About AS traits during childhood

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I show a lot of AS traits. For a while I've been thinking that maybe, just maybe, I've finally found the answer to why I am the way I am and why I've been feeling alienated my whole life. I'm identifying a lot with people here at WP.

Right now I'm reading Tony Attwood's A Complete Guide To Asperger's Syndrome. I've just started and right now I'm reading about how to identify AS in children. Here's the problem; I don't think I showed that many traits during my childhood. The traits I did show were things such as for example not really wanting to do things which involved pretending (I just wanted to read, build with lego, sort my collections or draw), I rocked from side to side a lot, I've been feeling socially awkward from around the time when I was 10 years old and a few more things. But most of the things which I think are AS traits I've developed since I was about 14 or so (I'm 22 now).

So I'm simply wondering whether in order to be diagnosed with AS one has to have clearly visible traits during childhood or if AS can get worse when one is a teenager/young adult? And if the symptoms (or whatever you want to call it) I showed during my childhood aren't enough to get an AS diagnosis, what do you think could be "wrong" with me if I show quite a few AS traits? I'm pretty sure I'm not "normal".

Last edited by Neutrino on 13 Apr 2012, 1:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I read like a bugger too (read the LOTR series in grade 3 ), and I loved my lego. Those definitely don't disqualify you.

You can look into other conditions that also mimic the traits. It's also possible you don't remember a lot in your childhood. It's also possible you have AS traits but not enough to be on the autism spectrum.

Do you know of any conditions that mimic the AS traits?

It would probably depend on the traits.

For me personally, I seem to have shown very few that I can remember, traits until I was a teenager. I know that over the last few years, my traits have become more obvious.

From what I've read, I think it is fairly common for people on the spectrum, with milder traits, to start to feel different from the teenage years, or thereabouts, onwards. I don't have any diagnosis (my daughter is awaiting assessment) and that's how it was for me too. When I was at primary school, I played, there's was no more to it than that. I played fair, shared, took turns, was polite and never violent or disrespectful. There was no reason for other kids to find fault with me and, to my parents, I was just perfect. I did feel a little out of the ordinary, being academically very bright and with a feeling of being too sensible for my own good. The kids who stayed nearby would tease me a bit and leave me on my own, if there was someone 'better' to play with. I did become very shy at around 7, which I think is due to becoming aware of my shortcomings. Other than that, I think I was pretty average. I certainly caused my parents no concern.

But, when I went to secondary school, at 11, the social skills issues really hit me. I do think I've always had the traits, but they weren't a big deal until the politics of the teenage years loomed. I also have sensory, co-ordination and concentration issues, but never saw the connection between them until just over a year ago. The concentration problem has never been apparent to anyone in my whole life and I only realised it was an issue for me when I was about 10, but I assume it was always there.

I've always loved repetition. Everyone used to find it annoying that I would watch the exact same movie, rewatch the exact same scenes, listen to the exact same songs, etc. I also loved to read. I never liked to pretend. And I've always had an excellent memory for interesting things. Things of interest to me that is.lolI could recite movies, cartoon episodes from memory, I've always stuck to routine. And while I'm a good knitter, I've never been able to tie my shoes. I mean, I can now, but it requires all my attention. I wasn't able to do it until I was like in the fourth grade. I've always loved to rock back and forth, and in school I always looked forward to recess because I loved to swing. I still do, only I'm too old to go on the swings, otherwise I still would. And I've always had trouble socializing.

I knew I was quite different at a pretty early age, I'll say around 7 but it was probably before that.

Yeah, I mean I knew as different when I was 10 or so. It was quite easy for me to make friends when I was younger because then I just had to play. And I got along better with boys because boys liked lego. Anyway, as soon as it all changed and playing was no longer involved but instead I had to talk and express myself verbally, I failed. I started to feel alienated, "stiff" and awkward in my relationships to people. I've been a master of keeping all my feelings to myself since I was very young and that didn't help me during the years in school when trying to make friends. People saw me as weird and shy and a bit of a loner. So they bullied me.

I don't know if it's of any interest to you (or anyone else) but I've posted my long list of traits earlier here at WP. Here's the link if you feel like checking it out: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp4541899.html#4541899

Liking Lego is not an Aspie trait, every kid I know has Lego and enjoys building things out of it. Lego companies do not get their profit from parents of Autistic children only.

Not saying it's a trait.

I have forgotten most of my early childhood but I remember the times I spent in my room stimming to go into my private world. I downloaded my picture books into my head by looking at them and stimming. Nowadays I can't remember one single fellow pupil from elementary school but I have my picture books in my head still and can even remember specific stimming sessions 50 years later with all the details.

My experience was kind of similar to this.

Looking back, I had a strong fixation on some really specific areas when I was a kid. I didn't like to talk to other people (I was even selectively mute for a time). Although I got along with others, I still had a hard time saying please or thank you, or even hello, even after I got over the selective mutism; at the time, my mom attributed it to mere shyness. I'd eventually warm up to people, but even then, I wasn't particularly social with others most of the time.

