What's the earliest sign you showed of autism?

[Full Steam]

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

 

[rainfall]

For me, as an infant I would scream and cry when someone tried to put me on grass. As a young child I couldn't stand anything between my toes or fingers to the point that I would spend 20-30 minutes trying to pick nothing out of them. lol I lined up my toys on my dresser, everything needing it's place. I was also an extremely picky eater among other things.

I haven't been officially diagnosed so I don't know if it's ok to post here, but those are the things I'd say for me.

 

[Lady Penelope]

Eugh.... I HATED baked beans with such a passion!
My Mum worked night shift and my Dad would have to feed us. My older sister ate baked beans which meant I had to eat them too. Apparently (as family lore goes) I flat out refused to eat them and Dad told me I had to sit at the table until I finished them. I fell asleep at the table.
They were from a tin and the consistency and texture and taste and smell was the worst thing on the planet to me.

Back to topic;
I reckon it was my obsession as a baby with soft items. I would rub a satin blanket trim across my lips. I loved soft clothes and hated scratchy fabrics and restrictive skivvys and itchy tights to the point of tears.

It could also have been my desire to be on my own. As far back as I could remember I disliked playing with groups of kids and found the forced social interaction called 'play time' uncomfortable. I found it hard to talk to people too. I was always in my head an awful lot. Still am.

I also taught myself to read and write before I started school. Apparently that's not NT either...

After speaking to a psychologist this year, it was pointed out that most kids play make believe with their toys. I preferred to make collections, line them up, make patterns, play with them as animals (removing their ridiculous clothes), etc.

Based on the above, it beats me why it took 36 years and my own research to finally be diagnosed.

 

[louloulovesdogs]

As an infant I screamed and cried if anyone but my parents tried to hold me. I also hated all "itchy fabrics" which included many things everyone else thought was soft, to the point that I would only wear a particular shirt that my mom had gotten in every color and pattern there was and then cut all the tags out. I also taught myself how to read before starting school

 

[Suzanne]

Hide away on firework night.

Not able to make friends, and all who were invited to my party, I did not know and it felt weird. I was about 5, I think.

Could not cope with the "colour" white. Would try and hide to keep it out. But grew out of that, thankfully.

When I was a baby, I was fascinated with tying shoes laces together and so, my poor grandpa would have to spend a lot of time, untangling them. I did not live with them, but I adored them - my grandparents, not the shoes lol.

I was around 5, when I got so angry that I put a dent in a door. I could not cope with injustice. I have no memory of what caused the anger, but I know it was father who did it. I also remember, that because I would not apologise, he refused to speak to me for a month or something.

I remember mother promising that in our new home, she would look after it better and that gave me hope. I must have been 7, because it was that age, when we moved into our new home. She failed to keep her promise and it was even more dirtier than the previous one.

Somehow, despite the fact that I could neither read nor write then, I managed to discifer that if I did not wash my own clothes, I would never have clothes to wear and so, started handwashing.

It was deemed pretty fast that there was something not quite right about me. But all it was said is that I suffer from very low self esteem and seemed antisocial.

When I learned to read at 9, I became obsessed with reading. I hated the tv being on and was able to turn sound off, by concentrating on reading.

Even at a very early age, I felt very scared of the world; I sensed there was something "not quite right" about me, but just tried to survive.

I also loved soft things and because I sucked my thumb, I found such comfort in gliding the soft fabric against my lips.

Hated anything scatchy too and there is a thing called: molehair or something that I actually feel sick with.

Always hated play time rather talk to the teachers that my peers. I would have been quite happy to stay in the class room working.

I had this panic thing, I guess where if I did not take a gulp, I felt I was going to choke. It got the the point, I needed to keep gulping.

Could not deal with brght light. Also, when ever I got anxious, I felt my forhead throbbing, which would make me die with embarrassment.

I wish I had discovered sunglasses when a child, because they would have been my life saver.

I was playing with my dollies when I was 16. I would hide in my bedroom and be a child again.

Was never into teddy bears.

 

[hutchie]

I had one friend when I was small, a girl who lived opposite, and one friend again when I moved south to England, he's obviously special needs now. Yeah i think the signs where there, i was happy in my own little world.

 

[SusanLR]

I realised by the age of three I did not want to play with other children. I didn't like other people in our house and had selective mutism when that happened until age five.

