JayD210
Member
How Autism impacted my life.
As mentioned prior, I was Diagnosed with Autism on November 22, 1989 by the US Army in Mannheim, Germany. I was 3 years old when I got diagnosed. My Mom had just exited the Army and my Dad was still serving Active Duty. My Mom knew right away there was something different about me. I was abnormally quiet as a baby. I didn’t meet any of my milestones anywhere remotely near on time. I was practically a science project by my 2nd Birthday. I wasn’t speaking and I didn’t walk until I was 2 month shy of my 2nd Birthday. I was working out to be in the same situation as my oldest Nephew is Autism wise. I was in the beginning, shaping up to be on the Severe Autism side of things. There was an ace up the sleeve though. That was a combination of my Mom, my first Teacher, and the fact that in Germany at the time, Pre School was mandatory under German Law which being on Post had no exception. Enter Penny, or Ms. Penny I knew her back then. I was almost 3-1/2 when I started speaking, but only repeating words spoken to me, like a tape recorder. Around my 4th Birthday in the Summer of 1990, that was a different story. I was starting to actually talk to people, coming out of my shell.
We near our transfer back to the States and Ms. Penny gave my Parents a word of caution and some advice. She warned that the Public Schools in the States would try to write me off as “Disabled” and not to let them do that. We get back to the States to California, spend 6 months there, then to San Antonio. I start 1st Grade and immediately there’s problems. I’m obviously pretty far behind my peers and it’s pretty obvious. In the mornings, I’m in a First Grade Classroom but not doing the same work as the rest of the Class. I’m in the afternoon Kindergarten Class. My Mom had me repeat the 1st Grade. This is where I start to come into my own academically to a wide extent. Problem is the School Administration really didn’t want to accommodate Autism and pulled all kinds of shady stuff to avoid it. That didn’t work so they resorted to trying to write me off and try to push me into a Special Needs School. My Mom wouldn’t allow that. They force medicated me on Ritalin which even then was highly illegal so my Mom put a stop to that by the time I reached Middle School years later. These issues in 1st Grade led to my second diagnosis of Autism in early 1994 at 7 years old. Not long after, the bullying started. All too often, nobody would do anything about it. If I spoke up, I got in trouble and not the bullies. Got bad enough that my Mom got a court order for them to address the bullying problem. Only then did they do anything. Other than 3rd and 5th Grades, I hated being in School because of it. On our Street in the Neighborhood wasn’t any better because I got bullied by kids in the neighborhood too. Bad enough that my Mom got Cops involved. One Officer made all the difference thankfully. At Home if my Dad was working, I had one Sister who bullied me and another who was protective of me. Lots of fights because of it. If my Dad was home, we got abused as kids. My childhood outside of and the businesses sucked because of all that. On the yard with the Taxi and Towing Businesses, everything that sucked melted away. The bullying from my older and surviving Sister didn’t stop as we got into our teenage years. My Mom held her accountable each time but nothing worked to stop her from bullying me. If she got in trouble, it would only make matters worse for me. I was called the “R Word” by my own Sister a lot all through the years until my Nephew was diagnosed in 2013. The fact I even existed was an issue for her and I’m pretty sure it still is.
We moved back to California in April 2001. The bullying was the absolute worst my Freshman Year that began 2 weeks before 9/11. It got so bad that I feared for my safety. I even had a knife pulled on me after telling someone to leave me alone. Only this time, the School Administration actually gave a damn and did something about the issue. I was forced into Civil Air Patrol’s Cadet Program a month after 9/11 with the issues I was having. They straightened me out rather quickly. It was after this that I turned to my Sketch Pad, Friends, Music, and Tinkering as a mechanism of survival. The School Administration actually took another step and asked my Mom to get me re-evaluated for Autism in order for them to gauge where I should be in terms of class work and eligibility for any sort of assistance. They also used this to evaluate my readiness for the Workforce. That diagnosis came in February 2002 when I was 15. The Bullying began to die down and eventually disappeared by my Senior Year in 2004. I graduated with honors in 2005. By then, I was already 8 months into a Career I’ve been doing now over 20 years.
