I always wanted to follow ideas to their logical conclusions.

I really wanted English to follow logical rules in grammar and spelling. 

I really wanted things like street naming conventions to follow logical rules. 

I couldn't understand why people didn't seem to care when things didn't make sense. 

Well, my parents were very happy about me. Because they could just leave me alone and I'd always find a way to entertain myself. I also was never throwing tantrums like "I want that, buy me that" because I had no clue that I can just ask for something 😬 When your child is too convenient, that's rather a concern than a bless lol.

They'd also describe me as having strong opinions on everything. I mean, what kind of opinion a 3 month old could even have? 😅

They weren't that much happy about the fact that I didn't like to cuddle or kiss. Because hugs were giving me claustrophobia and that wet feeling after kiss and the smell were just... Ugh.

Sensory sensitivities, especially light, sound and smell, avoiding itchy fabrics or anything tight on the neck and constant meltdowns after school were also there of course. Picky eating was for sure a thing, but it presented in a weird way (like I was ok with most foods, but hated salt and spices).

And of course social aspect, I was not very interested in playing with other children and would rather just sit alone and do my stuff.

That said, the only autism in my homeland to these days is what's called "profound autism", so you can be diagnosed with it only when you're severely disabled. Having ADHD along with autism wasn't very helpful either. And when your whole family is neurospicy, you're just seen as normal 😬

Hyperfixations (Transformers, still going strong), an absurd love of stacking things, precocious reading, innate skills with computer hardware (I was tearing them apart and modifying them at ~8 y/o).

• I was experiencing scary and LOUD meltdowns as a child. (my mom was called so many times because teachers were scared and failed to calm me down) once my mom had to come to school just to visit our school psychologist with me. ALL OF THAT WAS JUST FOR THAT LADY TO SAY "OH, MAYBE JUST GIVE YOUR KID SOME CANDY"

• loud spaces were a nightmare (I was often sobbing in public transport)

• I hated bathing in a bathtub because of sensory issues. Also, jeans, fridges, and loud people were my enemies.

• my parents are.. well... are pretty ND

• I never had more than 1 friend (and they usually used/abused me)

• I was always inattentive to things that weren't interesting to me

Here’s an excerpt from a therapy session I had a kid. Please note I not diagnosed till last year.

A's mother reported there can be "crashes" every few weeks. A’s parents reported there do not seem to be any triggers to her meltdowns. A's parents reported their main concern is tantrums if her day does not go as expected. A's teachers keep things consistent, as does the family with regard to routines. A does not like to leave the house (e.g., having to go pick sister up if she wanted to play). A reported sometimes she cannot stop her body from reacting. If A has a bad day at school, it is hard to bring her back. A feels like her whole day gets ruined. A has a hard time letting things go. A's father reported daily homework meltdowns last year. No academic concerns with homework but she just did not want to do it.

A reported she does not like cold weather, the thought of moving, bees, and when siblings mess room up. A does not like to go outside because she does not like bugs. A reported she does not like performing or being wrong. A reported she likes things to be perfect. A reported she does not like answering wrong in front of the class. A does not like to be away from parents; she will not do a sleepover anywhere other than maternal grandparents. A will do some playdates and birthday parties. A needs to be comfortable with where birthday party is and who will be there. A reported she sometimes gets nervous to meet new kids and definitely meeting new adults. A's mother reported they meet the teacher ahead of time to ease the transition back to school.

I’ll also add I was diagnosed with everything else under the sun from sensory issues to speech issues to anxiety and adhd but they wouldn’t touch autism :p

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

Sweet merciful FUCK idk how these slipped by the radar

• chronic gastrointestinal problems (getting nauseous still gives me a slight panic attack with flashbacks)

• precocious speech before 2 ( ❌ No ✅ none for me no thank you!)

• sometimes I felt the need to only watch TV with the volume on 3 or 4 because that felt better

• chewing. So. Many. Things.

• regularly spraining my ankles (once I went to an outdoor concert on a sprained ankle and sprained the other 😆)

• getting really excited about things people get bored about (MFW my special interests aren’t sports/fashion/makeup/other stereotypical demographic things)

• feeling Bad ™ at the store randomly (sensory overload’s a bitch)

• being much heavier than my sisters despite our similar diets (childhood obesity is at a higher prevalence among autistic people than allistic people)

• fiddling with my tongue (which I learned is called tongue thrusting)

• explicitly asking my family multiple times how to tell if I’m talking too much (My dad’s advice helped most; conversations are like volleyball, where people take turns. Adding a question like “how about you?” is a way to sorta “hit the ball to their side” so they can have a turn)

• heat intolerance (I would ask my parents if I could sleep on the wood floor, because the bed and pillows would always get too hot, but there are always cool spots on the floor.)

• double-jointed (autism and ehlers-danlos syndrome have a high comorbidity rate)

• bouncing/hitting my leg/palm/etc when excited

• the random need to repeat what I hear multiple times

And the kicker:

Millennials might remember the gesture made when publically shaming autistic people and anyone else they didn’t like. The first time i did that (yes, i was also an awful person) I remember feeling a bit of fear:

“Why does this feel good to do??”

i wore a basket on my head every time I went out of the house for months. i wore overalls with no shirt most of the time. i wanted to roll in a mud puddle for 3 hours and that was totally chill with my parents. i really wanted to try a warheads candy at age 3 and my dad gave me one?? (hello choking hazard) but instead of being freaked out by the sour, I became obsessed with it. i taught myself how to write in cursive before kindergarten was over.

Not diagnosed but:

-My mother describes me as a quiet child who would pace back and forth

-Hyper-fixations of cooking (probably part of the reason I'm fat), writing short stories, and medical documentation

-Meltdowns, started as typical, but as I was yelled at for having them I now just dissociate.

I'm still figuring out what was normal and what was potential autism.

-I had a little notebook, and every time we'd drive anywhere, I'd count all the horses we passed and write it in the notebook. And I'd get so angry if others tried to help me.

-I'd borrow audio books from the library and listen to them on repeat until they had to be returned.

-I was, and still am, very picky about food.

-I had a huge container of hama beads, like 275k beads, and I'd sort them by colour, mix them back up, and start over again.

-I'd trace pictures of horses from my Wendy magazines on parchment paper to "save" them.