I had to have a daily routine also.
As soon as I was able to walk, first thing after breakfast I would grab a certain large spoon I had and run outside to a certain area to dig in the dirt. As I remember, even then, it was the driving force that I was going to discover some wonderful rock. Rock collecting is my obsessive collecting hobby.
The rest of the day I was contented to play 45 rpm records on a child's record player, one at a time. I had a large box of them a neighbor had given my Mom. When I started putting them in an arrangement, Dad bought the child's player with a spindle for me.

Then came the irritation of wearing clothes as I out grew baby clothes. The cutsie outfits Mom put on me were very uncomfortable and I fussed so much she finally started taking me to the mall to pick what I wanted by feeling it and how it looked to my liking.

I started reading, writing, and drawing cartoons on my own also before age five. And had the uncanny memories of thinking in English before I could even speak and sometimes knowing about somethings I had no knowledge of yet. No one can explain that one.

First day of school was seperation disaster city.
The teacher I was assigned for first grade, (no kindergarten), didn't want me and gave me over to an older teacher. If there had been special needs schools then, I'm sure I would have been put in. Still wasn't making friends either. And it went from there.

 

[Streetwise]

I realised by the age of three I did not want to play with other children. I didn't like other people in our house and had selective mutism when that happened until age five.

I had to have a daily routine also.
As soon as I was able to walk, first thing after breakfast I would grab a certain large spoon I had and run outside to a certain area to dig in the dirt. As I remember, even then, it was the driving force that I was going to discover some wonderful rock. Rock collecting is my obsessive collecting hobby.
The rest of the day I was contented to play 45 rpm records on a child's record player, one at a time. I had a large box of them a neighbor had given my Mom. When I started putting them in an arrangement, Dad bought the child's player with a spindle for me.

Then came the irritation of wearing clothes as I out grew baby clothes. The cutsie outfits Mom put on me were very uncomfortable and I fussed so much she finally started taking me to the mall to pick what I wanted by feeling it and how it looked to my liking.

I started reading, writing, and drawing cartoons on my own also before age five. And had the uncanny memories of thinking in English before I could even speak and sometimes knowing about somethings I had no knowledge of yet. No one can explain that one.

First day of school was seperation disaster city.
The teacher I was assigned for first grade, (no kindergarten), didn't want me and gave me over to an older teacher. If there had been special needs schools then, I'm sure I would have been put in. Still wasn't making friends either. And it went from there.

I'll never understand why people polyester nightgowns in the 1970s i would have loved flannelette
yes i read like it would save my life but so fast that there weren't enough books i prized the little paper library card dont like plastic ones with a barcode creepy

 

[the_tortoise]

Some of the earliest things, from toddlerhood:

I needed far less direct interaction than other children.

I spoke late, and when I started speaking I was either immediately repeating whole strings of what people said or I was singing songs I knew.

I liked to sort my toys into color piles.

The only way to cut my hair or my nails was if I was asleep.

 

[Streetwise]

remember the psalm of david 139:
I praise you because Iam fearfully(respect in this definition)and wonderfully made)

Hide away on firework night.

Not able to make friends, and all who were invited to my party, I did not know and it felt weird. I was about 5, I think.

Could not cope with the "colour" white. Would try and hide to keep it out. But grew out of that, thankfully.

When I was a baby, I was fascinated with tying shoes laces together and so, my poor grandpa would have to spend a lot of time, untangling them. I did not live with them, but I adored them - my grandparents, not the shoes lol.

I was around 5, when I got so angry that I put a dent in a door. I could not cope with injustice. I have no memory of what caused the anger, but I know it was father who did it. I also remember, that because I would not apologise, he refused to speak to me for a month or something.

I remember mother promising that in our new home, she would look after it better and that gave me hope. I must have been 7, because it was that age, when we moved into our new home. She failed to keep her promise and it was even more dirtier than the previous one.

Somehow, despite the fact that I could neither read nor write then, I managed to discifer that if I did not wash my own clothes, I would never have clothes to wear and so, started handwashing.

It was deemed pretty fast that there was something not quite right about me. But all it was said is that I suffer from very low self esteem and seemed antisocial.

When I learned to read at 9, I became obsessed with reading. I hated the tv being on and was able to turn sound off, by concentrating on reading.

Even at a very early age, I felt very scared of the world; I sensed there was something "not quite right" about me, but just tried to survive.

I also loved soft things and because I sucked my thumb, I found such comfort in gliding the soft fabric against my lips.

Hated anything scatchy too and there is a thing called: molehair or something that I actually feel sick with.

