ANOTHER fellow traveler? Wow, there may be more Aspies here than I might have guessed.
Funny thing is, I didn't get officially diagnosed until age 47. Thank you Dallas VA Hospital!
It was actually a relief to finally know what made me such a strange kid...I actually sort of "laughed and cried at the same time".
All the final puzzle pieces fell together. And once again, my mind adapted.
Yes, it's a blessing and a curse at the same time.
I have perfect pitch, I can memorize music or dialogue like a tape recorder, and visual scenes as well.
That comes in mighty handy if you're a film editor, by the way. (ha ha ha)
One bit of advice however, to anyone who is either on the spectrum or who cares about someone who is:
DO NOT EVER LISTEN to ANYTHING from "Autism Speaks" because the fact is, Autism Speaks has NO autistic board members at all, ZERO.
It is a group run by NON-autistic people to advocate FOR autistic people, which is about as big an insult as you can imagine.
It's as if they don't trust spectrum people to be able to advocate for themselves, and I say screw that.
It's just wrong, sorry...and it's a slap in the face to everyone both on the spectrum and their families and friends.
There are plenty of high functioning people on the spectrum who can handle the responsibilities, even if they're non-verbal, as some are.
Me, I WAS indeed quite verbal. I did not speak until almost age three but according to family, when the time came, I just began speaking in full sentences...
And of course, I NEVER SHUT UP!
And then about a year later I discovered I could read.
No lessons, one day I just picked up a child's book my father had read to me and began reading aloud.
The parents assumed I'd memorized it, until I picked up an issue of LOOK Magazine that had just arrived and began prattling off from that as well.
I don't even know how I just managed to read, I was just suddenly able to read, that's all.