Hey everybody,
My name's Bailey and I was diagnosed on the spectrum in 2008. There was always something "different" about me, ever since I was very small. I was fascinated by any toy with movable parts: trains, planes, transformers. But I didn't play with them in a usual way. My sister always commented upon my lack of imagination; I just enjoyed moving the parts. I was almost diagnosed as ADD when I was six, but they couldn't agree on the diagnosis. They gave me an IQ test and determined that my IQ was "borderline genius" at 137, and that I was just bored in the classroom--which they used to explain my apathy towards the subjects I was uninterested in and my solitary nature. Later, they thought it might be my diet--ha! Jenny McCarthy to the rescue: 'cause you can change someone's brain with carob cookies! j/k. I wasn't diagnosed till I was twenty-eight. That's when I heard the phrase "classic Asperger's" more times than I can count. I was also diagnosed with dycalculia (I would have to be one of the Aspies that actually sucks at Math,) dyspraxia, depression, and social anxiety disorder. Truly, I have no idea how to keep a friendship going...
I tried attending college at UT Austin when I graduated high school, but I was overwhelmed in the huge classes and seas of people ebbing and flowing in and around the campus. I barricaded myself into my apartment and rarely surfaced. There were days I barely spoke more than three words to anyone. I also attempted to hold a job, but I became bored and overwhelmed easily, and I also never understood body language--which was the cause of many misunderstandings. One manager actually called me "cocky" and "egotistical," which I am not. She based her assumptions solely on my body language, despite my telling her and HR that body language meant nothing to me. Another time, a coworker and some trainees thought they saw me rolling my eyes during a presentation. I had no idea what they were talking about, but they wouldn't stop talking about it.
I ended-up moving back in with my parents at I was twenty-eight. Yeah, I know, that's everyone's dream isn't it? Finally, we were referred to DARS and I was properly diagnosed. Thanks to DARS, I re-enrolled in school at San Antonio College and I am excelling as a 30 year-old freshman! I've started a blog to chronicle my journey (you can check my profile if you're interested,) and I've even spoken with a few literary agents about publishing a memoir! I'm excited about finally succeeding at school, and I have been told I have come a long way from the person I was when I first started back to college.
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"To love one's self is to begin a lifelong love-affair." - Oscar Wilde
Last edited by fauxpow on 24 Dec 2009, 5:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
24 Dec 2009, 3:59 pm
