Hello Everyone!
I’m Jay or James, whichever you prefer. I’m 38, turning 39 in July. I’m one of five in my Family to be diagnosed with Autism. Myself, my Better Half, both Nephews, and my youngest Cousin.
I was first diagnosed with Autism on November 22, 1989 at the age of 3 by the US Army. We were stationed in Mannheim, Germany at Ben Franklin Village. Yes, we were there when the Berlin Wall fell. I have a piece of it. My Mom knew there was something different about me almost immediately after I was born on Post at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. I didn’t walk until almost my 2nd Birthday and didn’t speak until I was 3, though I do remember things as far back as around my 3rd Birthday. Both Parents in the Army at the time. My Mom left the Army right before I was diagnosed and my Dad retired from the Army in 1992 between when we came back Stateside to California at first but then to San Antonio 6 months later upon his retirement. He retired right after I turned 6.
We get to San Antonio and almost immediately there’s problems. School Administration tried to write me off as disabled and stick me into an Alternative School so they didn’t have to deal with my needs. My Mom wasn’t having it. School ended up force-medicating me on Ritalin which was later found to be highly illegal. I was re-evaluated for Autism in early 1994 while repeating the 1st Grade and unsurprisingly diagnosed with Autism the second time. Brutal bullying began happening and most turned a blind eye at School. I was labled a problem for fighting back against it. At home was a mixed bag. I was brutally bullied in the neighborhood by some and abused by my Dad whenever he was home on rare occasion because of work. When my Stepdad hired my Mom, things took a neat turn. I’m very mechanically inclined and have been since forever. I was already taking things apart and putting them back together by my 3rd Birthday, and what a dream it was for an 8 year old in 1994 to be handed a Tool Set and turned loose on all the wrecked Taxi Cabs behind the Building on the Lot. I was a one kid Salvage Team until right after turning 13. If not taking Cars apart, teaching myself how to work on them, it was sitting in the Maintenance Bay with our Mechanics as they did their work, soaking it all up. If not that, then it was riding with our Tow Truck Drivers. Stepdad also owned a Towing Company in San Antonio. I had my first Driving Lesson at age 12 in October 1998 in one of the Flatbeds. A 1998 Chevrolet C6500, red in color, Truck 205. It was almost the size of a School Bus and has a Stick Shift. It was amazing. My Parents divorced in February 1998 because of the abuse my Dad subjected us Kids to. We’d move out and into the second house. He stalked my Mom and would force his way into the house numerous times and San Antonio PD did nothing about it. We ended up leaving back to Sonoma County, California because my Mon feared for our lives.
I get to California in April 2001, Schools in Texas were still playing games with us which resulted in me only attending my last month of 8th Grade in Windsor. Freshman Year starts and so does the Bullying again. Only this time it was the worst I’d experienced. Unlike the Schools in Texas, the few who turned a blind eye ended up in hot water by the Administration. I was forced into Civil Air Patrol’s Cadet Program by my Mom. Things got straightened out rather quickly. After that, then the School asked for another evaluation for placement purposes and to form a plan for how I’d get through the remainder of High School. I was diagnosed the third time in February 2002. I turned to my Music and Sketch Pad. Everyone around me took notice. I was self-taught and almost instantly got recognized as a master technical illustrator doing these things bay hand. By my Junior Year, pretty much all the bullying had subsided. I owe one of my best friends for keeping an eye on me. She graduated the year after I did. She’s still overly protective of me and now also my better half too. School placed me in two paid internships that confirmed I was workforce ready, scoring very high marks in them. Started my Senior Project and my Career in October 2004, right after getting my Drivers License. I’ve been doing Security and Asset Protection ever since. Nothing to write home about honestly though I’ve done numerous types of Security over the last 20 years. I went on to graduate in June 2005 with a 3.5 GPA.
