What kind of support did you get while growing up/now?

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I got nothing, because I've never even been diagnosed, although I'm sure I'm an aspie because I even flap my fingers, have face blindness, and can't read people, don't understand sarcasm, and a million other things. But I got zero help or support.

The type of support I only have most of my life is leniency. It's more than enough for me that no one in my household fuss around me for being odd, or question me about autism. For better or for worse.

Acceptance is secondary. Because there's no real understanding here.

And the basic stuff that most people must have. This is more of an obligation thing than a support thing.

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No "supports" as the word is used today because I was undiagnosed and the prevailing philosophy when I was growing up was "you figure it out". My parents did some things like try and get me in smaller classes and emphasize individuality/everybody is different which was helpful.

It hurt me because I made enough mistakes that many bad consequences hurt my confidence badly because we all thought these mistakes were about my character flaws. That lack of confidence still lingers today. It helped because it did teach me to some degree what did and did not work for me, it taught me not to feel entitled, and sucking it up and moving on at times is a necessary survival skill.

Absolutely none. And even now I am far short of the kind of help that I need due to money and several other unavoidable factors.

_________________
*** High Functioning Autism - Asperger's Syndrome ***

ADHD, OCD, and PTSD.

Keep calm and stim away.

From both a sincere yet honest standpoint, I did not get the most needed support needed. Whether this was in the form of social scenario help or educational/occupational help in my case;whereby, I struggled and literally floundered. Yes, I managed to make it through high school and graduate but, not with any distinction nor anything of a noteworthy nature. Today, I have managed to find some support maybe not the best as, I live in an area where funding to aid in helping autistic persons succeed within the workplace is almost non existent due to a corrupt person(s). Currently, I'm in the tentative process of relocating where there are actual institutions that literally value the skills & abilities of which any/all autistic people demonstrate.

This one I'm having a bit of trouble telling what you mean, but probably one of two things so I can manage.

OT (Have done it, going to start again soon)
Hippotherapy (Have done it)
Counseling with a person who specializes in autism (Don't know what to call it exactly, been doing it since a little after diagnosis.)

I get extra time on tests,
People ignore my odd behavior,
Sensory breaks,
Sensory tools (Hat, prescription sunglasses, headphones (Now use something better))
Sensory toys.
Understanding for wearing the same thing every day.
Some understanding for my difficulty with cores
some other stuff.

Nothing at all despite taking two university degrees.

I was just diagnosed this year.

I struggled in school as a child back in the 80s . And it was noticed of course because I got anxiety for school and wouldn`t go. I did well in my subjects but I couldn`t socialize and the schooldays felt terrible. So I was sent to a child psychologist and then after a while sent to a special school for children. I wasn`t given any diagnoses yet as far as I know. Then nothing got better, everything got worse(because now I was even more different from the rest of the kids in my regular class and even more of an outsider and I didn`t have the social skills to compensate for that) so the plan was to send me to a special boarding school for older kids but then my mother stopped it and I switched school to a smaller school out on the countryside where I managed to finish primary school.
After that I continued to go to school trying to be normal and function like everybody else, having dreams of getting an interesting carrier, falling in love with different subjects along the way which probably saved parts of me, and sought help with psychologists at my own initiative at the different places I went to school until I was an adult. It is a long story of course but this is the short version. I got plenty of support but not anything that was helpful unfortunately. I think no one understood my situation and issues. They didn`t realize to what degree I was failing in the social life of my peers and how it feels like to a kid...? Who knows what would have happened if it was today...(thinking out loud, I am not really sure)

I had speech therapy.
Other than that, nothing, even though I also have a hearing impairment.
So I didn't understand anything, and consequently failed miserably.

My mother for all her flaws did love me unconditionally, so there was that. School was a nightmare. I never told mum the things that were upsetting, the isolation, the meltdowns, being hit by a teacher. All I did was ask her to invite said teacher round for a cup of tea and poison her. She didn't ask why she needed to be poisoned, just said she wouldn't do that. As a teenager I was put in a home and my parents were charged with neglect - not that they were - and a psych assessed me and based on that decided I should be sent away to borstal for 2 years. He assessed my IQ as very high but that I was devious and manipulative. (I have the paperwork on this.) Later I went to a child Psych and spent most every session in silence. Not helpful. He did eventually break down my barriers and I was so distressed and inconsolable that my mother decided my 'treatment' was at an end.

I self medicated with alcohol and drugs for 22 years. This was helpful at the time as it got me through not killing myself. I got self support through AA and NA - but not for ASD which was not even thought of in my case. I had a therapist for PTSD and she was good to a point - but not having ASD diagnosed left a lot of questions unanswered.

I am very happy to be in one piece and relatively sane at the age of nearly 65 - miracle really. But there you go.

I didn't get a whole lot of support. Being chastised for talking about my favourite things and writing about the same topic in my journal over again is not support. My parents were holding their bars of standards a little too high for me. I was expected to like my birth gender and wear the family name. I took wearing the family name to the extreme with the Union Jack and all the other British stuff often wondering what was underneath all that since I was keeping some pretty tough secrets. I did dot my Us one day in Grade 3. That was funny. Maybe I hated myself so much that I felt I had to sweep my reality under the Union Jack.

When I was growing up, I and the rest of my family thought that autism was largely nonverbal and meant you couldn't concentrate normally in school. Since those things weren't true of me, it wasn't suspected I was autistic.

My parents were concerned about my bizarre behaviour, so I saw therapists when I was a kid, but it was never suggested I might be autistic, so I never got help specifically for autism. Though I probably can't say this was the fault of my parents or the therapists, as I imagine not as much was known about autism then.

I only got diagnosed last year, as an adult (early 30s.) Since then, I eventually got into a job search place that helps autistic people look for work, but have gotten very little help or professional support in terms of dealing with my condition. I have a psychiatrist, which helps, but medications only go so far. I've been on a waiting list for an autism-specialized therapist for a year. And considering how poor my mental health has been lately, I don't think I can wait much longer.

No early diagnosis (ASD and ADHD hadn´t reached my country at the time - late 1950´es).
My parents were aware, that I was different, so they tried to teach me how to approach people, be a little more flexible, not too direct and to NOT HUG STRANGERS. (I was the "active but odd" type).
They just wondered why I didn´t want eye contact, body contact and such.

Well, it got thorny anyway - and I now know, that mom herself was an aspie with ADHD, meltdowns and all (her parents tried the best to support her, but they didn´t know, why she was so afraid every morning when she had to face the world).

At school: Mobbing-mobbing, lots of interviews with school psychologists and some Rohrschack tests.
No support - because I was being "weak" and "immature" and had to learn how to fend for myself, - so NO help, when attacked by a mob... and I was scorned quite a bit as a teen and young adult - and called "immature".
I couldn´t claim, that I was anxious, because I didn´t pee in bed, bite my nails and such.... but secretly I was terrified of all the frightening disfiguring ilnesses, I had read about in the Encyclopedia (medical nerd).

So - because people didn´t know anything, I didn´t get the support, I needed.
Social support would have been a great help.

I have a small government financial support. However, it's not too much. I was diagnosed when I was 7-9 or something.

I also had some support in school by the School psychologists.

I have constant support from family members. I chose to hide the fact I have Aspergers from society since I entered college and now I have no support aside from medication, but I'm doing just fine. I'm always wondering how harsh it will be when I search for a job, though. I'm thinking of studying for a lifetime since I have the means for it, but I also desire independence that I'm struggling with. It's conflicted.