What's the earliest sign you showed of autism?

[Mr Allen]

It was never even considered till my Sister in law started working in a Home for Autistic adults in Gloucester, England and started noticing that I was like some of her charges, then she and my Brother looked up symptoms online (it was the mid to late 90's, Google hadn't been invented yet) and took it to our Doctor, from then I got a diagnosis of Asperger's, I was 23 at the time, in October 1999.

 

[the_tortoise]

late 90's, Google hadn't been invented yet

Google appeared in 1998 but it wasn't popular or widely known like it is today.

But it's cool that your family researched autism on the net and got in touch with the doctor for you (...unless you were unhappy about it).

 

[Flinty]

Not speaking for about 18 months...after 6 months of talking from a normal age.

 

[Khendra]

My mother and older half-sister informed me I had trouble making eye contact as an infant. I'm usually pretty good at making it now, and I don't have any memories of being told I needed to make more of it, but Mother says she worked a lot to make sure I looked at people when I was very small.

 

[hxtp]

As a toddler... having dirt, grease, paint, ink, or anything else on my hands would really make me uneasy. Still does today, though not nearly as bad. Back then... I would play in the dirt, realize my hands were dirty, go find mom to help me wash my hands, and then go back outside to play in the dirt. Repeat until "okay, but you can't go back out and play in the dirt this time." My mom thought it was funny.

 

[Southern Discomfort]

Not talking, basically.

 

[RiverSong]

I know my parents said they suspected something was wrong with me when I was about 3 or 4 years old because I kept running into walls. Like for real... I would be in a room and I would turn around to leave but instead of going out through the doorway, I would turn and run right smack into the door frame. It happened many, many times.

It got so bad that my parents took me to the doctor to see if maybe I needed glasses or if there was something wrong with my eyes. The doctor told my parents that my vision was perfect. My parents didn't know what to do. I just eventually grew out of it and didn't run into walls anymore (I'm still clumsy now though). I guess I just learned how to make a better exit after a while, lol.

My dad later told me, when I was much older, about the wall thing. He said he used to be concerned that I might be, as he would put it, "retarded." It was only when I went to school and got good grades and the teachers would tell my parents about how smart I was, that my father dismissed the idea. So, yeah, I would say that was a sign.

Other than that, I have an early memory of shortly before I could walk. I just remember for some reason my parents had put me in a pink rabbit onesy. I remember it vividly. The onesy was like a full body suit made out of the itchiest fabric imaginable. It was like being in a suit made out of Brillo pads and it was hot. I felt like I was being roasted alive. It was pure torture but my parents thought it was cute, I guess. They still have a picture of me in that suit that I hate with every fiber of my being.

Another early memory was shortly after I learned how to walk. My parents also mentioned that I used to stand up in my crib and jump or bounce up and down for hours on end. I apparently did this a lot and liked it. My parents said they couldn't get me stop and that I would just jump and jump until I tired myself out.

Later, I enjoyed jumping on the bed until I got into trouble for it and was banished from any jumping. Then I went on to spinning around the room until I got dizzy and fell to the ground. That used to be one of my favorite games for a long time... Rather than play with other children, I liked to spin and make myself dizzy. So, yeah...

I was never diagnosed but I would say that I was an odd child. I didn't learn about or suspect I had ASD until just a year or so ago. So maybe some signs were there early on but my parents and I just didn't know how to interpret them.

 

[WittyAspie]

I know my parents said they suspected something was wrong with me when I was about 3 or 4 years old because I kept running into walls. Like for real... I would be in a room and I would turn around to leave but instead of going out through the doorway, I would turn and run right smack into the door frame. It happened many, many times.

It got so bad that my parents took me to the doctor to see if maybe I needed glasses or if there was something wrong with my eyes. The doctor told my parents that my vision was perfect. My parents didn't know what to do. I just eventually grew out of it and didn't run into walls anymore (I'm still clumsy now though). I guess I just learned how to make a better exit after a while, lol.

My dad later told me, when I was much older, about the wall thing. He said he used to be concerned that I might be, as he would put it, "retarded." It was only when I went to school and got good grades and the teachers would tell my parents about how smart I was, that my father dismissed the idea. So, yeah, I would say that was a sign.

Other than that, I have an early memory of shortly before I could walk. I just remember for some reason my parents had put me in a pink rabbit onesy. I remember it vividly. The onesy was like a full body suit made out of the itchiest fabric imaginable. It was like being in a suit made out of Brillo pads and it was hot. I felt like I was being roasted alive. It was pure torture but my parents thought it was cute, I guess. They still have a picture of me in that suit that I hate with every fiber of my being.

Another early memory was shortly after I learned how to walk. My parents also mentioned that I used to stand up in my crib and jump or bounce up and down for hours on end. I apparently did this a lot and liked it. My parents said they couldn't get me stop and that I would just jump and jump until I tired myself out.

Later, I enjoyed jumping on the bed until I got into trouble for it and was banished from any jumping. Then I went on to spinning around the room until I got dizzy and fell to the ground. That used to be one of my favorite games for a long time... Rather than play with other children, I liked to spin and make myself dizzy. So, yeah...

I was never diagnosed but I would say that I was an odd child. I didn't learn about or suspect I had ASD until just a year or so ago. So maybe some signs were there early on but my parents and I just didn't know how to interpret them.

Clumsiness is one of my least favorite parts of ASD. Sadly, my kids got a healthy dose of it as well.

Spinning can be such a head rush, right? I often find dizziness to be physically pleasurable.

 

[WildCat]

Hmm...well, I wasn't talking or responding to others. OK, technically I was talking, but I wasn't communicating much beyond repeating what I heard. I started reading and spelling earlier than usual though (hyperlexic here) - that at the very least gave my family (especially my grandmother with her skeptical self) some glimmer of hope.

