When you were little what were some obvious signs that you had asperger's/autism?

[nowwhat]

It was descriptions of typical AS traits in kids that led to my self-dx 13 years ago at 40:

Early verbal preciciousness and talkativeness, "absent minded professor" moniker, uncoordination and disinterest in sports, imaginative solo play, a succesion of special interests and mountains of factual information about same, reading encyclopediae for fun, and so on and so forth.

 

[Sabrina]

It was descriptions of typical AS traits in kids that led to my self-dx 13 years ago at 40:

Early verbal preciciousness and talkativeness, "absent minded professor" moniker, uncoordination and disinterest in sports, imaginative solo play, a succesion of special interests and mountains of factual information about same, reading encyclopediae for fun, and so on and so forth.

All of the above applied to me.

 

[tree]

Same, posed the figures and created scenes mainly outside. Built little shelters to protect them. And then went off to do the things I created by posing them.

I liked survival challenges.
I had some little doll house dolls that stayed overnight
in various locations. I cracked walnuts, put the dolls inside,
glued back together, hung up in trees.

They went subterranean in a pickle jar one time, in my
sand box.

I wasn't trying to hurt them.
I wanted them to have the adventure of sleeping out on
their own in exciting areas.

They all survived.
=====
Come to think of it, surviving the odds/weather challenges
was a fairly big deal when I played with my other dolls, too. Like, making
a tent for them and us, to withstand the winter. [The winter
in the living room] Lots of blankets etc....

 

[sidd851]

As I am just figuring this out(luckily I have vivid memories back to a very young age),
I will give my present most notable memory.
I remember, when starting preschool or kindergarten, that emotion, not just verbal, or physical cues, but anything that had to do with emotion, was so completely foreign to me, I often remained stunned and silent, albeit attentive, trying to make some sense of the maelstrom around me.
Here was a boy pinching a girl.
Here was a boy punching another boy.
Here was a girl putting gum in the boy's hair in front of her.
Here was a girl knocking a toy from another girl's hand.
Here was a boy crying, but he hadn't gotten hurt physically.
A teacher screaming at a boy.
A girl laughing.
The list is endless.
All so alien to me.
I would note, that the mean or nasty actions perplexed me the most. I would go home baffled over what seems now to me to have been like a scene out of the original Star Trek-- everyone was stark, raving mad.
These particular memories are so vivid, that I feel amazement, even now, at the progress I have made.
(I am still repulsed AND a little baffled at the mean, or unkind emotions people feel or the hurtful things they do.)
(Don't think I'll ever get used to that, and I'm kind of grateful for it.)

 

[Aspie_With_Attitude]

This being in the early 80's going back when I was 2-4 years old, fascination on our first color TV starring at that test panel when the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission) was closed for the day or maybe it was SBS rather play with my toys or watch regular TV.

Lack of eye contact to the camera when my Father took photos.

Spontaneously stripped off clothes that I didn't like, never did with tracksuits.

Being a very good drawer.

Constantly starred at the same pages when looking in a picture book.

Constant humming, my parents nicknamed me as Hoover, named after a manufacture for vacuum cleaners.

 

[Andrew206]

When I was little, some of the signs I had Asperger's were poor eye contact, bad social skills with others, and difficulty accepting change. Tests were done on me when I was little and the results of those tests said I displayed many of the traits associated with Asperger's.

 

[Mia]

I liked survival challenges.

So did I. Sometimes I floated them in a boat made of birchbark in a stream.
Or set up camps and made shelters near the house's downspouts in the rain, they all were protected with a large umbrella.
Tied some to the car's bumper once so they could go on a trip, but my Dad noticed. Made small bird's nest like shelters and put them in the cedar hedges so they could camp out and be safe. I covered them with material to keep them warm.