After graduation, life got interesting. My Sister had turned to alcohol because of the rough upbringing we had in San Antonio and people not taking notice to her drinking until July 2005 right after I turned 19. She was in a bad Rollover Crash and that’s how we found out about her addiction to Alcohol. My Grandma M fell ill with Cancer at almost 82 in 2006. I became her Gatekeeper. I ran her to appointments, did her grocery shopping, and kept watch over her though she had all her faculties until the end. I was by this point full time Loss Prevention for one company and part time with some others, working two jobs much of the time. I went to work one morning and my routine calls to the house kept going unanswered. Spoke via the answering machine which she heard me and stayed away. We got 9 more days with her because of that. I sent everyone and everything I could find to the house, then scrambled to the Hospital. I took care of business for her in her time of need and her last days. She passed away on February 11, 2008. Age 83. The economy was tanking and I was laid off less than a year later in January 2009. I ended up having to leave California. Too many bad memories and now out of work. My Car blew an engine on the way out of California. Took CHP 6 hours to get to me because I was in the middle of nowhere. I went to Las Vegas where I immediately found work as an Investigations Specialist for Asset Protection via another Company. Little did I know that it was through this Job and a second Job that I’d travel the Country without a Car and make it work. All this while trying to find my way and place in this world which I eventually would. It was during all this thay I began to question my diagnosis. I was 23 and how could I have Autism having already lived one hell of a life for the cards I was dealt. I was evaluated at my own doing this time in April 2010. Again confirmed that yes, I do in fact have Autism. My only reaction to it? Press on. I’d continue to travel around for another year for work and eventually would ask out my Better Half in April 2011. I went back to Las Vegas for another 10 months, would fly out to visit her twice, and then get asked to move and become part of her family, which I did in March 2012 and been here since. April 2025 will make 14 years for us being together. She also has Autism and was also diagnosed in November 1989. We even share Birthdays as hers is the day after mine and we’re a year apart. She’s the quiet one of us and I’m the loudmouth. When she came with me out to California to visit my family the first time, my Oldest Sister immediately welcomed her into the family. They were very close right away. Her Mom tagged along with us in 2014 and met them too. Sadly, Alcoholism would go on to claim the life of my Oldest Sister on September 22, 2021. She was only weeks away from turning 38. She was my protector and teacher when I was growing up and every Irish Stereotype you ever heard about all wrapped into one. She was a one woman wrecking crew and could outplay the guys at Football. She is sorely missed. She just couldn’t overcome the scars of our upbringing.
I’m a jack of all trades by skill sets, almost all of them self-taught. My Mom and Stepdad did a masterful job raising me to stand on my own. I was always told that nobody was coming for my aid. Nobody was going to help me. If I needed or wanted something, it was me that was going to have to make it happen. When you want to learn skills that nobody will teach you, gotta teach yourself. I’m into all things mechanical. Automotive, Gunsmithing, Aviation, Techincal Drafting, Custom Furniture Building, all of it. I also do Graphic Design by hand time to time. I’m also into Storm Spotting. My Time in San Antonio got me obsessed with Severe Weather, especially Tornadoes. I’m also a History Buff, especially into the Dark Ages. I love Viking History and Norse Mythology. When it comes to Autism, I never really considered myself to be an advocate but do make myself available to answer questions or give advice. I have the Sensory Aspects but mask them well. People debate whether or not to disclose Autism to an employer. My employer knows. I’m Asset Protection for a major Home Improvement Company. I’m the most tenured on our AP Team in my District at 6 years with the Company and coming up on 21 Years in field.
My Bosses at District Management who I report to are aware. They not only use my Investigative Skills, but when odd projects relating to Item Security happen at any of our 13 locations in our District, I’m often the one they turn to for the Mechanical Skills to make that happen as well. I often keep my Office dark because of Senory and wear my Sunglasses indoors for the same reason. I keep my Bluetooth Earbuds handy for the Hearing Sensitivity I have too. Odd that I can listen to Metal Music full volume and not be fazed by it, yet the overheads will make my ears ring. If you have Autism with these Sensory Differences, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
In closing, I know this was long. Being almost 39, there was really no way to keep this short. I left a lot out for the sake of brevity. If you made it this far, thank you for reading. Attached to this post is a Technical Draft I did of a Grumman F-14D Tomcat some years back.
It’s a crazy world out there, Autism or not, so all of you please be safe. Take care.