I had a lot of little quirks and isms that probably should have tipped people off

Toe walking to the point where the doctor prescribed foot braces, hating socks and “scratchy” clothes (my mom said when I was around 3, I’d try to bite her when she tried to dress me), wasn’t very emotive, hated showers and brushing my teeth, and I almost never spoke in school until I was about 12. I used to screech when my mom would yell at me. And excessive rule following. You’d think that would be good for a kid, but it makes other kids really dislike you- and I didn’t tell on other kids, I just wouldn’t go along with breaking any rules.

But being smart, well behaved at school, and a girl in the 90s, there was no way I was getting diagnosed.

And now people don’t believe me when I say I have autism because it doesn’t currently look like their nephew’s autism. As if I didn’t used to look EXACTLY like your nephew, but then grew up.

apparently in kindergarten i would choose to sit away from all the other kids because they were too loud. i remember trying to communicate to my kindergarten teachers that i couldn't handle the noise but didn't really know how to, a specific memory is telling them "i have a tiny little headache" over and over because i think my teachers and mom would say "please be quiet today, i have a headache". i remember also frequently putting my hands over my ears during recess and when we were in my schools hallway because it was so freaking echo-y i hated it

Well, the biggest one I think was that I was literally mute. I only spoke to my immediate family. At school, with friends, in public, I didn't talk. It was selective mutism that my neglectful parents dismissed as just me being "shy." Lol.

I could read at a super high reading level and would hyper fixate a lot. I was reading encyclopedias in 2nd grade for fun. I also had melt downs if it was too loud or my clothes felt wrong

I asked my mum if I could go swimming naked in a public pool, she jokingly said yes. She didn't know I couldn't read sarcasm. I went naked.

Probably making like 15 drawings of this specific scene from the simpsons where Marge gets pregnant. I was maybe 6 at most.

https://preview.redd.it/m1ageuha2xcg1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a5d0da4582a4ed4385da2f9e6e39332eda9b8bd3

I was obsessed with soothers. I would have multiple on me at all times. I'd have one in each hand flicking them. I wouldn't go outside without sunglasses for the longest time. I would freak out if my eyelashes touched the sunglasses at all. I barely eat any food. Went through a phase where I needed all the corners of my socks cut off because the stitching drove me nuts.

All these things and not once did someone think to check it out 🙃

The first sign that should've REALLY been super obvious was that I only started talking with nearly 4 years, but sounded like a eloquent adult lol. Also I was a huge math nerd before I even started school (sadly my first teacher destroyed my love for it because she made me keep the classes pace, which was like... Well I finished my whole math book for the year in the first two weeks of the school year before she told me off)

During the 1980 census (US), I made my younger brothers play census with me. Every stuffie in the house was put in a line alphabetically - close to 200 of them. My brothers would bring a stuffie to my desk to answer the questionnaire. First and last name, address, age, familial relationships, employment. My brothers were responsible for moving the line forward. After I collected the data, I compiled a statistical report neatly written in crayon. I also made a plat map for Animal Town that showed where each stuffie lived. Not strangely, I worked for title companies as an adult. During all of this, my brothers spent the three days causing drama in line. Every stuffie had a unique personality and backstory. They didn't all get along.

I made up a world with a storyline spanning multiple ages using the sticks in my yard as characters lmao

I became a professional magician when I was seventeen and before that at age eleven, I won second place at the 97 Florida state magicians convention.

Twin, is that you?

-Hyperfixations (Cats and astronomy)

-I taught myself how to read

-I only liked to be hugged by my parents

-I absolutely loved sorting things by colour or by size.

-I didn’t liked bright lights or colours (I still hate both of those lol)

Hyper fixations for sure. I would talk about Minecraft to everyone, even if I knew they didn’t like it. It was all I talked about.

Also I would put my fingers in my ears whenever I was stressed or whenever there was loud noises. I hated fireworks, hand dryers and vacuum clovers and I was scared of them and still am now.

I didn’t get diagnosed until I was 22. 23 now.

In my family, people would not check the TV guide and I 'd rattle off the film, the actors and the star rating the guide would give it from memory. I'd study it like it was a prayer text

I don’t have the time to type them all out, but at some point at around the age of 7 I classified myself as a new species of hominid and gave myself a scientific name, something like Paranthropus Ausamualis

Rocking

Repetitive hand stims

No eye contact

Barely talking to people

Extreme shyness

Zoning out at school all the time, or during board games

My mum always told me I never smiled at anyone as a baby 🫠 that plus very strong opinions, hating tags and most clothing materials and running away from my own birthday parties because if would get overwhelmed after 1h and wanted to be left alone

Cut waist length hair up to the back of my neck because I didn’t like how it felt in the wind

Hyperfixations and constant stimming

Random acts of violence towards other kids, whilst not realising in my mind that I was actually harming them. Even simple things like pushing and pulling, or hitting/throwing stuff, seemed harmless to me but it has lead to many troubles in my youth — this is just the top of the iceberg, and ofc my parents just scolded me and moved on; never tried to send me to a therapist or something.

I was a teenager when I got diagnosed. But my mom had always told me that I was a rough child. Basically, since I was born. I've been told I cried nonstop for 6 months.

I had tons of stomach issues, including colic as a newborn. I never wore clothing in my house. And they had to buy specific pants for me to wear to go to school in lol. And by high school I refused to wear jeans.

I remember doing a lot of crying in closets by my self over really little things. And I took things so literally it would get me in trouble. In hindsight it was obvious but at the time my parents thought i was just a difficult child.

I loved animals so much I went full vegetarian at 10 (I still am :))

Sensitivity to loud sounds. Hated motorcycles back then.

Always had a hyperfixation on cars. As soon as I could talk, I was learning all the different brands, and would point them out on the road.

Stacking and sorting stuff. I had a tendency to sneak out of bed early in the mornings and pull all the pots and pans out of the kitchen cabinets.

Mom had to cut tags out of all of my clothes, would cry before going to school, was in speech class, wouldn't eat food at schools if it was touching/odd texture so had to have packed lunch, sucked my thumb until 7, didn't speak a word until 2, toe walking, took stuffed animals everywhere, I've never been diagnosed formally but to me it's so obvious from a young age

It actually makes me sad because being the 90s and a woman I think I just fell through the system and I really could've benefited from extra support.

