Feeling isolated? You're not alone.
Join 20,000+ people who understand exactly how your day went. Whether you're newly diagnosed, self-identified, or supporting someone you love – this is a space where you don't have to explain yourself.
Join the Conversation → It's free, anonymous, and supportive.
As a member, you'll get:
You've found your people. Create your free account
Well, the primary experience from someone with an ASD-1/Asperger's variant is that "it didn't exist". We didn't understand that we were experiencing our world in a very different way than everyone else. Why? We didn't talk about it... with anyone. Culturally and socially, we were just expected to be like everyone else. It was a very simple mindset... you weren't given the option of social isolation, avoiding people, learning life skills, working... and you were expected to leave the house at 18. Our parents cut that umbilical cord if we liked it or not... we didn't have anything to say about it... mainly because we were absolutely NOT allowed to have a conversation with our parents nor express feelings. We were to be seen and not heard... we were quickly punished if we spoke our minds. Any "behaviors" were quickly dealt with with physical punishment. Autism wasn't part of the vernacular... we never heard of it... at all... until the 1990s. **I say "we", as in that was the cultural and social expectation of everyone in typical mid-West US.