It was because of my current Career in Security and Asset Protection since 2004 that led me to question it all. I had been my Grandma’s Gatekeeper until the day she died in 2008. I’d began traveling to Country trying to find my way and for work. I was beginning to question my diagnosis. I was an adult and doing what I do. How could this be true? I had myself evaluated for a final time on April 9, 2010. Again diagnosed with Autism. Oh well, keep going. That’s all I know how to do then and now.
How does Autism impact me present day? Sensory is the biggest thing. I’m sensitive to Light, Sound, and Touch. I also have the classic Food Sensitivity that many with Autism have. When I was Volunteer Search & Rescue, I was the only member of our Ground Team who didn’t need Night Vision Equipment in low light conditions out in the elements. I work with the Sensory so it’s not too much of an issue but it’s still there. The razor focus is another thing. If I’m on a task, I want to get it done. That is very evident at work. Sometimes my Boss calls me and has to give orders to break me off a task and set onto another one. No worries because both will end up done by the end of the week anyways. If not on those tasks, I’m on my floor looking for Shoplifters, the thrill of the apprehension used to be an anxiety nightmare for me. Being in meetings still is.
The only real issue I have is people underestimating me because they know I have Autism but that’s only 2 people right now. My surviving Sister and my Dad’s Wife. Neither of which have taken into account that I’m not the kid I used to be. They don’t see the professional I’ve become. They don’t think I can see right through them. I’ve already put my food down with one of them and was threatened by her son, which I’ve run background checks on. As for the other, I have a 14 year old Nephew who has Autism and is Nonverbal. He will require lifelong care because of the severity of his situation. As an Uncle I fear for his future because his existence is defined by his Autism. If you’ve seen all of my prior posts here, you will see the total opposite for me as the broad picture is that I’ve lived a life.
I was raised into the experienced person I am today because my Mom and Stepdad and to an extent my Dad, all raised me to stand on my own from a pretty young age. I was raised under these simple notions, and they’re why I do as much as I do, as much as I’ve done, and have all the experience to back it up. Here’s how I was raised.
As mentioned prior, I was Diagnosed with Autism on November 22, 1989 by the US Army in Mannheim, Germany. I was 3 years old when I got diagnosed. My Mom had just exited the Army and my Dad was still serving Active Duty. My Mom knew right away there was something different about me. I was abnormally quiet as a baby. I didn’t meet any of my milestones anywhere remotely near on time. I was practically a science project by my 2nd Birthday. I wasn’t speaking and I didn’t walk until I was 2 month shy of my 2nd Birthday. I was working out to be in the same situation as my oldest Nephew is Autism wise. I was in the beginning, shaping up to be on the Severe Autism side of things. There was an ace up the sleeve though. That was a combination of my Mom, my first Teacher, and the fact that in Germany at the time, Pre School was mandatory under German Law which being on Post had no exception. Enter Penny, or Ms. Penny I knew her back then. I was almost 3-1/2 when I started speaking, but only repeating words spoken to me, like a tape recorder. Around my 4th Birthday in the Summer of 1990, that was a different story. I was starting to actually talk to people, coming out of my shell.
We near our transfer back to the States and Ms. Penny gave my Parents a word of caution and some advice. She warned that the Public Schools in the States would try to write me off as “Disabled” and not to let them do that. We get back to the States to California, spend 6 months there, then to San Antonio. I start 1st Grade and immediately there’s problems. I’m obviously pretty far behind my peers and it’s pretty obvious. In the mornings, I’m in a First Grade Classroom but not doing the same work as the rest of the Class. I’m in the afternoon Kindergarten Class. My Mom had me repeat the 1st Grade. This is where I start to come into my own academically to a wide extent. Problem is the School Administration really didn’t want to accommodate Autism and pulled all kinds of shady stuff to avoid it. That didn’t work so they resorted to trying to write me off and try to push me into a Special Needs School. My Mom wouldn’t allow that. They force medicated me on Ritalin which even then was highly illegal so my Mom put a stop to that by the time I reached Middle School years later. These issues in 1st Grade led to my second diagnosis of Autism in early 1994 at 7 years old. Not long after, the bullying started. All too often, nobody would do anything about it. If I spoke up, I got in trouble and not the bullies. Got bad enough that my Mom got a court order for them to address the bullying problem. Only then did they do anything. Other than 3rd and 5th Grades, I hated being in School because of it. On our Street in the Neighborhood wasn’t any better because I got bullied by kids in the neighborhood too. Bad enough that my Mom got Cops involved. One Officer made all the difference thankfully. At Home if my Dad was working, I had one Sister who bullied me and another who was protective of me. Lots of fights because of it. If my Dad was home, we got abused as kids. My childhood outside of and the businesses sucked because of all that. On the yard with the Taxi and Towing Businesses, everything that sucked melted away. The bullying from my older and surviving Sister didn’t stop as we got into our teenage years. My Mom held her accountable each time but nothing worked to stop her from bullying me. If she got in trouble, it would only make matters worse for me. I was called the “R Word” by my own Sister a lot all through the years until my Nephew was diagnosed in 2013. The fact I even existed was an issue for her and I’m pretty sure it still is.