I loved to watch the news when I was around 4. I didn't like other kids as much, they were too chaotic and loud and made no sense. I once hyperfixated on improving a drawing skill and drew for 15 hours straight, without any breaks. I then suffered an injury in my hand from overuse. I was dizzy due to dehydration and I had to pee SO BADLY.

I used a lot of big words no other child used.

I loved to be on my own and was super trustworthy. You could leave me alone for hours and I'd just entertain myself.

I got super stressed out when anything was unfair, no matter if it was about me or someone else.

I LOVED rules, as long as they made sense. And I'd constantly "argue" about it, if they didn't (wanted to understand or change, since it's unfair if it makes no sense). Or, if they did make sense but people wouldn't stick to them. Hated that, lol

I got overwhelmed when I wasn't sitting in front of class, because it was so chaotic in the back. Everything took a toll on my focus. Especially if I was used as the "good kid" to split up "bad kids".

The most obvious to me was the fact that I got so stressed out that I threw up any time plans changed too suddenly

For all non-stem classes in elementary school, I'd read the full textbook within the first week of class and blurt out spoilers until I was granted solo library time for those periods. Most of the library time was spent looking at maps.

on my 3rd birthday I had a meltdown over the idea of people singing happy birthday to me. i didn't even want to hear the words. my parents ended up making everyone say "HB" simultaneously so I wouldn't freak out.

as an adult I still hate celebrating my birthday and opening presents in front of people.

oh boy okay here we go.

• sensory issues when it came to texture specifically.

i would leave my plate full because i'd refuse to eat certain food due to hating both the texture and the taste (was also outspoken on this too, so my parents would talk behind my back about how i was a picky eater and that i was rather skinny because of it). i would feel veryyy uncomfortable everytime i wore denim as i always hated the texture of it. i would also hate it whenever i felt tags on my shirt and would complain about it. I also had sensory issues when it came to temperature, i'm so intolerant when it's too cold, but also intolerant when it's so hot (ironically i live in a hot country)

• the need for routine.

when i was a little kid i used to sleep with my mom every night, and every time my mom wouldn't go to bed with me, i would have a meltdown, like straight up shouting and banging the wall begging her to sleep with me. i'd also cry and feel upset everytime i had something planned for the day and they made me expect for it to happen, but it ended up not pushing through or it was a different thing.

• social deficits & behavioral issues.

i think this one in particular was the most obvious i'm surprised no adult figure in my life, even a teacher, ever came to wonder or suspect that i'm autistic (but then again it must be because i'm a woman LMAOOO). in early grade school, i would constantly disrupt the class by being a noisy kid, and i violated the boundaries of my classmates as a result of not understanding social cues.

after getting in trouble multiple times (which is understandable because it was still bad behavior regardless) I started becoming a lot more quiet/closed off/socially anxious, and genuinely i did not know how to talk to people, initiate conversations, naturally fit in with my schoolmates, I really only had 1-2 real friends that time + i would wonder how the fuck they do it so effortlessly.

from then on, my report cards would note that i excell academically but that i need to socialize more. i would constantly have meltdowns at home and lash out due to my immense struggle with socializing, with how incredibly lonely i was

• stimming and repetitiveness.

good lord the amount of times my parents told me to hide my stims as they were unconventional, would make me look weird in public, and that people would make fun of me and not like me. my unconventional stims always included me moving my face in certain ways and even rubbing my face. i also have echolalia so i always tend to repeat words a lot as a kid, asking the same questions over and over, which my parents were visibly annoyed at and would scold me for asking the same question. they would also be visibly concerned about me repeatedly watching the same things when i get hyperfixations.

• special interests & hyperfixations.

this was another obvious one because as a kid, i had a huge hyperfixation on Tangled and Frozen as i watched those movies at least a hundred times. i also hyperfixated on the movie Enchanted, and I would watch it almost every night. i also had hyperfixations on certain YouTubers as a kid that I would watch their videos over and over every day, and that actually affected my performance at school and my exam scores that time.

of course, a huge special interest I had was Barbie! I had a huge collection of Barbie dolls, always watched Barbie movies (Rapunzel and Princess and the Popstar were the movies I would repeatedly watch), always watched Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse, had a Barbie schoolbag, and Barbie themed notebooks.

i didn't just hyperfixate on media, i also had food hyperfixations (or safe food?) but two food hyperfixations i remember having the most were ube ice cream and peanut butter. almost every day, when i get the chance, i would take many, many scoops of ube ice cream and eat big chunks of it. when i was five years old, my food hyperfixation on peanut butter was intense that i ate a whole jar of it, which unfortunately led me to having diarrhea so i was admitted to the hospital and had to stay there for a couple of days? weeks?

Locking myself in the bathroom even when I didn’t need the loo as a way not to unleash what I thought was my anger upon people. I now know it was because I was overstimulated and not angry but back then I just thought I was just a highly strung who hated my family. The reason for it being a bathroom was because it was the only room you could lock and I didn’t want people coming in the room interrupting me destiumulate. I thought it was all anxiety and depression until 2 years after my diagnosis.

Echolalia: Probably the “most autistic” thing about childhood me. Got me in trouble quite a bit 😅

Hyperfixations: Trains and volcanos were my first two.

Stimming/Sensory seeking: I loved spinning, swinging, swimming, and getting squeezed (still do).

Sensory sensitivity: Hated specific sounds and textures.

Stomach aches.

Parallel play.

I was more interested in sitting in my beach chair reading a book than playing with my sister and cousins growing up

Theres a lot from my childhood thats blank, but from what im sure of, i was "overly sensitive," "rude" (monotone), had sensory issues with anything around my neck, having issues with food, certain textures etc. Unfortunately for me, my mom decided to push through that "unpleasant behaviour," as she didnt know anything about autism.

Sensory issues, mainly with food and socks. I even got hit as a child because of the socks issue. As for the food one, all I’d eat most of the time were bachelors chicken noodles. From the second I was weaned I would wretch over most foods or just straight up would refuse to eat. My parents tried everything from denying me dessert, which I was fine with, they then tried to starve me out but I lasted longer than they did. They even took me to the doctor but they said I had control issues due to being born disabled and that I’ll eat if I got hungry enough. During one hospital stay I went nearly a week without eating because hospital food is disgusting. In the end they got me McDonald’s. After that the doctors just said the noodles were fine since it’s chicken broth and carbs.

