Hey everyone. I finally decided to sign up and start participating. I've been lurking in the shadows for over a year here and decided it's time to take part in all this place has to offer. I'll try to keep my life story short. Here goes. Childhood was full of being a loner and being picked on. I got straight A's, I was advance two years in math by third grade. I won multiple awards every year at the awards ceremonies. I participated in outside testing because my standardized test scores were so high. I came up two points short from getting an early scholarship to John Hopkins. That's still a huge accomplishment in my eyes. I had all kinds of ticks. My handwriting stopped improving/changing after fourth grade. Most report cards said "does not apply self" many times. I stopped doing homework in Jr. High School but still aced the quizzes and tests. Teachers were furious and confused. I was tested again and again for ADD/ADHD and never got conclusive results. I never really thought about it much back then. Once I hit high school I had a total lack of motivation. Nothing was interesting or challenging. I got kicked out and sent to an alternative high school with 6 weeks left of senior year. I told the principal I wanted to learn at my own pace and he agreed. I got all the workbooks and text books. Little did he know, I didn't want to go slower. I wanted to go faster! In only 3 days I completed a whole semester's worth of economics classwork and homework. Long story short, I blew through all my classes and got my diploma. I never really had more than 2 or 3 very close friends throughout my life. After high school I got a job and started going to college, jumping around from one subject to another. It was fascinating to have that freedom. I've since had and lost many jobs due to "mental health reasons". I've been hospitalized 6 times. I typed as many of my symptoms in to google as I could come up with. Everything began to point to Autism. And no, I don't just believe the search results without digging. I researched Autism for several years. I finally asked during a hospitalization to be tested. Three hospitalizations I was formerly diagnosed Highly Functioning Autism, Asperger's. That was 6 weeks ago. I was in a residential program(for the second time) up until a week ago and now I'm here. Thanks to anyone who read at least part of that! I hope someone can relate, or even reflect. If not, that's ok. I'm here, there's nothing you can do about it. I hope to learn from the people in this community and maybe even give something back. Thanks for reading
-Nate
22 Mar 2014, 3:56 am
