Hello, I'm a high-functioning teen diagnosed with autism. Here's some insight from me about my own experience with autism

[field-of-flowers]

I hope I'm doing this right, this is my first time posting here. I got diagnosed in 2022 with autism spectrum disorder level 1, I've only recently just started receiving help for it since nobody except for my therapist and psychiatrist noticed anything was off about me. My family didn't really know what signs to look for, so they never saw any. Though, as my therapist and psychiatrist gradually explained more about autism they started to understand more.

I figured I'd try to help some people here by talking about how I experience certain things and how I manage the issues from my autism. Certain sounds can feel "heavy" for me, y'know the sounds you hear when you're driving with the car windows down? Those are heavy sounds. They feel like they have a lot of pressure. My dad no longer drives with the windows down since I've admitted this in therapy. Certain sounds also feel like needles stabbing the inside of my hears, and I can't function if there's too much sound at once or I'll lose it. I have earplugs to deal with this, they made things a little easier for me during the last school year. I'm also allowed to skip events like assemblies and I can skip lunch due to how overwhelmed I feel by lots of people and how noisy they all are. Try to look for earplugs that quiet sounds but don't get rid of them completely.

Admittedly I struggled a lot with controlling my tone of voice, I either sound really monotone or I accidentally get too loud because I'm passionate about a topic. This might sound weird but I practice this with my dog. I'd feel awkward practicing with anybody else, and my therapist even pointed out this was a good idea. My family also isn't afraid to tell me to be more quiet when I'm loud.

The biggest thing I can emphasize for helping your kid is get them a support system for their autism. I have a therapist who's worked with people with disabilities for decades, and my psychiatrist is very sharp. They're both really good for support. I also recommend making sure you're doing okay as well, as an autistic girl I admit we can be a bit of a handful sometimes lol. Mental health is important!

Also, I want to emphasize one last thing: I think it's great that you all are getting help for your kids at such a young age. The fact that you acknowledge your kid has a disability is a step in the right direction, I know I would've benefited from early help. I tear up a little bit seeing how hard parents of children with autism work for their kid. Thank you for everything you guys are doing for your kids.

If I can think of or find any more good tips and insight I'll be sure to post again.

 

[Rodafina]

Hello and welcome. That is kind and thoughtful of you to try to help others, especially parents of autistic children.

Did you know that there are a lot of autistic teens and adults here as well? I hope you stick around for a while so that you can get to know us and continue to help others as well as possibly getting some support for yourself. That’s what we do here – we support each other with the ongoing challenges of the exact things that you posted about it.

 

[MildredHubble]

Hi @field-of-flowers welcome to the forum! I'm sure you will make loads of friends and feel right at home here!

 

[tree]

 

[AdamG]

Hello @field-of-flowers nice to meet you. I'm a 55 year old who just self-diagnosed. I have always been autistic and didn't really even know what it meant.

This is good advice for parents to get children a support system. If I had one when I was younger, it would have been a huge help.

I hope you stick around and share your experiences. Welcome.

 

[kenaij]

Welcome to the forums. there is a lot of very useful information here and a lot of knowledgable people. I`ve learned a lot since joining.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Welcome @field-of-flowers, it is good that you share your experiences. You never know, here, who you may be helping. How are you doing socially? At your age I had yearnings to be normally social but I could never understand social communication plus people thought me too odd. As a result I felt very isolated and that created difficulties for me when I would create narratives to explain my failures. I did not know I was autistic at the time. It took a lot of trial and error before I accepted myself and began enjoying my interests.

The one thing that helped me was that my parents insisted on my independence, especially getting around on public transportation. Before I was 10, I was taking trains by myself between Windsor (across the river from Detroit) to Toronto. That instilled in me a fierce independence.

 

[field-of-flowers]

Welcome @field-of-flowers, it is good that you share your experiences. You never know, here, who you may be helping. How are you doing socially? At your age I had yearnings to be normally social but I could never understand social communication plus people thought me too odd. As a result I felt very isolated and that created difficulties for me when I would create narratives to explain my failures. I did not know I was autistic at the time. It took a lot of trial and error before I accepted myself and began enjoying my interests.

The one thing that helped me was that my parents insisted on my independence, especially getting around on public transportation. Before I was 10, I was taking trains by myself between Windsor (across the river from Detroit) to Toronto. That instilled in me a fierce independence.

I'm trying to make progress socially. I haven't really had a social life since elementary school but I'm working with my therapist on that. I admit it's a little difficult to see why socializing is so important, admittedly I have little interest in my peers lol. I do find that I get along better with adults since no kids my age are really interested in the stuff I'm interested in. I'm a geek for languages and neuroscience. I did manage to make a new friend on the second to last day of school, since I could speak some of her language.