Definitely the meltdowns, shut-downs, and hypersensitivity of certain senses (touch and hearing in particular for me). Also my lack of social grace and literalism. And the need for consistent routines. And my tendency to hyperfixate.

Thing is, I think some of this was attributed to the ADHD I definitely also have and got diagnosed with in kindergarten. But back then girls didn’t have autism and rarely had ADHD (or ADD, as I was diagnosed with at the time. It was before the two were combined as a singular diagnosis). The fact my kindergarten teacher had actually noticed that something was off about me at all was a miracle itself.

Social anxiety, gullibility (or taking things literally), being bullied, speech therapy, breaking into tears for seemingly no reason (I now view these as meltdowns), not reacting or responding to teachers when spoken to, eccentricity and being labelled 'weird' despite masking.

I don't think these things by themselves are necessarily obvious, but put them together and there's probably something going on.

A lot of my games in early childhood was sorting dinosaurs by size. Also I had a lot of different stimms and, in particular stomping the pavement until I had that ringing feeling in my legs, I was (and am) an incredibly picky eater and I have oral fixation. Also spaces with many people are unsettling at best

I knew the times table up to 5 before I started KG (thank you gramps for the nerdy toy 😂)

I was constantly in trouble for being “disrespectful” because I wouldn’t/couldn’t make eye contact. I would pick a topic in the card catalogue at the library and read every book in that topic. I wrote real person fan fiction about my friends.

• Hyperfixation on information-heavy subjects like space and geography

• I found fiction boring and would rather read textbooks or encyclopedias. Or look at atlases. I loved maps (still do tbh)

• Very quiet, shy and awkward

• Noticeable stimming. Rocking, leg bouncing etc

• Fixations on objects I had to bring with me everywhere

• I learned to read very early though my dad being unemployed and dedicating all his time to teaching me how to might have something to do with it

• Discomfort with touch, especially from people outside my immediate family

• Lack of eye contact

There are probably more but I'm blanking

I would cry and freak out about broken rules, real or conceived. I almost was made to take a third year of preschool due to social underdevelopment. I would line up my plushies in a specific way in my living room to watch tv and back into my room and would be distressed if they got knocked over or moved. I had a phase around 3 where I would walk around with 4 of my fingers crossed on each hand and most photos of until I'm older I figured out smiling but would be staring wayyyyy away from the camera no matter how much I was told to look at it. I remember it felt really uncomfortable and scary and I would look at it for a split second before looking away. I've always rocked back and forth and had to shamed/punished out of me for a long time

Wearing the yellow SpongeBob shirt every day

1. Taught myself to read when I was 4. Was so hyperfixated on reading that, even in kindergarten, my parents couldn't get me to put down a novel even when walking to school.
2. So bad at understanding the social cues of my classmates that I simply was not able to "play normally" -- to the point where my parents had almost weekly conferences with the teachers about it.
3. My favorite game for several years was taking our hotwheels collection and lining them up by color, then by size, then making patterns with colors and sizes.
4. Extreme sense of justice and full meltdowns surrounding perceived injustice. Which happened a lot because teachers hated me reflexively, especially after the first time I would correct them in class.
   
5. Half my wardrobe was always on my floor at home because I would have to try on 15 outfits every morning until I found one that "felt right"
6. Extremely texture-driven eating habits. Love apples but can't eat applesauce. etc.

38F here and raised by my grandparents from the age of 6 - they did the best they could and they loved me very much but Autism wasn’t something they even knew existed.

• I was OBSESSED with data and I still am. I have spreadsheets upon spreadsheets that show how much our household spent on various subjects over the last almost decade - I can tell you how much my husband I spent on toilet paper in April of 2019 if you ask me. Down to the penny. Why? I feel I need this information. I handle all the finances and my husband lets me because we’ve never been late on a bill. As a kid, I made Excel spreadsheets about my Beanie Baby collection, dinosaurs, volcanic eruptions over the last thousand years, anything I could. I devoured data. I liked to curate it and look at trends and comparisons NO ONE ASKED FOR.

• A hatred of the sun, sand and most anything to do with the beach. They took me once a year to the beach for a week vacation, which was a luxury and an amazing part of childhood and I have so many good memories - but I never actually enjoyed the beach. It wasn’t until I processed it all as an adult that I realized something was wrong with me. I thought everyone just grinned and bared it but that’s …. Not true. To this day I hate being in the sun (I burn easy anyway), the feel of the sand sets off all kinds of sensory issues and just being outside is a trigger for me. I fucking HAAAAATE heat (I peak in the winter).

These days I’m lucky to have in-laws who live near the beach so my kids can go once a year (no lodging cost!) but I have to grin and bare it for them. My husband would stay on the beach from sun up to sun down but I hate it within ten minutes.

• Only liking buttered noodles. Seriously. It’s all I wanted.

• I watched the same movies over and over again. I remember going to BlockBuster and picking up the same My Little Pony movie every weekend for what was likely months.

Adding:

• I know now that it’s Misophonia but as a kid, I thought everyone wanted to flee anytime someone was drinking a bit too loud. I loved my grandma but she’d drink her Diet Cokes and the sound of the swallowing and ice cubes clacking made me have mini meltdowns. I would have shooting pain go down my spine. It would ruin the entire dinner for me and make my heart rate skyrocket. I hated the sounds of others eating or drinking too but she was my main culprit. She literally did nothing wrong and I was fighting for my life as a little kid in a booth next to her, unable to escape. I still hate the sounds and have had to learn to deal because I have kids now and they’re noisy, lol.

went as bioluminescent plankton for Halloween as a 7 year old

as the story goes i taught myself to read when I was about 2. I also began speaking in sentences earlier than most children and I have not shut up since lmfao

in first grade my teacher had to let me pace the room during silent reading time or else I couldn't concentrate. so it was just this weird ass kid reading books above grade level, walking in circles.

if any of my schools had hall monitors I would've been one - i was also that jackass going "shh!!!" to classmates in the hallway and whatnot. VERY big rule follower, confused and distressed when others did not do the same.

like how did this not get figured out until age 30

I would spin in circles and sit on the couch upside down with my feet in the air and my head dangling at least once per day

When I was 5 years old, I drew a Diesel Locomotive with crayons and paper and excitedly showed it to my Kindergarten teacher. I proceeded to explain how a diesel locomotive worked, in precise detail.