Physically I was more or less fine, outside of not being able to run until I started school. I just walked wherever I went for quite a while besides that though, no other major health issues to speak of. As a premie I am certainly thankful for that.

 

[8398]

(Undiagnosed) My mom is one who was very skeptic of doctors and lots of advice, if anyone would of told her she would of doubted it. From what I remember: One thing my mom would always mention was that I could entertain myself the entire day all by myself. I was very easy, and the few times I'd get in trouble I'd go silent without expression and hide. I also couldn't pretend, I liked positioning toys to create a setting or lining them. I loved stickers, and I got these horse stickers that were velvet- couldn't touch them. Big emphasis on being in my own world, singing and talking to myself. I'd even talk to myself past 12 is what my grandma told me. I still do that. A little older- like kindergarten... Bugs was (is) my thing, searching for them all day. As for the social part, I was too clingy to one person I decided was my friend.(They didn't like me as much, I remember them trying to avoid me.) It was that way up until 4th grade. Oh yeah, I'd use my seat as a drum all through class everyday. I wasn't aware it was distracting, finally my 1st grade teacher kindly told me to stop. She told my mom she felt bad telling me that. I sucked my thumb too and hated beans too, weird. What is it about beans. Putting me in the corner until I ate my food happened a lot. Didn't work out for them a single time, as I'd sit there forever.

 

[isthisreallife]

I would be at the dinner table for hours as a kid, I didn't like to eat anything. I was never interested in interacting with anyone, not even my parents. I didn't start talking to my classmates until I was about 8 or 9. I made humming type noises for a while, I also had the feeling like I had to swallow or I would choke, so I would swallow incessantly. I was an early reader, but didn't really do well in any other subject. I was constantly fearful and anxiety ridden, and I had a fixation on time, and being on time, although I couldn't tell time on an analog clock, it had to be digital. I learned to tie my laces when I was ready to, so way later than my peers, I just looked at them one day and tied them. There's a whole host of other things, but those are the ones that I can recall

 

[Sherlock77]

I've always been terrible with hand/eye coordination, thus sports... My most humiliating sports moment was in elementary learning badminton in physical education, always my worst subject... I was so bad at badminton that I got my own special spot away from the other kids around the corner from the gym...

Leading to observation number two... When I was young, in the 1980's, I spent a good chunk of my week entering all the NHL hockey statistics onto my computer, as they were printed weekly in the newspaper... Of course I didn't have to do it, but I did anyway... I was too clumsy to play hockey anyway... I'm not entirely sure what my parents thought of this, I don't remember them saying anything to me...

 

[Mia]

Other than that, I have an early memory of shortly before I could walk. I just remember for some reason my parents had put me in a pink rabbit onesy. I remember it vividly. The onesy was like a full body suit made out of the itchiest fabric imaginable. It was like being in a suit made out of Brillo pads and it was hot

Your memory just triggered one of a similar nature for me River Song, thanks A full snow suit with attached mittens and hood that I used to cry about whenever I saw it! They would put me in it and I would get so hot, and they would get dressed while I waited bundled up inside the thing, then I would have a meltdown.

Another memory is of a bright green nylon dress with frills. So hot, and itchy and uncomfortable.

 

[Laughingowl1975]

Suddenly talking in sentences of 4 to 5 words at the age of 11 months, and teaching myself to read at almost teenage level by the age of 3. I had a dislike of fiction for much of my life and as a child greatly preferred reference books, my language skills were above average but my maths and spelling were well below par. I had poor co-ordination and was more hypo-sensitive than hypersensitive though I disliked certain sounds and could become enraged if I kept hearing them (and still do),I also was a fussy eater and loathed meat and things like Pumpkin (the texture made me feel sick). I got obsessed with topics and drove my family mad by talking about them at great length.

 

[Streetwise]

hApPy BiRtHdAy

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.

 

[Mia]

hApPy BiRtHdAy

Thanks Streetwise.

 

[Streetwise]

Thanks Streetwise.

i don't like to think nobody said it

 

[ASD_Geek]

When I was a baby, I would get on my hands and knees and rock my in my crib continuously. My parents say that I could rock it so much that it would travel across the room. They told me that they used to have to tighten the nuts and bolts on the crib every week. When they took me out to play, I would only crawl backwards and then cry when I got stuck. They would then come and turn me around and I would continue to crawl backwards the other way.

To this day, I still rock myself to sleep to the point where it's irritating to my spouse.

I also grew up with a ton of pillows and stuffed animals on the bed. I still love a lot of pillows on the bed when I am sleeping.

 

[Mr Allen]

Google appeared in 1998 but it wasn't popular or widely known like it is today.

But it's cool that your family researched autism on the net and got in touch with the doctor for you (...unless you were unhappy about it).

I didn't approve at first, I thought it was going to just be something else wrong with me, not something that explained everything else that had gone on in my life.

And I still don't like being Aspie, I can't get a job, I'm still single at 41, and still a Virgin (and I don't mean I work for Branson)

 

[Eruva]

Other than that, I have an early memory of shortly before I could walk. I just remember for some reason my parents had put me in a pink rabbit onesy. I remember it vividly. The onesy was like a full body suit made out of the itchiest fabric imaginable. It was like being in a suit made out of Brillo pads and it was hot

I know this is getting off on a tangent, but this sparked a memory in me as well. When I was about 2 or 3, my parents dressed me up as Oscar the Grouch for Halloween which involved painting my entire face green! Maybe this has something to do with why I don't like wearing makeup to this day. I probably cried the whole night and couldn't wait to get it off.

On a side note, they dressed me as Oscar because I was such an irritable child that they tended to equate me with characters that complained a lot like Oscar the Grouch or Donald Duck.