Always hated play time rather talk to the teachers that my peers. I would have been quite happy to stay in the class room working.

I had this panic thing, I guess where if I did not take a gulp, I felt I was going to choke. It got the the point, I needed to keep gulping.

Could not deal with brght light. Also, when ever I got anxious, I felt my forhead throbbing, which would make me die with embarrassment.

I wish I had discovered sunglasses when a child, because they would have been my life saver.

I was playing with my dollies when I was 16. I would hide in my bedroom and be a child again.

Was never into teddy bears.

 

[Streetwise]

I didn't like that fact that the background of the magic roundabout wasn't plants bushes and trees, the white colour gave me the creeps, zebedee unnerved me
.
i didnt like vegetables, fruit apart from oranges, strawberries or sometimes pineapple or cherries,loved turnip ,marrowfat peas ,fish with a sauce
nervous on my school report and quiet every year until i was sixteen .
thankfully i attended a private school from 14-16
so i very gradually just stopped attending.
loved possesions stacked by height still do .

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

 

[WereBear]

Probably my insistence on comfortable clothes. When I was an infant my mother would put these lacy things on me, and I would cry until she took them off. It was cheap machine lace and so scratchy.

 

[WittyAspie]

The word my mom used most to describe me when I was growing up was "particular." I knew how I wanted things and wouldn't have it any other way. Clothes bother me, which is why I almost exclusively wear cotton now. Organization is essential for my ability to function. I also used to be a very picky eater. The earliest memory would probably be the way I organized my toys. I have always been neat and tidy. I often find organzing my stuff to be as pleasurable as using it for its intended purpose.

 

[Butterfly88]

My mom tells me when she took me to play group I would stay at her feet most of the time. Toward the end I would grab a toy but return with the toy to her side.

On a side note I actually like baked beans.

 

[Squished Crab]

It is really a shame, because all the signs were in front of everyone. I have a twin sister (not identical) who was always the perfect one. I was labeled as being difficult and/or intentionally oppositional. Even from a very early age, I thought my sister tried way to hard to follow the adult rules that served no purpose. She still does, and I am still considered difficult.

My particular hatred for beans includes the green variety, not baked. I would cry and beg my parents not to make me eat them. They were from a can, and so slimy and disgusting. I remember thinking if they make me eat them I am going to vomit, and I did! Mom said they didn't put them on my plate after that incident.

As a little kid, I read (and reread) the dictionary and all the books in our encyclopedia collection. I loved to read pages while I ate my breakfast. I spoke using big words, and won class and school spelling bee competitions throughout my elementary and middle school years. It was no problem at all for me to memorize large words, or entire lists. When my family sat down for dinner, I took over and had a one sided conversation. My teachers told me that I could be an alternate member in the program for gifted children, since I didn't quite fit in with the group as a whole. I never understood what they were talking about.

I have memories back to being an infant. My mom says that isn't possible, and that I must have heard stories about events. But the things are remember are non-events. I told her the location of a de-humidifier in my bedroom when I was still sleeping in a crib. And when she moved my high chair around, it used to make me angry, ha!

My sister tells me I march to the beat of my own drums. That makes me happy and proud, because yes, I do!

 

[Chance]

I cried when anyone held me
I hated the covers touching me
I hated my diapers, I would pull them off and than get my bare butt spanked
I would get very frightened at loud sudden noises
I wouldn't look people in the eyes, still have huge trouble with that (it just feels wrong)
This would make some people very angry, my mom for one.
I hid when strangers came around, and I mean people had to go find me, kind of hiding.
Later they hid me when people came around, how ironic
I pulled my ears, I covered my ears when being screamed at cause it freaking hurt,
but then people got even madder, because they thought I was defiant.
I flapped my stupid hands (grew out of that quickly thank GOD)
I tapped things all the time, still have to watch myself
I wouldn't eat if the food was touching on my plate, so if I refused I had to go without
I got hungry a lot, because I couldn't do it, I still cant really.
I was horribly picky about food (I feel kind of bad about that) but it is what it is...
I made a clicking noise with my mouth that often got me slapped to make me stop
I made patterns out of anything and everything, and still do
I didn't talk much, still don't care to talk much
I would get dirty but hated being dirty, I love showers I take 3 a day sometimes
I didn't understand how to play pretend with other kids
I didn't like playing with other kids, just give me my crayons and leave me alone...: )
I was really clumsy, more than just normal
I would derail and get off on a totally different subject (GUILTY AS CHARGED)
I still do this and never mean too... So very sorry when I do this.
I was confused on which hand to use, now days its left unless I stop and think on it... Geez
I was always tired, still am, but it was seen as lazy, when I am from from it
I would zone out and somehow not hear anything (it was freaking wonderful)
until someone screamed at me to pay attention
I couldn't understand people giving lectures and stuff, but give me the book and I can teach the teacher.

