How was your childhood?

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First ten years? Well the tenth year was awful but I'll focus on the first 9 years. I had a very good childhood and while never well liked was left alone and respected in school. I was depressed in Grade 1 because we were being forced to learn something that wasn't interesting and I was bullied a bit but probably no more than most kids my age. The worst memory was getting Mono at the age of 7. Considered I am obsessively cleaning and refuse to share ANYTHING I still can't figure out how I got it.

I went to an excellent and very small elementary school where the teachers and staff really cared. I'll never forget my last day of Grade 4 (and last day before moving away). The outgoing principal cried when giving his farewell speech and so did I as that was one of the saddest days of my life. I was fortunate to have a great first nine years and am forever grateful for that. I was never popular but that was OK. I used to let my imagination run wild on the playground and at the age of 8 even made my own model shopping mall/apartment complex complete with a foodcourt that had a 280 degree all glass view of a large waterfall. What wasted potential!

In retrospect, my AS traits were much more obvious as a kid. I was very literal (it got to the point that my mom got me a book explaining idioms). I also didn't understand playground dynamics at all. I usually read or played by myself. Luckily no one bullied me or anything (or at least I didn't notice). One of few recess memories I have is being inducted into and expelled from a "club" all in one recess. Why? I have no idea. Adults liked me and my precocious ways, but I was alienated from all the kids my age for my large vocabulary and my lack of difficulty in school. I learned to read when I was 3, and literally wouldn't do anything else other than eat or sleep for the next year or so. I still like reading, but I'm not obsessed anymore. I was really bored in school as a result. Some of my teachers thought I had ADD.

Outside of school, I've luckily had a great home environment. My parents never fought, and were very encouraging for me. Though there wasn't too much attention focused on me since I have a low functioning autistic sister. I didn't have any real friends besides my younger sister. She's still my best friend.

I just remembered I actually tried commiting suicide by choking myself in the 3rd grade...it was in class so I wasn't successful but I was just so frustrated with the way the world seemed in society.

When I was around my friends or family, it was great. Lots of nice memories.
When I was at school, I took frequent and often violent bullying from a particular few kids and one teacher. The bullying started around grade 4 and lasted through high school.
My mother took good care of my brother and me but was prone to insecure and immature violent outbursts, of which my father and I were the only victims. She was very emotionally demanding and still is.
I am the oldest and my brother is 3 yrs younger than I am. He was always mom's favorite and never got punished. I think he also has some kind of ASD, as does my father.
I took a few really bad beating from both of my parents, and I think all of the beatings were a result of their own mis-directed anger and frustrations with each other.
In my teens I took a lot of criticism from mom because I didn't dress all feminine and ladylike like she did and I embarrassed her in front of her friends. She would always put me down in front of them so that they would know that she did not approve of my horrible actions and taste.
I think in the end, my mother is an NT and my father, brother and I are either aspies or HFAs.

I was severely abused for 12 years straight. I don't want to elaborate, but for the sake of data, I'll at least say that much.

The horror! The horror! Yep, it was pretty bad in some ways but good in others. Other kids bullied me wherever I went but my family loved me. I was in a multitude of schools with my mom pulling me out of some of them because they wanted to hold me back due to a variety of reasons. In kindergarten, they wanted me tested for being learning disabled because of my social problems and organizational difficulties. However, my mom didn't want me labeled so she put me in a private school instead. Eventually I was diagnosed with ADHD by a neurologist. I also was diagnosed with severe self esteem issues by a psychologist who said it would take more than a year to fix the damage life had done to me by that point. Sadly though, my parents were too poor to get me help.

I had an obsessive interest in cars at the time that has followed me to adulthood. I did have friends, but usually not more than one at a time. I was known for always having my head down and rarely making eye contact too. I also remember my art teacher yelling at me for talking to myself.

As for the social side of things, I was fairly protected. My family was big in our church and so everyone there knew me and treated me well...well, at least the adults did! I had to deal with bullies at church too, but at least it was more supervised. I tended to stay close to the adults for protection, but I did have friends there as well. In fact, the church was where all of my social life was. Most of the adults liked me since I was known for trying to help out with things that needed doing and being generally polite and well spoken, if not a little hyper at times.

My childhood was good up until a little after I turned six.


Then it went to hell fast.

Years and years of endless pain, misery and suffering. I didn't know about suicide till I was a teenager, and back then, it was always on my mind.

Deleted

Horrible and traumatic

My childhood wasn't very good at all to be honest.

As bad as my first 10 years seemed, it was my second decade that was the true horror. However...
Borderline abuse from parents (ie, Having my arms pinned so I would not stim. Or threats of being sent away to some horrible govt. institution where I would be "stored ( little did I know then how REAL that danger was!) Screaming, emotional abuse. Frustrated teachers, a more frustrated me), bullying, constant fighting, being ignored by the ENTIRE female population of my classes ( a theme that continued until I was about 21) was pretty darn painful. However, I might have tried to be a lttle cleaner. Also, the constant colds & what not tended to drive many away.
But all this did not actually HURT until I reached about 14 or so. Darn hormones. Then it gets to be a darker story..

Sincerely,
Matthew
In my young years autistics were considered incurable & severely ret*d. Theydid tend to be sent to places like Penhurst State School.