Regarding my social life, it's definitely a work in progress. I think the difficult part for me is nonverbal communication, figuring out how to socialize, and I struggle to really find an interest or reason to really be around people. I think I'll eventually improve, I'm just stubborn to changes

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I'm trying to make progress socially. I haven't really had a social life since elementary school but I'm working with my therapist on that. I admit it's a little difficult to see why socializing is so important, admittedly I have little interest in my peers lol. I do find that I get along better with adults since no kids my age are really interested in the stuff I'm interested in. I'm a geek for languages and neuroscience. I did manage to make a new friend on the second to last day of school, since I could speak some of her language.

Regarding my social life, it's definitely a work in progress. I think the difficult part for me is nonverbal communication, figuring out how to socialize, and I struggle to really find an interest or reason to really be around people. I think I'll eventually improve, I'm just stubborn to changes

Being resistant to change comes with the territory. The only way I found to control change in my career was to use my abilities and observation to notice underserved functions or elements subject to changes by the FDA. I was able to use or develop skills (as in statistics) to move myself into those areas and define my duties. I was in demand by Engineering to support their projects.

In terms of friendships and relationships, even NTs have issues. So many let their egos get in the way of enjoying others. Nonverbal communication was hard for me also. I studied books about it. Then In my mid 20s I slowly matured socially. What helped a lot was getting involved with activity groups like Sierra Club outings. There, interest and contribution counted for more than neurology, and with such accepting people I could practice being social (there were many "quirky" members and we all got along). Some friends I have made in outings I've had for over 35 years. That practice and success in basic research gave me the confidence to start dating. I was hoping to meet a woman who enjoys outdoor activities and I met one who was looking for a man to do outdoor activities with. We were very compatible.

 

[Nitro]

 

[MorganVioletHart]

I hope I'm doing this right, this is my first time posting here. I got diagnosed in 2022 with autism spectrum disorder level 1, I've only recently just started receiving help for it since nobody except for my therapist and psychiatrist noticed anything was off about me. My family didn't really know what signs to look for, so they never saw any. Though, as my therapist and psychiatrist gradually explained more about autism they started to understand more.

I figured I'd try to help some people here by talking about how I experience certain things and how I manage the issues from my autism. Certain sounds can feel "heavy" for me, y'know the sounds you hear when you're driving with the car windows down? Those are heavy sounds. They feel like they have a lot of pressure. My dad no longer drives with the windows down since I've admitted this in therapy. Certain sounds also feel like needles stabbing the inside of my hears, and I can't function if there's too much sound at once or I'll lose it. I have earplugs to deal with this, they made things a little easier for me during the last school year. I'm also allowed to skip events like assemblies and I can skip lunch due to how overwhelmed I feel by lots of people and how noisy they all are. Try to look for earplugs that quiet sounds but don't get rid of them completely.

Admittedly I struggled a lot with controlling my tone of voice, I either sound really monotone or I accidentally get too loud because I'm passionate about a topic. This might sound weird but I practice this with my dog. I'd feel awkward practicing with anybody else, and my therapist even pointed out this was a good idea. My family also isn't afraid to tell me to be more quiet when I'm loud.

The biggest thing I can emphasize for helping your kid is get them a support system for their autism. I have a therapist who's worked with people with disabilities for decades, and my psychiatrist is very sharp. They're both really good for support. I also recommend making sure you're doing okay as well, as an autistic girl I admit we can be a bit of a handful sometimes lol. Mental health is important!

Also, I want to emphasize one last thing: I think it's great that you all are getting help for your kids at such a young age. The fact that you acknowledge your kid has a disability is a step in the right direction, I know I would've benefited from early help. I tear up a little bit seeing how hard parents of children with autism work for their kid. Thank you for everything you guys are doing for your kids.

If I can think of or find any more good tips and insight I'll be sure to post again.

Hello my name is Morgan and I'm autistic as well. I often experience the hyper sensitivity and over stimulation that causes me to mask my true emotions with those of others around me. I've experienced a lot of trauma with my symptoms of autism due to my father and school figures suspecting I had autism and trying to keep me away from resources on purpose that would've helped me get treatment. I know now that living true to my experience no matter how different it may be is what I need to overcome the adversidies of my life.

Just know that your words are powerful and I appreciate that you shared the specifics of the issues youve experiences and encouraging words you have towards family and parents of people with autism. It's helped me realize how valuable a support group can be for me learning to function at my best atypically with autism so I wanted to thank you for that.

 

[VictorR]

Welcome! I'm glad to hear that you've been identifying your sensory triggers and needs and also have a good support network as that can go a long way in staying safe. Many persons have difficulty finding the right support people for them.