 

[SusanLR]

I started at a very young age not caring for playing with other kids, not wanting visitors in the house,
very poor social skills growing up.
Playing all day with my plastic toy record player and plastic dinosaurs arrangement was enough to keep
me busy as a toddler.
Food issues. Clothes textures. Selective mutism around people outside my parents as a kid.
Rocking in a rocking chair constantly if sitting. Clumsy walk and not good at sports, not interested in
them either.
Sounds were too loud. Fireworks, machinery noise, thunder, anything really loud was scary as a kid.
Seperation anxiety when it was time to start school. Cried all day the first day. Teacher couldn't stand me
and I was given to another older teacher who was more tolerant. Meltdowns, shutdowns, tantrums.
I'm sure I would have been put in a special class if ASD had been thought about back then.
Autism way back then I think was only recognised if you were very LFA.
Too many things to list, but, I didn't know what made these odd things in my personality until just a few years ago.
It was what it was and no one knew what it was!

 

[Progster]

Early childhood - I had social difficulties from the outset, and a lot of meltdowns. I was was absent-minded, untidy and always losing things. There were some things I just wouldn't or couldn't do, such as country dancing or cursive handwriting. Obsessions with strange things like Sellotape, a lot of experiments with substances or things I found round the house, or bugs, and no imaginary play; a large vocabulary for my age. Strange behaviours such not knowing that I was included when the family were going out, and my parents having to tell me that I was to go out with them, having intense likes and dislikes: I hated certain words and once erased them wherever they appeared in my library book. Meltdowns: becoming entertainment for other kids who deliberately used to wind me up to watch me melt down. Refusing to wear certain clothes, didn't like being touched, aloof and didn't seek hugs and affection from my parents.

 

[tree]

So did I. Sometimes I floated them in a boat made of birchbark in a stream.
Or set up camps and made shelters near the house's downspouts in the rain, they all were protected with a large umbrella.
Tied some to the car's bumper once so they could go on a trip, but my Dad noticed. Made small bird's nest like shelters and put them in the cedar hedges so they could camp out and be safe. I covered them with material to keep them warm.

Yes.
The nest/burrow/tee pee/cave/igloo/raft/shelter things....

 

[Lady Penelope]

Are the short, stubby fingers really an autism thing? I certainly have short, stubby hands, not just stubby fingers. People always commenting on my tiny hands..

I have long, thin fingers... so no. It's not ASD related!!

 

[Caitlyn]

I did not talk until after the age of two. I also never crawled. Once I began talking, it was in complete sentences per my mother's memory. I was sensitive to noise and would often cover my ears. I also was very honest and outspoken. My mother remembers many instances in which I openly said that someone near us smelled or was too loud, etc. I did not have a filter and said whatever was on my mind, whether it was socially acceptable to do so or not.

I had sensory issues and it would take my mom 20+ minutes every day to put my socks on right because if the seam was not just right, she'd have to fix them for me. I had a blanket that had a silk edge and whenever I was nervous or scared or overwhelmed, I'd scratch my fingernails on it.

I had vocal stims (or tics) that my mother took me to the Dr. for. They said it was psychological and to just ignore. I still have those same stems to this day. I could not make eye contact and have an issue with authority. I deliberately denied to accept any type of authority. In school, I often told the teachers no when a request was made of me.

I hated school for the social aspect. I had not the slightest interest in social interaction and because of school, it was forced upon me. Group-think was revolting to me. I knew I was different and I wanted no parts of being part of the crowd. I was a highly intelligent child and was pretty much a straight A student for most of the years I was in school.

I failed honors geometry because I refused to show my work but always got the right answer. The teacher and I were locked in a power struggle all year because she would not accept that I was coming to the answer without having to write out my work. If I wrote out my work, I got confused and mixed up. She refused to accept this answer so she failed me.

I had zero empathy. If someone was hurt, I'd just shrug. I've never been able to place myself in someone else's shoes. I do not offer empathy because some of what happens to people is due to their own stupidity or lack of planning.

I never played with an imagination. I have zero imagination and I could not relate to my peers in that respect. I found it absolutely illogical to spend time in a make believe world when I could be learning all there is to know about the real one.

 

[kay]

I have long, thin fingers... so no. It's not ASD related!!