Lack of interest in other children, I struggled to make friends and use my imagination when playing, I'd get overwhelmed for seemingly no reason, I didn't know when to stop talking about special interests, I'd take things literally, struggle to make eye contact, id have strange posture and shuffled my feet when walking, I hated change and if my mum cleaned my room when I was at school I'd get really angry and trash it , I'd go mute often, only felt comfortable with my mum, didn't like talking to strangers

my special interests were dogs & The Lion King, I watched my Lion King vhs till it just broken,

I could not deal with any loud sound at all, & was/still is scared to death of balloons/fireworks/thunder

I had a awful time at eating, since I only wanted to eat a few foods & no one believe when I said some foods would make me throw up

when I was very little, my mom said that I hated baths so much I would yell & cry

I always have to have a comfort object with me at all times tho they was random things like a picture of Final Fantasy 7 characters, a cd, book,

I LOVED playing by myself. Even games that you legit need another person for. I found many ways to entertain myself. Beyond being 'clingy' as a up to maybe age 3, nobody had to really see to it that I did my work. It was just a given.

I don't think I displayed special interests as much as varied interests. Perhaps more an adhd trait.

Would chose to wake up before everyone so I could have quiet time.

-frequent meltdowns as well -stimming to the point where i recall my mom telling me to stop because "thats what autistic kids do" -difficulty socializing but not enough where it was an issue in my parents eyes (it was an issue tho) -more mature reading comprehension compared to my peers when i was young, but also more childish interests compared to my peers as i got older -special interests in general

• Hyperfixations on dinosaurs, space, and video games
• Disinterest in age appropriate socialization
• Hyperlexia
• Bad personal hygiene
• Other socialization issues (disregarding rules and social norms, a lot of cussing, getting into fights. I also had some really weird beliefs/experiences because I didn’t know how to separate fact from fantasy and couldn’t understand lying)
• Sensory issues, such as nail biting, skin picking, hair and clothes chewing
• Also my mom would always tell me that I never cried as a baby, and was always happy to be left alone by myself, which I’m coming to understand is unusual

I refused to wear underwear and 99% of clothes because the labels gave me bad sensory feelings.

I was obsessed with the colour pink for a while, to the point I refused to eat anything that wasn’t pink! My mum had to put food colouring in my food, lol.

I stopped eating meat age 6 because I couldn’t stand the texture, my parents tried to get me to eat it and eventually gave up so I went vegetarian because of my autism.

I love animals and would cut out any picture of any animal I could find and stick it to my bedroom wall. I would collect the tiny ones and big ones from calendars, beg my mum to get magazines with animals, and anywhere that had activity brochures for zoos or experiences that happened to have pictures of animals too.

I was extremely ‘shy’ and didn’t talk to anyone really unless directly asked a question, unless the conversation happened to be about books or animals, in which case I wouldn’t shut up.

I was hyperlexic and particularly obsessed with Harry Potter (even though I don’t support JKR and would never spend money on the franchise now, it was my lifelong special interest). The fourth book was the first book I ever read by myself at age 4, because my dad who was reading me the series was ‘taking too long’. The third book was my favourite and I counted everytime I read it by a tally- I had read it 38 times by the age of 13.

Used to play chess against myself

As a teenager I’d have what I thought were panic attacks because of things like the lights being too yellow. It took me years to recognise I was having meltdowns and understand why none of the antidepressants or therapy helped me!

I just got diagnosed last year at age 28!

I watched the same video with the same amount of intense interest on repeat.

I didn't hear anyone unless directly talking to me.

My hatred of putting socks on and my refusal to wear shoes at home.

I grew up around lots of other little kids at a daycare, so I quickly learned to get along and play with others, however when I got to kindergarten nobody wanted to play with me for some reason. Always had "delight to have in class, needs to socialize more" written on my report cards

When I was 4 years old my parents had this MacBook with an application called Photobooth on it. I used it to take pictures of ALL of my toys.

I learned how to read and write when I was 4, yet refused to read any chapter books until 1st grade because of the change.

My first hyperfixation was when I was 2, and it was Dora the Explorer. When I was 6 I got into Sofia the First, and those two were probably some of the most intense fixations I've ever had.

I was the only one who got along with the (looking back on it, definitely also autistic) kid next door. I would go over all the time to play trains or watch the sprout channel, up until we were about 12 years old.

I loved playing with marbles (still do) and I would set up complex tracks, racing groups of them over and over again to organize the marbles into categories based on how fast they were.

I also often refused to be touched until the age of 5.

I was one of those "a pleasure to have in class" kids who was almost always quiet in class but otherwise oh lord the vocal stims. Hyperfixations out the wazoo, ate the corners of my homework for no reason, always picking at or chewing on something, had safe foods. Bothered by sensory things that didn't make sense to anyone else (could not stand Ben Harper as a kid for some reason). Other kids(i feel like they always seem to know somehow?) avoided me because I was very hyper. My brother and parents are also neurospicy and just thought all this was normal kid behavior

my obsession with body language.

i thought it’s not normal knowledge and i just never noticed that everyone except me knows about body language 😭

me running away to climb a tree on recess in kindergarten to avoid other kids could be another sign

i always needed music to play in the car when we were going anywhere, always the same CD, i would be on verge of tears when dad would suggest a different CD with different songs

I’ve always refused certain foods, there’s no possible way to get me to eat them. Let’s go ARFID. I could also equate food tastes with identical food tastes practically immediately. ⭐️I was told this was because I was a picky eater.

I always played the same board games and chose the pink piece or red (depending on which was available in the game) and had meltdowns when I didn’t get it. ⭐️I was told this was because I liked the color.

Every time I was done playing with my toys, they had to go back in an exact position. I also played with my toys the same way/same scenarios with the same dolls, etc. I liked all my toys looking the same (not identical, but looking like they all belonged to the same group). ⭐️I was told this was because I was very clean/organized.

I hated any touch and always wiped off kisses- that shit is a literal crime. Do not put your hands or mouth on my body EVER. ⭐️I was told this was because I was squeamish.

