Your Experiences Living With Autism/Neurodivergence

I got the idea to create this thread from Autism related topics. Since I am autistic myself, and I know for a fact that such people aren't exactly uncommon on this site, I decided to make a thread where people can discuss what it's been like living as an autistic person-- if, of course, they're comfortable sharing.

If you are neurodivergent in any other way (ADHD, Dyslexia, etc), you are also welcome to talk about your experiences on this thread.

 

I'll start: I am quite awkward socially. I only have like 3 IRL friends at age 19, though this is in part because I'm also quite shy. As one might guess, I'm also obsessed with animals. Mammals are my favorite class and the one I know the far the most about-- my favorite orders being Carnivora, Artiodactyla, Perissodactyla, Proboscidea, Rodentia, and Primates.

 

I'm a self-diagnosed autistic person. I have always found social situations taxing, and am very shy and anxious. I'm easily overwhelmed by any sensory discomfort, which in practical terms has made me a picky eater and someone who struggles a lot with loud, crowded environments. I am very obsessive over my special subjects-- primarily primates! I like knowing a lot about individual animals, and know every non-human great ape in Australasia by name and face, and many more outside the region as well.

 

Somewhere here on zoochat some members talked about menues in restaurants at zoos and other related parks and how they got so annoyed by the dominance if not exclusivity of chips/french fries and nuggets, bratwurst, schnitzel, and I was too shy to tell them that despite understanding their point of view, some autistics like me can have difficulties with food that has a richer texture and flavours.

 

Indeed - the menus are chosen for breadth of appeal, ease of preparation, and economics. There's a reason the same things keep coming up - they meet those criteria.

 

Another autistic person here (or ‘aspie’ for brevity, given my form is specifically Asperger’s, though I am hesitant to call it a syndrome). The experience of living as autistic has very much been a mixed bag, with some good qualities and some bad, as on the one hand I’ve had to face social awkwardness, introversion, sensory overload, hypersensitivity and an emotional range that is only ever too high or too low, but equally I’m very comfortable around people I know well, have a method of thinking different from that of a neurotypical and know volumes about my hyperfocuses (what some call special interests), primarily natural history and more specifically palaeontology, my first love as it were, which I am glad to say I will be starting an undergraduate course on in a few weeks.
More in line with zoochat, my interest in animals comes largely from my autism I think. I’ve often found that animals can make better company than humans in some cases.

 

I'm actually kind of glad that I am neurodivergent. Its the reason why I'm so passionate about animals, especially felids, and by extension animal photography. These things fulfill and enrich my life in such a meaningful way that I don't think I could imagine myself without it. That being said I deal with overstimulation a lot. It doesn't normally get too bad at zoos thankfully, but I really do think it lowers my overall quality of life generally. It gets really bad at the store I work at when it gets busy. Getting overstimulated at my job is the worst place to have that happen in my opinion because you can't just step outside for a couple minutes to collect yourself.

 

Okay I feel like we "aspies" as you called it (I, myself, also have Asperger's) seem to have similar positives and negatives, as we both seem to share our social awkwardness, introversion and our "too high-too low" emotional range, as well as the comfort around people we know well and knowing TONS about our special interests/hyperfocuses.

 

I can relate to this quite a lot as well since I have Asperger's too but I love this forum and to read all the info and see images from places.

 

Indeed, this site is practically an online paradise for someone interested in animals and zoos! The community isn't toxic, either.

 

Yeah that's the difference between this place and other chat forum spots, I've noticed.

 

I haven't been officially diagnosed, I've been on the waiting list for the actual screening over 3 years now *sigh*, and the GP said there's nothing she can do about this.
So 3 years ago, I was like "no hurry, it would just be nice to know once and for all as this has been a thought for the past 15 years at least, but since I'm already older, it may not be that important anymore".
But 3 years in now, having it heard from several therapists, I am very much in need now of this screening.
As the way I respond and react to things, have become more and more of an issue, and I've been told, that if I do have autism, I'm in need of different therapy for it also to finally be able to decently fix my problems.

I'm very much a routine person, need things a certain way, I will get extremely upset if things are moved even slightly or my routine gets delayed with only 10 minutes, social situations I just tend to avoid really.

But then, places like the zoo, or Disneyland (yes, love Disneyland), are 2 of the things I absolutely love, and even though very crowded places at most times, it is where I feel most at home and comfortable being there.