I’m Jay or James, whichever you prefer. I’m 38, turning 39 in July. I’m one of five in my Family to be diagnosed with Autism. Myself, my Better Half, both Nephews, and my youngest Cousin.
I was first diagnosed with Autism on November 22, 1989 at the age of 3 by the US Army. We were stationed in Mannheim, Germany at Ben Franklin Village. Yes, we were there when the Berlin Wall fell. I have a piece of it. My Mom knew there was something different about me almost immediately after I was born on Post at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. I didn’t walk until almost my 2nd Birthday and didn’t speak until I was 3, though I do remember things as far back as around my 3rd Birthday. Both Parents in the Army at the time. My Mom left the Army right before I was diagnosed and my Dad retired from the Army in 1992 between when we came back Stateside to California at first but then to San Antonio 6 months later upon his retirement. He retired right after I turned 6.
We get to San Antonio and almost immediately there’s problems. School Administration tried to write me off as disabled and stick me into an Alternative School so they didn’t have to deal with my needs. My Mom wasn’t having it. School ended up force-medicating me on Ritalin which was later found to be highly illegal. I was re-evaluated for Autism in early 1994 while repeating the 1st Grade and unsurprisingly diagnosed with Autism the second time. Brutal bullying began happening and most turned a blind eye at School. I was labled a problem for fighting back against it. At home was a mixed bag. I was brutally bullied in the neighborhood by some and abused by my Dad whenever he was home on rare occasion because of work. When my Stepdad hired my Mom, things took a neat turn. I’m very mechanically inclined and have been since forever. I was already taking things apart and putting them back together by my 3rd Birthday, and what a dream it was for an 8 year old in 1994 to be handed a Tool Set and turned loose on all the wrecked Taxi Cabs behind the Building on the Lot. I was a one kid Salvage Team until right after turning 13. If not taking Cars apart, teaching myself how to work on them, it was sitting in the Maintenance Bay with our Mechanics as they did their work, soaking it all up. If not that, then it was riding with our Tow Truck Drivers. Stepdad also owned a Towing Company in San Antonio. I had my first Driving Lesson at age 12 in October 1998 in one of the Flatbeds. A 1998 Chevrolet C6500, red in color, Truck 205. It was almost the size of a School Bus and has a Stick Shift. It was amazing. My Parents divorced in February 1998 because of the abuse my Dad subjected us Kids to. We’d move out and into the second house. He stalked my Mom and would force his way into the house numerous times and San Antonio PD did nothing about it. We ended up leaving back to Sonoma County, California because my Mon feared for our lives.
I get to California in April 2001, Schools in Texas were still playing games with us which resulted in me only attending my last month of 8th Grade in Windsor. Freshman Year starts and so does the Bullying again. Only this time it was the worst I’d experienced. Unlike the Schools in Texas, the few who turned a blind eye ended up in hot water by the Administration. I was forced into Civil Air Patrol’s Cadet Program by my Mom. Things got straightened out rather quickly. After that, then the School asked for another evaluation for placement purposes and to form a plan for how I’d get through the remainder of High School. I was diagnosed the third time in February 2002. I turned to my Music and Sketch Pad. Everyone around me took notice. I was self-taught and almost instantly got recognized as a master technical illustrator doing these things bay hand. By my Junior Year, pretty much all the bullying had subsided. I owe one of my best friends for keeping an eye on me. She graduated the year after I did. She’s still overly protective of me and now also my better half too. School placed me in two paid internships that confirmed I was workforce ready, scoring very high marks in them. Started my Senior Project and my Career in October 2004, right after getting my Drivers License. I’ve been doing Security and Asset Protection ever since. Nothing to write home about honestly though I’ve done numerous types of Security over the last 20 years. I went on to graduate in June 2005 with a 3.5 GPA.
