IF I was diagnosed with autism/aspergers as a child...

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I would have pursued Running Start which is a take-college-courses-while-high-school program, having realized that being autistic/aspergian meant that I wouldn't be "missing out" on a social life during my last two years of high school, a social life I never actually fostered while in high school and was never actually capable of.

What would you have done differently if you were diagnosed as autistic/aspergian as a child?

Sometimes I wonder if my confidence/self-esteem would've taken a severe hit and maybe I wouldn't have experienced/accomplished the things I did (The "socially maladroit geek" self-image I had at the time was probably so much more empowering than an "autistic" self-image). So maybe escaping an autistic diagnosis may have been a good thing...

I dont know I just dont know.

I would like to believe that if my parents had known something was off about me and took me to get help and it was recognized what that was, and I knew, I would somehow be on the right track. I would have alot more self-awareness.

I find it really hard to believe that if anything went different in my growing up years, things would be worse off now. I really cant believe anything different would be worse than I am right now.

I never had a clue, all I knew was that I didnt fit, I didnt belong. Nothing ever felt natural. I didnt have friends besides 1 at a time. I just can't explain it, but I always knew, but I still had no idea.

It feels so f*****g unfair. There are people who have "visible" disabilities. They grew up knowing what that "thing" was. It is impossible NOT to notice some disabilities whether they are mental or physical. So they were given help and they knew the areas they had to improve upon, and they seem like motivated successful people. Their shortcomings helped fuel their desire. The whole point though, is that if you know, you can focus in on that.

All I have known in my life is that other kids didnt like me, and I didnt avoided other people. My parents and teachers just thought "hes shy, he will grow out of it". wrong

Nothing different. I was diagnosed when I was 12 but I was diagnosed with autism in my early childhood and I was getting help since I was a baby. I went to a special school for small children and went from doctor to doctor growing up and I mainstreamed special ed and I was on the IEP my whole life. But I didn't even know I had a disability until I was 15 and I didn't even know I was that different. I didn't start trying to be normal until I was ten so I didn't need a label to change. Before that I was myself but I had always copied others. I just didn't care before age ten I was different than other kids because I didn't put much thought into it. I sensed in my toddler years I was different but I never knew why. I just figured when I was older it was the way I was treated that made me different.

But if I was diagnosed with AS earlier in y childhood, would things be any different? Like would I have gotten other therapies or better therapies? I dunno. I seemed to do fine on my own. All I got was speech therapy and occupational therapy and of course seeing my shrink when I was 11 and 12 and then again at 16-18. I hardly got anything in my teens though because there was no occupational therapy where we lived but I didn't need it anymore anyway. But maybe I would have been given help with my social skills if I were diagnosed sooner. It was recommended I spend time with other kids like join social groups when I was first diagnosed to work on my social skills. But I seemed to worked on them on my own without any therapy. I just read is all. Too much internet. Also I do know that "stop that teasing" incident would have been different because my mother would have been more specific and not get so upset with me and then kicking me out of the car and driving off and maybe not get mad at me for not acting my age and not get mad at me for my obsessions and maybe taking them away but I do know she would still make me not talk to her about them because that was still the same after my diagnoses. So yeah things would have been different if I were diagnosed sooner with AS but I survived and did okay before the label and I am not messed up. I did hold grudges then and was so mad at my mother by 6th grade but I got over it. I also wonder if mom wouldn't have told me to not play with my hair or ears or or lip if she knew of AS back then because then she might have assumed it was a stim than a habit.

I guess nothing. Except, if I had known I have a mental disorder, I would have done less to achieve what I have, and felt less urge to prove to myself and others I'm worthy and can do the same things that others can (think of milestones in your life, education, moving out, job, etc).


I'm inclined to think the same.

Although, the whole question is unhistorical, in a sense. Typical "What if".

I hope that if I had been diagnosed with AS & my other physical disabilities when my mom suggested to my general practitioner that I was autistic when I was a toddler instead of him laughing & saying "Nick's just being Nick"; my parents could of got some education & support on how to deal with an Aspie kid & my other things. I could of avoided ever going to public or Catholic school & instead had a more individualized learning plan where I could of had private tutors or been with others who also had disabilities & learning problems. I would of been much more prepared for the so-called "real-world" & I would of had a plan for after high-school instead of only knowing that I did NOT want to to to college & wasting the next few years of my life applying for jobs at every place I could think of & not even getting an interview, then working for only 35months before being unemployed for 6 & then losing that job after 3 months & spending the next few years so for not working

My Mother would have used that to overprotect me worse than she already did. She would have taken me out of school, and I would never have left the house. I would never have met the small group in school who helped me learn to be social and do things and who gave me confidence.

In other words, I'd be a wreck. I'd still be living with her, scared of everything, no husband, no kids, no life.

OTOH, lets say it's possible that I was diagnosed and my Mother didn't know. In that case, I could have known why I had the trouble I have with things and started earlier to overcome it. Or, I might have just given up and said "Whats the use, I can't make myself". I think, looking back, that I was only able to make myself learn the things I did because I didn't know I was different at all. I thought I was just wierd and overprotected.

I don't think I'd have done anything different...