 

I am officialy diagnosed, since 2017, and have read a lot about other autistic peoples accounts with their form of autism, and therefor can relate to your descriptions, and the relieve you seem to voice. Right now I do not have that much time, but I have previously thought about writing more on this thread more in hope it might help others a bit, because when I started to realize my symptoms I felt a bit isolated due to the awareness, but also relieved to have found an explanation. Many other members on zoochat also have noted that they are or might be on the spectrum and I personaly would love to see more accounts in relation to the topics of zoology and related issues.

 

These are nearly all textbook traits of autism.

 

Asperger's hasn't been diagnosed in the USA in years, it is no longer valid. There is no such thing as "high functioning". It is a spectrum, and people are in different places on it. Like the color spectrum - neon pink and forest green have different properties that make them colors (like autistics have different levels of functioning needs) but they're both equally colors. Being able to appear "normal" - what people usually mean when using functioning labels - in some regard doesn't mean the autistic is that way in every regard. Someone may be nonverbal but can write wonderfully, they may be able to do handle social functions but need assistance at home with basic things.

Everything you are posting about is associated with autistics. Choosing to use this other term just comes off as ableist. The things you are saying aren't really associated with autism, like eye contact stuff and anxiety with social events that can turn into physical reactions, have been known autism traits going back to when autism was first being discovered.

Edit: This was in reply to a post that has since been deleted, apparently.

 

Hi,
Because of my work I deal with relatively many people with autism and similar. Don't treat me as a doctor, but an observers adive:

Many autists can function well and get a well paid job in IT or technical disciplines. I suspect that autism is getting more common, because it is actually advantageous. In technical civilization it allows persons to easily, deeply concentrate and perform technical tasks.

I also learned that people can train themselves to function better in a society, to the point that at least a quarter of autists are no longer diagnosed as autistic later in life. Understanding that someone is just as valid person despite autism is important, however I would encourage people to practice and learn to function in a normal society.

 

That is masking, something which can come at an immense cost to the individual in terms of mental and physical health and well-being. Autistic people who mask more show more signs of anxiety and depression, and the strategy may even been linked to an increase in suicidal behaviours.

To me this is like saying that a wheelchair user should just learn to walk. Why should we be forced to conform, particularly when such functioning comes at such an immense cost to us? Surely we should strive for a society that values and appreciates difference and individuality rather than stamping on us and demanding uniformity.

 

I didn't understand that I had been diagnosed as a child until later in life and because of that I am not well-spoken on matters related to autism, and tend to find discussing the subject extremely stressful, even with other people who have autism.

 

Yea I feel like my case is a bit difficult to explain. When I was young I used to get speech therapy because apparently I didn’t learn how to talk until a “late” age (3 or 4). Despite that I did not get an autism diagnosis back then. There were times I recall my brother calling me handicapped or that word that rhymes with mustard. I had a tough time making “close friends”. Sure I did have people who I consider as “friends” but then there is the silly semantics of “close friends” and “best friends” which I never got to be. At least in high school I usually spent break time with teachers and the principals we had back then chatting with them or drawing silly things on their whiteboards like ALF and Asterix. I loved my school but lessons were tough. I liked spending my time looking at pictures of animal books a lot since our local zoo was bad and far from home so I couldn’t have place to express my interests.

I did feel like there was something “atypical” about me but I didn’t knew if it was actually something or just my mother coddling me and calling me special. So when I was nineteen I did go to a psychiatrist and got a diagnosis. However I still feel hesitant about this diagnosis because the doc made blatant spelling errors when translating the diagnosis to English and did not bring up DSM V, which I feel like kneecaps the validity of the diagnosis. There’s also the fact that different cultures can have different interpretations of certain symptoms so what is considered autistic in Turkey may not be elsewhere. Which is why I don’t alway tell people that I am autistic and when I do I feel like I am lying to them. Me getting the diagnosis definitely didn’t stop my older brother (who I think didn’t even accept the fact that I got diagnosed) from saying underhanded things to me as he did before.

Edit Part 1:
I’ll admit, while I do feel thankful that I am not “just another Turk” or “just another person”, I will say that being and growing up as an neurodivergent individual obsessed over animals in a country where I cannot exercise and nurture my interests sounds like a terrible curse that reminds me not everyone on this Earth is meant to be happy. Maybe life would have been “better” if I was just another average joe (or Murat in case of Turkey) who was obsessed with soccer, mainstream video games, and whatever most people here like.


Edit Part 2:
I also don’t know if me being picky with media has to do with being neurodivergent. I don’t usually have a preference for a certain genre of music, I just listen to whatever I like or gives me good visuals. I also am picky with film and am picky with a genre as well (except horror, I don’t like horror.)

 

just saying but I really like this post and I am saying that because I am also autistic.