We moved back to California in April 2001. The bullying was the absolute worst my Freshman Year that began 2 weeks before 9/11. It got so bad that I feared for my safety. I even had a knife pulled on me after telling someone to leave me alone. Only this time, the School Administration actually gave a damn and did something about the issue. I was forced into Civil Air Patrol’s Cadet Program a month after 9/11 with the issues I was having. They straightened me out rather quickly. It was after this that I turned to my Sketch Pad, Friends, Music, and Tinkering as a mechanism of survival. The School Administration actually took another step and asked my Mom to get me re-evaluated for Autism in order for them to gauge where I should be in terms of class work and eligibility for any sort of assistance. They also used this to evaluate my readiness for the Workforce. That diagnosis came in February 2002 when I was 15. The Bullying began to die down and eventually disappeared by my Senior Year in 2004. I graduated with honors in 2005. By then, I was already 8 months into a Career I’ve been doing now over 20 years.
It was because of my current Career in Security and Asset Protection since 2004 that led me to question it all. I had been my Grandma’s Gatekeeper until the day she died in 2008. I’d began traveling to Country trying to find my way and for work. I was beginning to question my diagnosis. I was an adult and doing what I do. How could this be true? I had myself evaluated for a final time on April 9, 2010. Again diagnosed with Autism. Oh well, keep going. That’s all I know how to do then and now.
How does Autism impact me present day? Sensory is the biggest thing. I’m sensitive to Light, Sound, and Touch. I also have the classic Food Sensitivity that many with Autism have. When I was Volunteer Search & Rescue, I was the only member of our Ground Team who didn’t need Night Vision Equipment in low light conditions out in the elements. I work with the Sensory so it’s not too much of an issue but it’s still there. The razor focus is another thing. If I’m on a task, I want to get it done. That is very evident at work. Sometimes my Boss calls me and has to give orders to break me off a task and set onto another one. No worries because both will end up done by the end of the week anyways. If not on those tasks, I’m on my floor looking for Shoplifters, the thrill of the apprehension used to be an anxiety nightmare for me. Being in meetings still is.
The only real issue I have is people underestimating me because they know I have Autism but that’s only 2 people right now. My surviving Sister and my Dad’s Wife. Neither of which have taken into account that I’m not the kid I used to be. They don’t see the professional I’ve become. They don’t think I can see right through them. I’ve already put my food down with one of them and was threatened by her son, which I’ve run background checks on. As for the other, I have a 14 year old Nephew who has Autism and is Nonverbal. He will require lifelong care because of the severity of his situation. As an Uncle I fear for his future because his existence is defined by his Autism. If you’ve seen all of my prior posts here, you will see the total opposite for me as the broad picture is that I’ve lived a life.
I was raised into the experienced person I am today because my Mom and Stepdad and to an extent my Dad, all raised me to stand on my own from a pretty young age. I was raised under these simple notions, and they’re why I do as much as I do, as much as I’ve done, and have all the experience to back it up. Here’s how I was raised.
- The notion that I was going to need to stand on my own if I had a fighting chance.
- Nobody’s going to help me, come to my aid, or hand me anything.
- If I want or need something, nobody’s going to listen.
- If it needs to happen, it’s up to me to make it happen. I have to be the one to get after it.
- There will be people who will try to make life harder for me, and don’t let them do it.
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