But with all this stuff... I was just a horribly picky, stubborn, angry, kid...
That was all that was wrong with me... Thats their story and they still stick to it...

The one thing I had to master was pain. I am hypersensitive in touch, hearing and smell. I hated sheets to touch me, so for me to get a beating with a belt, I would nearly lose my mind. So I would concentrate on that not hurting to the point I wouldn't feel it anymore. I felt it, (oh GOD I felt it) but I just found some weird way to block it to keep from going mad. I just become numb and mostly stayed that way.

In my own family, and in this part of Texas the word Autistic means "retarded idiot"... For the most part.
It is getting a little better maybe, but I'm not real sure of that. I'm just a hopeful kind of a guy, even though hope isn't anything more than a beggar.

They don't care what it really means, they dont care about anything but their dysfunctional life views.

So I knew something was way different about me very early in life, but I didn't have a label for it for a long time. I was just told I wasn't going to be a f.... retard, and that was all there was to it.

I am actually just glad to have survived growing up, a lot of people like us don't get that chance.

I think I derailed a little but this is why I have such a hard time understanding anything that deals with NT mindset. I feel like I live in the wrong universe most all the time, but its not so bad, and could be a lot worse.

 

[Chance]

For me, as an infant I would scream and cry when someone tried to put me on grass. As a young child I couldn't stand anything between my toes or fingers to the point that I would spend 20-30 minutes trying to pick nothing out of them. lol I lined up my toys on my dresser, everything needing it's place. I was also an extremely picky eater among other things.

I haven't been officially diagnosed so I don't know if it's ok to post here, but those are the things I'd say for me.

To me Official is just a stupid paper that got me a label I hate. You KNOW or you don't... If you KNOW then you are maybe better off not being labeled! Just my opinion, but it has not helped me out in life one second.

I would hate to think you aren't welcome here, that would deeply upset me.

 

[Ambi]

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 don't flap my hands like I have seen is typical for autistic children, but I would do this sort of twist shake, very rapid. My dad saw me doing it once and told me harshly to stop. That scared me as a child, so I instinctively stopped doing it in front of other people - but I still do it without realizing it when I am alone. My extreme difficulty with making friends, socializing in a way that wasn't annoying, my extreme silence and distress at having to be around people I didn't know (especially peers) my misery, my intense solitary interests. It was all tossed up to a combination of extreme shyness and a wretched/mean personality - but I wasn't shy so much as aware and stressed out by my utter loss at how to enter conversations, how to make friends, how to not be a total social reject and annoyance to other people. The last thing on earth I wanted to was to annoy others and to be humiliated myself, and those things couldn't be avoided when I spoke - even when I was just sitting there I would be treated like I was offensive, for staring at someone without realizing it, or for the expression on my face which apparently offended and disgusted people (I wasn't making any expression that I was aware of). That combined with a natural ease with academics, but the very archaic and perfectionistic use of grammar in my papers (again, not knowing I was doing that). INTENSE and SUSTAINED fantasy world - I used books to launch into them, though movies, anything at all could be used for fantasy material, but once I discovered the fantasy genre, that was my mind home - all I longed for was to be in a different world, where I was considered I could be a different person. It wasn't until I got to college and was in a different world of sorts that I realized that the problem wasn't just the outer situation - now it was very much apparent that I myself was struggling far more than I realized. Social life was IMPOSSIBLE. Academic subjects of interests were a joyful breeze. Very strong distress just encountering people anywhere, especially the dormitory.

 

[Judge]

Well, I didn't learn until I was 50 years old when my mother casually mentioned to me that I didn't begin to speak in full sentences until I was four years old.

Too bad neither of us understood the significance of this at the time, when we both chuckled about it with me simply lamenting, "I must not have had anything to say at the time!"

 

[Mia]

Don't know if this is a trait of autism, as a young child I carried around twigs and pebbles in my hands all the time when I was outside. Like a talisman, or an attachment to objects. Noticed that my niece did the same thing, when she was a toddler.