I enjoyed playing with my cat more than other children. And I mimicked my cat meowing a lot to have “conversations” with the cat. I also meowed to avoid talking to other people. ⭐️I was told this was because cats were my favorite animal.

I couldn’t sleep unless I cleaned in between my toes each night. ⭐️I was told this was a cute quirk.

Complete mimicry of my mother’s behavior (her behavior around me, that is. She acted WAYYYY different around other people.) I was also very abrasive, though I attribute this more to my autism than my mother’s behavior because she was somewhat nurturing. ⭐️My mom just straight up denied this.

Situationally nonverbal. (Predominantly in school.) ⭐️I was told this was because I was a quiet child.

I got angry and upset in very uncontrollable ways. I was also upset/angry much more than other children, and I’d do things like hitting my head when this happened. ⭐️I was told this was because I was a child and children throw tantrums.

I was very advanced in school and reading to a point where teachers knew they didn’t need to help me unless I was asking for clarification on a task/assignment. I just knew what to do after one example of a math question, etc.⭐️I was told I was gifted and a quick learner.

I got stress migraines from noisy environments and bright lights. I also had severe sensitivity to noise and would cry over it. ⭐️I was told a lot of girls my age developed migraines, and that my mother had a history of migraines at that age.

I had justice sensitivity from a very young age. And lying was never an option for me or those around me. Not even polite white lies. ⭐️I was told I was being an “honest” or “good” child.

I was more into watching other people interact instead of interacting with them. I was also very apathetic to my social environment. ⭐️I was told, again, that I was a quiet child.

I was always the still and quiet child. I was told my family had to guess my needs as an infant because I wouldn’t cry or make noise. As a toddler the only need I would advocate for was food. ⭐️ again, I was a quiet child.

I had RSD to a point where not getting to do the advanced math sheet because I missed one question caused me to cry. ⭐️I was told this was because I was a sensitive child.

I was always very alert to possible dangers. I wouldn’t participate in PE classes so I wouldn’t get hurt. My body would fake pain so I would have a reason to avoid the activities. Getting me to drive was a nightmare. When reading books on what I deem as “unsafe animals” that had pictures of snakes, sharks, etc. I had to slowly peak at the page and sometimes couldn’t open the page because it triggered my fight or flight (flight ofc). Tbh I avoided books like that altogether. ⭐️I was told I didn’t like physical activity. I never really told people about the book thing.

I had hypersensitivity for all my senses. And I had huge aversions to interactions/activities with overwhelming stimuli. ⭐️I was told I had a preference to do certain activities.

That’s all I got off the dome. I’m a woman and I didn’t get diagnosed until I was 19 because I was able to go to a psychologist on my own atp.

diagnosed as a teen, when i was a kid i used to take all the little hot wheels i had (maybe 80 of them) and form a super long line up to this little parking garage i had and then id park the one in the front and move every car one at a time until the whole line shifted one car further and i would repeat the process until all the cars were parked, it would piss my grandma off for some reason cause i wasnt playing normally.

I don’t know if these are necessarily “obvious” because you can kind of explain each one away, which is why I didn’t know I was autistic until I was 31:

• I would take a bath every single day. Even throughout high school, I was taking an extremely hot bath. I wouldn’t feel clean from the bath, so I always took a shower after too. I believe this was sensory seeking + alone time, a win win

• I was so good at naming the artist and song title of almost any song within 5 seconds, me and my dad made a game of it

• I would come home every day after school for 3 months and put The Outsiders on

• Trichotillomania: I have ripped my eyelashes out since I was 5 years old, it gets worse during stressful times

• Overall self harm when I reached 16-18. My emotions were so big and so overwhelming but I couldn’t express them and just needed some sort of outlet

• Shut downs during confrontation. I got in trouble at school when I was 7, and when my dad came to the principals office I couldn’t think or speak. It was like someone flipped an off switch

I’m a woman so a lot of this was explained as just anxiety/depression, even BPD at one point

Always being called a "drama queen" while my brother was diagnosed with autism early and i wasn't because i'm a girl and they just saw me as "dramatic" while my brother was even worse but for him it was okay because he was diagnosed... (Crying and being scared of everything was seen as normal for me bc i'm a girl)

Also extreme issues with food i could never finish my plate bc the texture and taste of the food was just so bad to me. I have always been underweight because of this and I only like plain food.

I also liked to imitate my fav characters on TV like perry from phineas and ferb. And I did this everywhere even in class i just repeated the "prrrrr" sounds and sat on four legs 😭 (that was the first time someone called me autistic as a joke)

I didn't have problem making friends as a kid but i did when i was around 15 and that's when i got my diagnose.

Being autistic as a girl sucked for me bc i was never taken seriously like ever.

I could read 3 encyclopedias about animals a week.

My mum would always say she didn’t understand how all the teachers would say I was lovely, polite and happy and I’d come home and just be 😡. I now realise it’s that analogy of the coke bottle being shaken and exploding once I got home. She just always said I was so angry.

I’d read the same book on repeat, I used to have a kids bible (not sure why this one in particular, none of my family including me have ever been hugely religious) and I vividly remember reading it four times in one day. Like why.

Meltdowns for sure, the sock thing, an encyclopedic knowledge of my own life. Certain foods were off the table as gross without needing to try them. Used to walk up to people all bold and confident but when I started masking that stopped.

I don't remember much of my childhood, but my mum kept all my old school reports, and every single one of them said something like, "she is needing to be reminded to behave appropriately," "she is still having regular emotional outbursts," "refuses to participate in sports and group activities," "too quiet," "too disruptive," "either does the work to a near perfect degree, or does not do the work at all," "is doing well in tests, but does not pay attention in class..." I could go on.

hated getting my hair brushed, spinned in circles for forever, twirled my hair obsessively

Hyperfixations and high emotional sensitivity.

Cried about everything, read a lot, loved to organize my hundreds of Hot Wheels, was always weirdly good at rhythm games, the goddamn echolalia

I cried if someone made my lunch wrong regularly 

"picky" eating, "back talk/unladylike tone/sassy language," constantly reading library books or writing in my diary, infodumping and consuming information about felines to an excessive degree, super skin sensitivity to "normal" clothes and furniture, constant bullying by the meangirls and later sexual harassment by the boys but nobody believed it was a problem.

