What is mild autism like?

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what is it like to be mildy autistic? like you can talk alot but only have problem with sarcasm and humour and can catch up with everyones elses grade level and subjects at school and get a job when you grow up? but have trouble getting along with people due to lack of eye contact and odd behaviour?

also do you have intesnse interests like chocolate and books and clothes like other autistic people, but do you also talk nonstop about them?

also what is mild to moderate autism like? like you cant jet a job?

Why all the topics about every form of autism? Special interest?

In a general sense, mild autism is like what you've described.

Eventually, people with mild autism pick up irony, sarcasm, etc. as they get older--though it doesn't come naturally to them like it does with many non-autistic people.

There are people with mild autism who have difficulty finding and keeping work. There are people with mild autism who don't have such difficulties. Finding work, for everybody these days, because of the nature of the world economy, is more difficult for everybody than it was, say, 20-30 years ago.

Mild autism and Asperger's can be identical; though there are people with mild autism who do not have Asperger's.

People with mild autism can take care of their personal needs, and can be independent (especially with supports in place). Where they might have significant difficulty: social relationships, sensory sensitivity, adjustment to change.

It's probably more difficult for a person with moderate autism to find and keep a job; it's not impossible, though.

Pretty much the same as the spicy version, but without as may spices...

All the things kraftiekortie said but also that even when it looks on the "outside" (to other people) like the person seems to be doing normal things or coping -- ie holding a job, living independently, able to hold a conversation or have a friendship or relationship -- what you DON'T see is how hard they have to work on the inside. What you don't see is all the figuring-out, thought process struggles, sensory repression, and discomfort mentally and emotionally that the person may be experiencing in order to achieve or maintain these things.

It's like a waterbird gliding across the water. You see a smooth progress but underneath the feet are paddling like crazy just to keep it going. And in the case of some of us even the stuff you see above isn't all that "smooth."

I wasn't initially diagnosed with aspergers but with infantile autism which I assume might be classed as the same as mild autism, I found early in life that I didn't fully "get" how sarcasm or jokes worked but I eventually learnt how their tone of voice affected what they were going to say next or how they meant things. But even nowadays trivial things people say which include words i've yet to learn mean I can't comprehend sarcasm sometimes, especially in a workplace when you are expected to have those office politics social skills and common sense.

I've learnt to make eye contact in interviews where it matters, increase my volume as my voice is naturally low and stammer alot which I don't think can be helped. It's only job interviews that catch me out rather than in jobs which in the past I have generally haven't done so bad. As it has been said, jobs are increasingly hard to get, added on the pressure of competition and lack of communication skills or rather inability to take in information for an interview which go hand in hand.

Other things might include obsessions or specific interests like doing one thing for an extended period of time, not limited to cleaning, gaming, DIY, construction (architecture, 3d modelling), programming (basic knowledge), music, videos. Actually that's all I do nowadays, which accounts for 90% of my time holed up in my 'man cave' or bedroom. I want nothing more than my own place and to have independence like I did at university.

I have what would be considered mild autism. Growing up I would always have a couple of friends, but not a lot. I was never really popular, had trouble with emotional regulation for a long time, and still do in the right circumstances.

I was never able to get the typical high school fast food job when I was in high school, guess I didn't interview well. I was finally able to get those things in college or graduate school. After graduation I have been able to get teaching jobs, never at great universities, but was always employed and now have tenure so I am not planning to leave.

I was never really bad at getting sarcasm, irony, things like that, but probably do take people too much at their word, since I can't read non-verbal cues on whether they are lying to me or not. I still have to remind myself consciously to make eye contact with others. I didn't know that I didn't know how to do this until a couple of years ago.

My biggest impairment is in the romantic area. I didn't know about the rules of dating and relationships, how to get into one, how to tell if someone was interested in me, things like that, until much later in life. I probably missed out on many chances and that still bums me out. I did learn enough to eventually get married when I was 32, but even today wonder if I really married the right person for me. We have been married 16 years and she pretty much lets me be me and we don't fight very much, and like much of the same things, but our sex drives are much different. When she came along I thought that she was probably my last hope of ever getting married so I guess I was blinded to our differences for a while.

