old, have various health conditions, and a dear husband who is on immunosuppressant therapy. My days are filled with Homeschool and cleaning, so that his many allergies to not put him in respiratory distress. If I ever manage to have the time to get an appointment with a really good Psychiatrist an hour and a half's drive away, it will be just one more affirmation. I know where I come from and I know where I belong. The Spectrum is a perfect fit for me. My brain is just wired differently. All my senses are heightened to the nth degree. Things that used to torment me, now make sense. Sorry this is so long. I have actually left out an awful lot.

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people do and we auties do its called sysnesthesia and see in pictures or colours

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@mamacita

Hi Ginger! I'm pooped! Gonna take a nap. Talk to you later! Love and light!

Mamacita

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hi big sis welcome home

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