I feel the full meltdown over the butterfly landing on my arm, at the natural history museum, when I was 10 is the biggest sign.

The fact I would try to scale the walls of the stall when the auto toilets flushed. Just no need for them to be that loud.

The way I would have to watch the other kids for at least 30 minutes before going to play with them every day.

My intense almost daily battles of "eat this food!" With my parents was for sure a huge one.

The fact that I didn't have friends past elementary school because I was "too weird" the other kids said.

You that kangaroo bouncy ball thing? I liked to lie on back and hold the ball by the ear handle things and kick it in the air. I could keep at it for maybe like an hour?

Pogo sticks - I don't remember who but us sisters broke by jumping so much on it. And was quite sad it broke. It was so much fun

Swings - I used to and still will spend hours swinging, my whole body rocking back and forth to keep the momentum going. As high and as fast as I could. Which was quite high, enough to make people other than my family very nervous at high how high I went. It was a great full body work out too as I basically rowing with my whole body.

Spinning - we had a game called "dashing wheels" where the point was to spin with hands stretched out and try to make each fall. Yeah it was a rather violent game 😅

My science teacher once said that I didn't look at them in class but was still listening because I could answer questions. I was surprised because I hadn't noticed that I didn't make eye contact.

Once could not get words out of my mouth during an exam for no reason at all inspite of knowing the answers. My mouth wouldn't budge. I remember returning back to my place feeling very confused and a little alarmed.

I have eczema, was worse in childhood. And labels and seams were the bane of my existence. I wore my clothes inside out at home for almost all of my childhood and still will if I'm itchy.

I was touch averse and still am. Hated crowds, which I tolerate a bit better now.

Photography was a pain for me because my eyes would automatically blink as soon as the flash hit. I was often "asleep" in photographs. Still am 😅

I would stare off into thin air fairly often

Extremely picky eater

Barely spoke until I was 7

My father (Who is likely autistic and had bad anger issues) was rarely angry at me since I was the only one that understood he was just overstimmed (as much as a little kid can understand that type of stuff)

Only gave eye contact once in a blue moon

Hated touching most stuff, I found an old home video where anytime I grabbed stuff I'd hold it as if it had mold on it

One of my earliest memories is from pre-school when I was coloring a yellow spot on a clown and a streak of red appeared while I was coloring. I distinctly remember losing my shit about red being in the yellow.

My dad also said I was mute around strangers to the point that some of his friends asked if I was slow.

Having zero friends probably

Let’s see…

When I was little I obsessed over things… Dinosaurs, then Pac-Man, and the list goes on. I developed quite a few areas of restricted knowledge over the years.

6th grade, my teacher recognized that I avoided eye contact. She was kind, but she made a point of trying to teach me to make eye contact and I did my best. On balance, it probably “helped” me learn to mask better.

Oh, and social cues I was all over the place. I said some incredibly inappropriate stuff thinking that it was funny. Some of this lead to issues that got me kicked out of honors science in 8th grade and had the guidance counselor suggesting that I was immature and should be held back… thankfully my parents didn’t agree. I still resent him for not recognizing my ADHD or Autism (I guess Asperger’s at the time)

I didn’t cry as an infant and didn’t really talk until I was 3

I had a very limited list of foods I'd eat, all of which are consistent in texture and taste. I didn't get along with other preschoolers so the daycare wanted to drop me to the younger class to improve my social development, but I was academically advanced relative to my peers. I created and strictly followed my own morning routine in kindergarten.

When I was about seven I was sent to a mental institution because of OCD (I backtracked all of my steps and collected stones and leaves because I had a metaphysical problem with the unrelenting progression of time and I was deeply terrified of death because I imagined it as boring) one time a psychologist did a test were I was supposed to draw my family as animals (so that they could interpret archetypes and relations I guess) and I drew myself and my family as Aliens

Most obvious was stimming. My favorite stim is and was to play with my hair so my parents solution was to keep me at a buzz cut all the time :(

I'm sure there were other signs too but my memory of my childhood isn't organized in chronological order it's more like a dictionary in python

-Hyperfixations, my little pony, littlest pet shop, Pokemon, and a couple book series.

-Whenever I played it was stacking/organizing my toys in the same way each time. I couldn’t stand other kids ‘messing’ with my toys.

-Making my own fidgets. I got in trouble at school a lot for stealing the tac behind the posters to play with. I would purposely mix beads in with silly putty and slowly take them back out while listening to audio books.

-I found school reports that mentioned I never spoke unless prompted to and refused to engage with other kids. It was easier to talk to kids younger than me and adults, but not people my age. which apparently is also an autism sign?

-I was a nightmare to buy clothes for. It had to feel right and Had To Be Purple.

-meltdowns a lot but they were always brushed aside as me just having a short temper.

-whenever I got to choose where to go I always chose the same museum, to the point of annoying my dad.

-on annoying my dad, watching the same couple shows, focusing on episodes that featured my favorite characters. I broke a couple dvds due to overplaying.

Honestly I think the only reason I wasn’t diagnosed was I’m afab (so the school didn’t care) and my parents were undiagnosed (dad got diagnosed with adhd in his 40s and while my mom isn’t diagnosed I suspect my autism came from her/her dad) so my weirdness was normal to them.

Hyperfixations, delayed speech (I just made sounds until I learned to speak), stimming

• Hyperfixations
• Hyperlexia
• Misophonia
• Nonstop crying as a baby (pediatrician had told mom to constantly play TV/radio so I could fall asleep anywhere but I was probably just severely overstimulated)
• An absolute love for being left tf alone to play independently since I was a toddler (I would wonder why being sent to my room was supposed to be a punishment lol)
• Touching things while wet made me wanna die
• A whole ass issue and system regarding sock seams
• Visceral hate for clothing tags. I literally rejoiced when tagless clothes became a thing.
• Complete disregard for social hierarchies
• Natural immunity to a lot of the religious propaganda around me
• Taking certain things very literally, particularly social niceties
• Overtly trusting
• Innate mechanical understanding of electronics and machines
• A level of cleanliness and organization that most adults don’t even have
• Reading the encyclopedia for fun
• Hated being touched, even my my own family
• NOT SPEAKING TILL I WAS 4 YEARS OLD (come on, mom 😩)

• if the seam of my socks went across the front of my toes instead of over, instant meltdown (i still HATE this)

• my mom has said that she had to learn to take hugs from me when I offered them, because if she tried to hug me I would try to squirm away and freak out (im still weird about hugs)

• when I was trying to focus (like on a test or something) it would feel like I could hear everything all at once and had to put my fingers in my ears for a while so I wouldn't freak out

• I would get weirdly attached to random things, like my dad's trailer i'd named (i sobbed when he sold it)

I didn't talk until after kindergarten. My parents got me checked with a pediatrician who told them I was normal, and that I just didn't want to talk and that I would when I felt like it.