After graduation, life got interesting. My Sister had turned to alcohol because of the rough upbringing we had in San Antonio and people not taking notice to her drinking until July 2005 right after I turned 19. She was in a bad Rollover Crash and that’s how we found out about her addiction to Alcohol. My Grandma M fell ill with Cancer at almost 82 in 2006. I became her Gatekeeper. I ran her to appointments, did her grocery shopping, and kept watch over her though she had all her faculties until the end. I was by this point full time Loss Prevention for one company and part time with some others, working two jobs much of the time. I went to work one morning and my routine calls to the house kept going unanswered. Spoke via the answering machine which she heard me and stayed away. We got 9 more days with her because of that. I sent everyone and everything I could find to the house, then scrambled to the Hospital. I took care of business for her in her time of need and her last days. She passed away on February 11, 2008. Age 83. The economy was tanking and I was laid off less than a year later in January 2009. I ended up having to leave California. Too many bad memories and now out of work. My Car blew an engine on the way out of California. Took CHP 6 hours to get to me because I was in the middle of nowhere. I went to Las Vegas where I immediately found work as an Investigations Specialist for Asset Protection via another Company. Little did I know that it was through this Job and a second Job that I’d travel the Country without a Car and make it work. All this while trying to find my way and place in this world which I eventually would. It was during all this thay I began to question my diagnosis. I was 23 and how could I have Autism having already lived one hell of a life for the cards I was dealt. I was evaluated at my own doing this time in April 2010. Again confirmed that yes, I do in fact have Autism. My only reaction to it? Press on. I’d continue to travel around for another year for work and eventually would ask out my Better Half in April 2011. I went back to Las Vegas for another 10 months, would fly out to visit her twice, and then get asked to move and become part of her family, which I did in March 2012 and been here since. April 2025 will make 14 years for us being together. She also has Autism and was also diagnosed in November 1989. We even share Birthdays as hers is the day after mine and we’re a year apart. She’s the quiet one of us and I’m the loudmouth. When she came with me out to California to visit my family the first time, my Oldest Sister immediately welcomed her into the family. They were very close right away. Her Mom tagged along with us in 2014 and met them too. Sadly, Alcoholism would go on to claim the life of my Oldest Sister on September 22, 2021. She was only weeks away from turning 38. She was my protector and teacher when I was growing up and every Irish Stereotype you ever heard about all wrapped into one. She was a one woman wrecking crew and could outplay the guys at Football. She is sorely missed. She just couldn’t overcome the scars of our upbringing.
I’m a jack of all trades by skill sets, almost all of them self-taught. My Mom and Stepdad did a masterful job raising me to stand on my own. I was always told that nobody was coming for my aid. Nobody was going to help me. If I needed or wanted something, it was me that was going to have to make it happen. When you want to learn skills that nobody will teach you, gotta teach yourself. I’m into all things mechanical. Automotive, Gunsmithing, Aviation, Techincal Drafting, Custom Furniture Building, all of it. I also do Graphic Design by hand time to time. I’m also into Storm Spotting. My Time in San Antonio got me obsessed with Severe Weather, especially Tornadoes. I’m also a History Buff, especially into the Dark Ages. I love Viking History and Norse Mythology. When it comes to Autism, I never really considered myself to be an advocate but do make myself available to answer questions or give advice. I have the Sensory Aspects but mask them well. People debate whether or not to disclose Autism to an employer. My employer knows. I’m Asset Protection for a major Home Improvement Company. I’m the most tenured on our AP Team in my District at 6 years with the Company and coming up on 21 Years in field.
My Bosses at District Management who I report to are aware. They not only use my Investigative Skills, but when odd projects relating to Item Security happen at any of our 13 locations in our District, I’m often the one they turn to for the Mechanical Skills to make that happen as well. I often keep my Office dark because of Senory and wear my Sunglasses indoors for the same reason. I keep my Bluetooth Earbuds handy for the Hearing Sensitivity I have too. Odd that I can listen to Metal Music full volume and not be fazed by it, yet the overheads will make my ears ring. If you have Autism with these Sensory Differences, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
In closing, I know this was long. Being almost 39, there was really no way to keep this short. I left a lot out for the sake of brevity. If you made it this far, thank you for reading. Attached to this post is a Technical Draft I did of a Grumman F-14D Tomcat some years back.
It’s a crazy world out there, Autism or not, so all of you please be safe. Take care.
