Great article, although I am surprised at the number of people who get diagnosed as adults. Not getting diagnosed as a child in the 60's/70's was understandable. Not getting diagnosed in the 90's/00's seems like a failure of the school system. They should be better at this by now.
I am an OLD autistic. From the "dark ages". When I was a child I was labeled a "retard" and my father had me sterilized.
Labels have consequences. Because I was a “retard”, my father had me sterilized.
I totally relate to your 7 signs.
#1. I do the "stimming" thing. Although for some reason I hate that word. Being brutally honest it's because the word makes me think of masturbation.
#2. So many Autistics are HUGE READERS. I suspect it's because of how our brains process symbolic thoughts. Everything is JUST SYMBOLS to us and we master symbolic thinking in a way that the NT's do not. I also wrote about that.
Watching TV with my Grandmother and learning to read.
Reading may be "fundamental" but it's not "natural".
#3. Still hate sudden noises.
#4. Hated social gatherings, developed ability to disappear, love silent environments.
#5. Picky eating seems common. I thought this was due to anosmia (my father broke my nose when I was 4 and I have 0 sense of smell) but perhaps it was autism.
#6. Not like that at ALL. Much more like Affleck in "The Accountant" (2016). Was a Navy Seal in 70's/80's. Ability to hyperfocus on microdetails. Built models and dioramas as child. Brown belt in two martial arts. EOD in the Navy. Hunter from childhood with rifle and bow. Climber in teens and 20's.
Some of us have a "hyper physicality" that I suspect derives from the neural 'overgrowth' associated with autism in many of the newest studies. The idea of "hyperstimulus" causing processing overload and sensory motor dysfunction seems to be the most common outcome.
#7. I was a strange baby.
I started talking very early, but I rarely said anything unprompted. I rocked a lot in my crib making hooting sounds. I didn’t like wearing clothes and would take them off without regard to other people. And sometimes, I would have “screaming fits” for “no good reason”.
The commonality of this experience supports the idea of hyperstimulus. It is also an "early intervention" diagnostic.
Here are some other's you might consider.
Synesthesia. Almost every autistic I have known in my life has had some form of this. As a child mine was SEVERE at times.
I’m having a lot of Synesthesia the last few months.
When I "see" text in my head, the words are always in different sizes, shapes, and colors. They "feel" different on my tongue, fingers, and body. They move and flow. Sometimes like water, sometimes like snowflakes, sometimes like a swarm of bees.
My perception of WORDS is not common but lots of autistics "see" numbers in color.
GAZE AVOIDANCE - this is diagnostic because it can start in VERY EARLY childhood. We ALL understand this one.
Anyway, lots of bursty thoughts and staccato typing. Doing three things at once LOL.
Loved Article.
Following.