I was often in my own world; I'd wander around the back yard and talk to myself, for example. Sometimes I'd do character voices (still do), or recite lines to movies. I was able to play imaginatively to some extent, but even then, it was largely grounded in reality and/or my special interests. My older sister described to me how I'd go on and on about my special interest as a kid, and be able to recite memorized bits of information. I was able to read early, and I had a large vocabulary for a small child.

I was very resistant to change as a kid (and I still am to an extent): I would have meltdowns if you so much as rearranged the furniture in a room. I've always been the fidgety sort (chewing on stuff, leg-bobbing, spinning, etc...), and I was not particularly well coordinated. I've always had a great memory. I was always a decent student, but I got by mostly on natural ability--I mastered the fine art of putting no more effort into school than necessary. It left me with more time to build stuff with Lego.

It kind of eased some for me when I was in my pre-teen years, as I adopted some special interests that were a little more typical/acceptable, and made a small group of friends, but right around sixth or seventh grade, I started to feel more out of place. I started to feel a little more uncomfortable around peers--even friends that I've known for years.

Until the last few weeks, I thought I was just a weird kid and a quirky adult. AS explains a lot.

Things I can think of are Borderline Personality disorder, schizophrenia, NVLD, social anxiety disorder, OCD, sensory processing disorder, body movement disorder, communication disorder.

I can remember as far back when I was three. I remember being new to my school and I wanted everything to be the same. I could tell if there was even a slight change and that be on the weather calendar when the hand was moved to another picture so I would move it back. But the teachers didn't give in by keeping everything the same and after a while I got used to the changes and quit moving everything back and walking around the classroom before sitting down. That is the earliest trait I can remember having. I also remember being very rigid with my toys and how I played with them and I get very upset if anyone moved furniture around in my dollhouse and I had to fix it before I could do anything else. I also remember having weird rituals like always wear shoes while watching TV or must wear shoes to bed or clothes or must do certain things during each activity I do. I also recognize I had problems with friends long before I started to be rejected. They did reject me at home because they tell me they can't play or tell me to come back tomorrow or not let me in their home and their excuse be they have enough kids over. Back then I didn't know I was being rejected. I also remember biting my best friend on her hand because I got frustrated about something and she and the other kids walked me home and mom told me the girls didn't want me back at their house. I also remember having very strong interests then but I didn't really have the communication to talk about it. I can also remember getting some odd interests and I would be talking about it to my friends and I would obsess over it and always think about it. I also remember disliking change and every time there be a change, it all felt weird and wrong so I always hated school barbecues. But yet I loved early release because I got to go home and play and have more free time before bedtime. One of my earliest stims I did was wringing my wrists. I have no memory of doing that but mom told me it was something I did when I be in stressful situations like around noise.

I was around ten when my poor social skills became obvious. Kids my age started to reject me at school and at home and their interests changed so it made it harder for me to relate to them so I went towards the younger kids. Plus I was never good at chit chat they do and it was all boring. But I have always had immature emotions and always functioned at a lower age level I wouldn't even know I wasn't acting my age. I would say it was a lot easier having friends when I was little because they come and play with me when they had no one else to play with and I did fine at my own home but at their house, I had trouble. Plus when I go to their house to play, they come over to mine instead and we both play.

Plus I have always been literal according to my mother but I don't think it started to show until I was a preteen. I can also remember some of my odd behavior and I think it was due to sensory issues like how I used to dig into my arm pits because I hated the skin touching each other so I push my sleeve up there. I also sat on my bike wrong because I didn't like the way the seat felt on me so I had my butt sit off the seat a little bit. I also wore my socks up instead of rolled down and to this day I still hate going barefoot in sandals. I can also remember my mom getting mad at me when she be brushing my hair or giving me a shower and I be struggling and she get mad at me for it calling me a baby and she finally slapped me. I also hated getting my teeth brushed so I had to get used to it. I also hated the toothpaste and I can remember people getting mad at me for doing lot of accidents and I thought I was a bad kid for it but I realize now it may have been dyspraxia so it made me clumsy and it may have been due to poor impulse and me not reading social cues. I have noticed I was different since I was about three. I can also remember kids getting mad at me for playing and I wouldn't understand why it upset them.

Sometimes discovering AS is like in the movie The Sixth Sense where Bruce Willis realized he was a ghost so it explained why his wife seemed to ignore him but with AS, it all makes sense in the past about why we were treated a certain way and why people get mad at us or why it seemed like we were being discriminated and treated different and why we always seemed to attract bullies or rude people but yet they be nice to other people but us. I think that was the case with me.

I have no memory of getting upset with change as a young child but I read in my old report cards I had difficulty with them and that I don't follow the rules. I don't remember ever getting anxiety when there be a change. I just would feel uncomfortable and I dealt with it. Sometimes I would misbehave and it be hard for me to control it and back then I just knew I was a bad kid and not nice because of it and it be hard to control. I don't even remember lot of my aspie traits in my childhood. I don't even remember having poor eye contact but when I think about it, I can remember the words "look at me." That only happened when the talk be serious so they wanted me to look at them.

I don't think any special interests started until I was ten because that was when I started to read about it. Before that, I just had obsessions and always thought about them and talked about them but I never bothered actually learning about them. Plus even when I would get special interests that were popular such as the Titanic, kids in Montana hated that interest.