Ah, and I finally thought I might have a reason for my little baby hands. I can't remember noticing any of my family having small hands, so that might suggest that it's not ASD.

 

[Judge]

I could list any number of traits and behaviors. However in the early 60s none of them seemed "obvious" to much of anyone. Particularly the medical professionals charged to assess me by my concerned parents.

 

[Mr Allen]

I could list any number of traits and behaviors. However in the early 60s none of them seemed "obvious" to much of anyone. Particularly the medical professionals charged to assess me by my concerned parents.

You were lucky to have not been diagnosed in the 60's, they'd have put you straight in the "Loony Bin".

 

[Mark Smith]

When I was a toddler, I had nearly 3-4 babysitters refuse to babysit me because I would pretty much cry the entire time due to being anxious about being in an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar people.

Also I had an obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine and the Pixar movie, Cars because I was extremely fascinated with the differences of colors and shapes with the cars. I would talk endlessly about them and would always ask my parents to buy me merchandise related to the franchises simply so I can compare and contrast the colors.

 

[Judge]

You were lucky to have not been diagnosed in the 60's, they'd have put you straight in the "Loony Bin".

Yeah, my childhood was "lucky" alright. Mainstreamed with so many mean-spirited kids from the fifth grade to the end of high school who made my life miserable.

Quite often that's what I thought of public school- a loony bin.

 

[Jena]

Woah so many to reply to so instead I am just gonna make a comment here instead of replying to each individual. This convo is awesome cause I love hearing what you all have had to go through when you were little before you knew what it was. I relate to what you guys have said so much.

Lack of eye contact for me was a struggle too and actually it still is. Well especially if I don't know the person. Once I know you my eye contact is pretty good now cause I had a lot of practice and therapy. But just like today I was shaking hands with a stranger (not really a stranger he was part of the car company where my parents had to drop off their car to get it fix and he was shaking our hands and I smiled but I just looked past or somewhere else not at him.

I also get so attach to people that it's difficult for me to let go. And I don't just mean family members or lovers. I mean like if I had a really good teacher I connected with and liked, the next year first day of class I would ALWAYS cry without fail cause I wanted to have the teacher that understand me the best. (my science teacher actually had asperger's so I related to him a lot too).

One time I had a really good history teacher who understood my asperger's and he was awesome and friendly and the class was nice and small (we talking about like 5 kids in a giant public high school). and the next year I got this horrible history teacher. I cried every day in that class for the entire year. Because I went from a really awesome teacher to a horrible potato head. (i call him that because his head look like a potato lmao) He never taught us and jsut sat there give us load of work unable to complete and he didn't even care that I have Asperger's and so forth.

I think another part of it is I don't like change and never liked change in my schedule. So first day would be so stressed for me cause new schedule. In pre-k I remember crying in the corner because I was away from my mother... and wanted to go home.

Another thing I like to add is I tend to get off topic very easily even if I don't even know that I do???? This been that way since I was little but few years ago I made this awesome essay for psychology class and I get it back and my proffessor said I was off topic. And I didn't even know!

 

[Miranda A]

Literally ever since I can remember, I have been going through “phases” of specific obsessions. When I was younger, because I was an only child, I would make my parents “role play” with me as characters from whatever I was obsessed with. Of course as I grew up I stopped doing that and started writing self insert fanfiction instead. I still do that. Don’t know if I’ll ever upload it anywhere because I just write it in order to get the scenes I have in my head out, but I’ve been thinking about posting my latest one about my current obsession, Dark Souls: Splatoon Edition (Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion).

 

[ZebraAutismo]

I won’t diagnosed til I was 5 but my Mum knew I was different. I didn’t make eye contact and would stand facing the other way to new people, I didn’t talk til I was 2, as soon as I could I objected to play group, I would scream at the Teletubbies and had an irrational fear of the dark, I would arrange my dolls over and over again.

I kind of tricked people with the dolls since people who didn’t know me thought I was “playing” with them.