I will add that many of my colleagues have described me as socially awkward. Some say that I am in a good way, like there is a good way to be socially awkward. I guess my point is that some of us with mild autism can end up living like NTs, it just takes us longer, but there are some areas we can't completely overcome either.

I'm new to this "club".
Looking back I've been described as
Nice
Weird
Creative
Shy
A different me comes alive on stage
Clown prince of Counselors at a maximum security prison
Nearly Normal
I seem to have pattern of losing interest in things and people
I only have a few long term friends
Before my present job the longest held was 6 years ..before that was 2 years.
Quiet to "schmoozer"
MC years ago quipped that I found stand up comedy cheaper than psychotherapy.
A shrink and I did explore the history of the Fool in history.

me a name I call myself.

I have Asperger's in the range of mild-moderate autism. It is frustrating and many skills are impacted. I'm unable to work (on my own). I was premature developmentally delayed, have multiple disabilities. I might get easily confused with information I hear. But when I'm social- I can be interesting. Having uneven skills are very difficult for getting appropriate services...

Last edited by Lumi on 16 Jun 2016, 7:19 pm, edited 4 times in total.

It is annoying because no one things you're autistic unless you behave like "rainman".

I have a job i go to, i have friends i meet (2-3 times a year), i try to have a life at home, but i'm always stressed out after work so all time is used to relax from the job and the stress from commuting to work.

As for comparing how it is to be mildly autistic to being normal or being highly autistic, i have no frame of reference. Sorry.

My experience with autism- mostly frustration.

Forming sentences is frustrating, and whenever i say a sentence backwards or pronounce a word wrong i get teased or just cant get my word across.

Trying to do things like cooking is frustrating because i do things in the wrong sequence or burn my food and when people try and help they just confuse me more

I try and make friends but whenever i talk to people they just stare at me in silence..

Im just frustrated, i can talk like im not autistic and everyone expects me to act like a non- autistic but i have limited abilities.

Communication especially when you are younger is still difficult for "mild" autism. Its hard to get what people are really saying or telling you to do. One struggle I have/had was answering questions on tests. I'd answer the wrong question because I couldn't understand.


Kind of. I worked very hard in k-12; compared to me most people weren't trying to get good grades. In College I did the same but could not do well. This is one thing that bugs me about media portrayal of HFA; we aren't all geniuses.


It is estimated that mild autistic people only have an employment rate of 15%[1]


I do have intense interests but I don't talk about them because I don't talk period and when I do people shrug me off. I've also been bullied multiple times so...
One struggle with HFA is feeling like you can accomplish something and knowing what the average person does and then seeing that you are not able to do that.




[1]http://friendsofasi.org/working-with-aspergers/

I sure understand this. People think you are an NT so you get judged by NT standards. Most of my life I thought I was an NT so I judged myself by NT standards. Pretty much ruined my self esteem. I don't know if I can ever get it back or not.

For those in the uncanny valley, it is highly frustrating, especially as a late Dx'er.

You get by on so much that people never notice anything until you really mess up. The classic, I can snatch genius out of the air, but can't hold a simple conversation unless it's about a special interest. You are considered smart but arrogant, rude and aggressive. Professionally it's a nightmare because it stops your advancement or get fired. Complaints get filed and things you did not know you were doing follows you for the rest of your life.

You get sarcasm and idioms and such, but are the most gullible person around because you can't read subtleties. You think you communicate well, but it's not so.

People get frustrated because you can be simultaneously the smartest and dumbest person in the room. You can impress your peers who see your work and not the personality, but when needed to be diplomatic or managerial or just look good for the bosses, you blow it big time and embarrass them and don't even realize it...in my case, years later.
And, the many, many, many bad decisions made that lead to a lifetime of building things up and then self-destructing because you have not learned what the limitations are and you expect from yourself what everybody else expects. A lifetime of great successes and even greater failures, on the supernovae level, does not make for a good self esteem.

And as you get older, the things that could be excused as youthful stupidity are less and less tolerable as you age. Being stuck at a low emotional level does not help anything.

Yeah, I have mild Autism. But it is damaging nonetheless. And, the worst is that nobody believes you. Fortunately, my new shrink seems to have some insight. I can tell by the way she is dealing with me.

I'd probably fit in the medium range. Last two jobs were disasters. I was expected to read a lot of social subtext. One particular person managed to sabotage me. I ended up quitting.