Autism Spectrum Disorder

[Edwardo Piet]

What signs did your mom say you had in childhood? And how come they never got help for you?

A ) It was the early 90s and I think there was slightly less awareness about it then. B ) My pre-school teachers must have been rather ignorant of it, and my mom knew nothing about it. C ) I am high functioning verbally which made it harder to spot. D ). By the time I got to 5 years old I was in primary school and I was only there for a year. The teachers also barely paid any attention to me then, and I was regularly bullied and they just let it happen. Then I was home educated by my parents from age 6 to 18, and as my parents knew nothing about it, that made it impossible for it to get diagnosed. E ) It's not unheard of for someone with high-functioning autism to not be diagnosed until adulthood. To quote from the article I already linked to you ():

Some people with ASD had features of the condition as a child, but enter adulthood without ever being diagnosed.

I'll take some random quotes from my autism report, that don't give away enough personal information to make me feel too uncomfortable or unsafe to share. I will make one change to it though... I'll change my real name to Hammy and my mom's real name to simply "mom". Some people on AF who I have bonded with know my real name, and some people on AF, like yourself, who have me on Facebook also know my real name, but I'd rather not let the whole forum know. Even my first name. Just to be safe

Okay here's some random quotes regarding my childhood, from my own autism report. This is information gathered from my mom's assessment with the multi-disciplinary team of autism specialists. I shall present it to you under this spoiler tag:

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"Hammy attended playgroup and then nursery before attending infant school until the age of 6, after which point he was home-schooled. Apparently, Hammy was being bullied at school and was struggling with writing, and was not receiving adequate support for either. In nursery, staff reported that Hammy was quiet and reluctant to interact with others. His father decided that they would home-school him. Mom supported Hammy to follow the coursework for GCSE level qualifications, however he was too anxious to attend the exams. All of his siblings were also home-schooled and achieved qualifications by sitting exams as internal candidates, since then some have attended college and university."

"Regarding early development, mom reported that she was not initially concerned with Hammy's development, but found it odd that Hammy did not understand the rules of games like 'pass the parcel' at parties. She described how he did not get things in the same way as other children and struggled to visualize things. Hammy was advanced in some ways and could walk by the time he was 8 months. Hammy spoke his first words at 11 months and was apparently fluent by the age of 2. Mom informed me that the health visitor observed that Hammy played with toys differently and organized them exactly. Additionally, Hammy has always lacked a sense of direction and may become lost easily. Hammy has a minor tremor in his hand which can affect his fine motor skills. This was diagnosed as genetic and reportedly nothing to worry about. Hammy also contracted chicken pox at a very young age (6 months)."

"Regarding nonverbal behaviors used to regulate social interaction, mom did not report difficulties with gaze but reported that Hammy had a limited range of facial expressions. Hammy would smile back at others but was initially suspicious in greeting. Mom stated how Hammy did not have friends throughout childhood, and despite her trying to encourage him to attend groups, he did not want to go. Mom also acknowledged that Hammy perhaps had less opportunity to interact with other children because he was home-schooled, although, occasionally Hammy would play with his brother and his friends. His play could be imaginative, but his mother explained how he would rely on others to take the lead. Often he would become frustrated and upset because he could not play the same way as other children."

"Hammy showed interest in other children, but did not approach them. Mom reported that if another child approached him, he was initially suspicious and would try to figure them out. Marked difficulties with sharing were reported and Hammy would only share if encouraged to do so, and would inspect his belongings afterwards to ensure no damage had been caused. Hammy did not show his parents things that interested him but would happily tell them about it. Hammy may have sought to share enjoyment with his father or brother but was quite focused on what he was doing. Mom described how birthdays were not a social occasion for Hammy and he didn't want to interact with people at all but was instead entirely focused on what he was getting. Hammy was somewhat aware of others' emotions and would ask what was wrong if they were sad, hurt hurt or ill, but not offer comfort. Mom reported that Hammy did not seek out interaction with others and so his social responses were very limited, especially with strangers."

"Mom reported no delay in acquiring spoken language, and no stereotyped, repetitive or idiosyncratic speech; however Hammy occasionally made inappropriate comments. In addition Hammy's speech can be "robotic" and somewhat monotone. Some difficulties were reported in using gesture to accompany spoken language and Hammy only pointed if something was immediately in his line of sight. Hammy would wave goodbye but his other gestures were limited and included nodding and shaking his head. Hammy apparently always struggled with small talk and prefers deep/intense conversation, though his mother said he has improved at this more recently. Regarding reciprocal conversation, mom reported that Hammy will talk at her and over her and that conversation can be quite one-sided. Mom is only able to have a to-and-fro conversation with Hammy if they are talking about TV programmes or "being silly".  Regarding social and imaginative play, mom did not recall any imitation of other's actions and no engagement in imaginative play, though she explained that Hammy would play in his own way by "bashing his toys together." She elaborated that he preferred to play with Lego and construct things although he would often want his mother to build things for him. Participation in social imitative games (e.g. Peekaboo) was limited to the home environment and often had to involve an object."

"Mom reported definite circumscribed interests that significantly impacted Hammy's social involvement and self-care. Hammy developed an interest in computers at the age of six and this has developed ever since."

"As a child mom described that Hammy always wanted more time on the computer and that it would be all he would talk about. As he grew older Hammy would often spend all night on the computer. Mom described how it would be his focus and topic of conversation even when they were engaging in another activity. Other interests included Poker, evolution and words (e.g. regarding the dictionary). Hammy also developed an attachment to the CD case for his favorite video game (Age of Empires) and would carry it with him wherever he went. Mom elaborated that Hammy always had to know where the game was and liked his possessions to be in perfect condition. Mom also reported some highly repetitive behavior and conveyed that Hammy liked to play the same games in the same way over and over and over again. In addition he liked to collect objects, including: Dinosaur toys, and Orbital CD's. His possessions also had to be ordered in a certain way and mom described how he cannot be disrupted when doing this as it will cause his significant distress."

"Mom reported that Hammy described repeating phrases like "relentless" over and over again in his head. Various routines and rituals were reported including some in early childhood. Hammy had to wash his hands before eating and would become distressed if the school would not allow him to do so. Now Hammy sometimes has to touch things (e.g. a tap in the kitchen) a certain amount of times. He prefers to see his family in a particular order and his mother said he books them in for "appointments". Mom reported that Hammy finds even minor changes to routine very difficult to manage. She explained that when Hammy was younger he had a set amount of time that he was allowed to use the family computer each day at 4pm and that he would become agitated if this could not be facilitated. She elaborated that this would cause some disruption on days like Christmas and birthdays when Hammy wanted to use the computer at this set time but could not."

"Regarding sensory interests Hammy can become particularly concerned with the texture of things and will only wear certain clothes."

"Regarding complex mannerisms, mom reported how Hammy would rock side to side on his stomach every night to get to sleep. Regarding other behaviors, mom reported that Hammy's gait is somewhat unusual as he walks very fast and bounces on his feet."

"The assessment yielded clear evidence that Hammy has marked difficulties with social communication and interaction, and displays restricted, repetitive interests and behaviors. These features appear to have been present since the early development period. The assessment highlighted that Hammy displays considerable difficulty with adaptive functioning, mainly due to his absorption in his interests and difficult with regulating his behavior."

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