• when partnered with others, wanting to do things i liked without consulting them

• putting hands over ears in loud situations

• not understanding hyperbole or sarcasm

• started talking at a young age then suddenly stopped

• hyperlexia

• terrible rsd as a child

i really could go on. i was diagnosed in early childhood, but then they decided to drop the diagnosis after early intervention, and then i was rediagnosed at 17

How early is early? I was formally diagnosed at 8, but doctors said I probably was autistic well before that. Wow, we exhibit a lot of the same symptoms. I also pace, wander, and stim (mostly by rubbing my arms or legs together or against something) a lot.

I was never able to become part of any social groups, spent a lot of time alone, and was weirdly obsessed with Disneyland. My ADHD traits were definitely dominant when I was a kid though, I’m honestly not surprised that the autism was missed in the nineties.

• Frequent meltdowns
• sensory issues
• not playing with other kids

Tbf, I'm extremely high masking

My coin collection :')

screaming meltdowns over things like: "the walls are too white," being able to feel my clothes, things being too loud, a room being too quiet, my hands being wet, my little sisters high pitched voice being too loud, or flashing lights

I always played by myself

Didn’t really understand the affects of my actions on others

Didn’t like to watch cartoons with other kids

Spent lots of my time repairing electrical appliances as a 6 year old (back in the 1970s)

Huge reading onset delays

Couldn’t do maths worth a damn

Always had a very strong sense of injustice, wanted to save everyone

Never got board spent my whole time dreaming about making spacecraft, totally obsessed with them. Still am.

Complete oblivious to social cues

Dyslexia

I used to pump out tons of my mom’s fancy lotions and rub it all over my arms because I loved how it felt. I did this with various other soaps as well. I used to have pretty bad cracked knuckles because I would wash my hands like six times in a row because I loved the feeling of soap. I could sit for hours not doing anything and still be entertained.

• constant, extremely obvious stimming
• chewing noises made me sob
• very poor proprioception
• no eye contact
• socially awkward
• special interests

I’m amazed I escaped diagnosis. Instead I pretty heavily internalized the idea that I was nasty, spoiled, lazy, and a burden lol :)

Toe walking alone in the rain pretending to be samus aran was probably something of a giveaway, if rejecting tv for shortform SF wasn't.

Everyone tells parents to take their baby on a car ride to fall asleep. This did NOT work on baby me, in fact it made me cry. I demanded to be rocked constantly while I was sleeping. HATED being on my back (I still do) and did tummy time as soon as I learned to flip over. I had a speech delay, hit all my other milestones on time. I was the kid who comforted the other kids at preschool when they were missing their parents. I would “squeeze” by double crossing my legs and arms, then tensing all my muscles (I still do this, just no longer in public). Touch is my love language, especially squeezing hugs. I was diagnosed with sensory processing disorder, because I was a girl who showed interest in making friends. But I struggled with making and maintaining friends. It took the DSM5 to come out to get my autism diagnosis.

[removed]

[removed]

I spun in circles for fun a lot. I hated creative writing but the one story my parents kept was a visceral one-page illustrated story about a “discusting” sandwich with too many ingredients. I anthropomorphized the sandwich. My baby book that my mom wrote in is filled with “lazy” and “stubborn” and “bellowing” and notes about various peculiarities and many spankings. I can tell you right now, spankings never worked and only made my respect for my parents diminish. I was given a developmental delay screening because I wasn’t walking at 18 months, but the doctor wasn’t too worried when he saw my excellent stacking and sorting skills.

This is how a low support needs autistic girl was observed and regarded in the 1970s.

-Picky eating that turned out to be ARFID

-Frequent meltdowns

-Constant stimming that I was very particular about. My favourite stim was fidgeting with Polly Pockets, and she couldn't have any of the rubber clothes on because I didn't like the feeling.

-Selective mutism

-Couldn't make eye contact

-Melting down over repetitive noises, strong smells, bright lights, etc.

-What my parents called a "lack of common sense" which was really just me struggling with social rules that hadn't been explicitly stated

-Pure hatred for wool and sherpa blankets or clothes

-I had a meltdown at the smallest change of routine

SO MANY. Here are the best:

• Hiding under the stairs to read books
• Refusing hugs. When not allowed to refuse, reading books at the same time
• Putting hands over my ears and complaining of it hurting when planes flew overhead
• Following every rule and getting angry at people who didn't (including my parents)
• Perfectly happy by myself.

And the most obvious of them all:

• Going to the library age ~10-13 to read books on people's behaviour so I could learn to talk to people; critically analysing whether descriptions matched up to what I observed... But also not realising why I couldn't read the emotion faces in the book and just assuming that they weren't very good

As a child, I would put sand in my hair because I loved the way that it felt rubbing it around in my hair with my hands. Forgot about that until now and I kinda want to do it again.

I have always been an expert on some handful of subjects, even as a kid.

edit: my absolute shock in kindergarten that children "play house" - I always loved dolls, doll houses, play kitchens, and all of that kind of stuff, but I never wanted to pretend play with it. I'm more of a collector when it came to those kinds of toys. Still don't get it.

I'd run around on all fours, howl, gowl and bark, overall I was more animal than a human child.

In my late 20s now, still haven't grown out of it.

I think the most obvious signs for me were:

1. When i was 3-4, my favorite way to play with my Little People toys was to line them up on the windowsill, knock them down, and line them up again. When I was a bit older, 5-8ish, I never played with my Littlest Pet Shop toys, but instead grouped them by animals.

2. I didnt like playing at recess, so instead, I spent recess looking at playground rocks, inspecting them, finding cool ones and keeping them. Id put the ones I liked in my lunchbox and took them home, and then I'd continue to sort them by color, weird shapes, what sounds they made when hit against each other, etc.