#asdmemory

[rivetingreticence]

Toto Songs

So, my dad is a huge fan of Toto.

I grew up in Germany, English wasn't my first language. When I was a kid (about 7ish), I didn't yet know a lot of English, but I had fun learning it (one of my SpIns was "idioms").

So, when my dad listened to Toto songs, I'd try my best to make out what they were singing about, so I could talk about it with my dad and have something to connect us.

In "Africa", I thought they were singing "I guess it rains down in Africa" - as in, "I guess even Africa has rain, although we all thing it doesn't, so life can't be all that bad."

In "Rosanna", I thought they were singing "meet you all the way" - as in "no compromises! I won't just meet you halfway!"

I kind of still prefer my childhood interpretations to the real songs sometimes.

[flowersforfawns]

when i was two and a half i wrote a song called The Butter Song and the only word was butter, and i just realized that was baby Hannah stimming and i can’t explain how happy that makes me feel?? i have videos of two year old me happy stimming?? i want to cry??

[strangerdarkerbetter]

I just remembered that as a kid I would visual stim by watching the windows pipe screensaver for long periods of time. I would just stare at all the moving pipes. It was so good.

[autisticpup]

When I was younger, I played with playmobil toys a lot. My favorite part was setting everything up just so, which took a while, so one day I timed myself and found that I could happily spend 58 minutes just setting up my toys. 

I was happy to play by myself because I got so focused and if I played with others they wouldn’t know how to set things up ‘correctly’, which frustrated me. 😅

[undiagnosedautismfeels]

Hi, me and some friends would like to invite everyone to share autistic childhood memories using #ASDmemory :) stuff like behaviours they enjoyed or special interests, things they remember that make them smile and maybe love and accept themselves. (kitten)

[anxiousautie]

When I was little I remember I used to fill up the bathtub as high as I could with burning hot water and sit in it until all the heat was out of it. And I had this little bag full of just little plastic toys and I would just sit in the burning hot bath and line these little toys up along the sides and they all had specific places they were supposed to go that I called their “houses”. But then I didn’t actually play with them, I just put them in their houses and rearranged them as I saw fit (usually one would go over to another one’s house but they would just sit there). And ya this happened like 3 times a week lol

[tragedy-plus-time]

As a kid I would love to just lay in the grass and roll around. And whenever I got excited I would bounce and jump and it would be fun

[ventiicedchaiii]

I forgot the tags oops.

@asdmemory here’s my contribution I guess…

I remember in like 2nd grade the police station nearby my school donated every single person in each class their very own dictionary.

It was second grade, I was 8. All these other 8 year old kids were making sarcastic comments like “wow a dictionary how cool” in sarcastic tones (I can detect sarcasm really well cause my dad basically speaks in only sarcasm and I’ve just learned how it works from a young age. Just a side note.) ,but I was like flapping and genuinely smiling because I was so excited to have access to all these new words and their meanings. And I carried that dictionary around with me the rest of elementary school. I love words.

[asd-n-me]

so I’ve been trying to figure out what disorder I have for years and recently I learned about autism. (I think it’s grossly over stereotyped because I thought it was weird until I looked it up) and it describes me for the most part. I stim when happy like the flapping. I have sensitivity to textures. Executive dysfunction is very real. I get distracted easily and motivation is so hard to come by. I have small routines rather then large ones. Your account has been really helpful in this process

Pt2 but I’m nervous that I’m just trying to fit a box.Like my social skills are horrible but I speak and understand sarcasm. I don’t get sensory overloaded but i hyperfixate on things. I have a special interest(s) on weird things but I also like things in the “normal way” I stim a lot and have weird mood fluctuations that I try to keep down so no one asks or sets me off.But I’m almost 18 and there should have been a earlier signs?Idk do you think it’s possible Or am I just trying too hard to fit

I am sorry my response is a little late, I’ve been having technical troubles but I am back. 

Friend, I am so glad that you find my account helpful because that is always my goal. 

I have always disliked people asking these things in asks, just because I know the typing is limited so it’s hard to describe all your experiences in 500 spaces or less. 

Hyperfixation, executive dysfunction, distractability, mood fluctuation, and some stimming and sensitivities can be seen in our ADHD cousins. I’m sure you are aware of that already. 

1.That being said, if you’re just discovering your autistic traits recently I am sure you are missing earlier signs that you haven’t even put together yet. That doesn’t mean they aren’t there. 

Not to mention the fact that, “high-functioning” considered individuals tend to be able to somewhat handle things in their youth, but start breaking down as they excel in age. 

2. You do not have to have sensory overloads to be autistic. Many autistics are adept at self-regulation and can for the most part avoid overload. 

But I hope you realize you do not have to meltdown or shutdown to be in overload. If a sound or texture or anything else sensory related has ever had you afraid you might yell at someone, scream into the abyss, or had you white knuckling the table or breaking a pencil or ripping paper to keep your cool etc. than you have suffered the effects of sensory overwhelming you. 

If the last thought in your head is, “how did i manage to not lose my shit?” It’s because you were being overwhelmed. 

3. No need to differentiate between little and small routines, if you’ve been on my blog you know I am a big supporter of people who experience small routines. You are no less. 

4. Plenty of autistics understand sarcasm and use it frequently. It doesn’t somehow disqualify you despite what certain Neurotyicals think. Late diagnosis autistics often manage certain aspects of socializing with their deficiencies written off as being awkward or quirky. 

Something to think about as well. A. did you always understand sarcasm? B. how much sarcasm do you not realize you are missing? 

I live in a sarcastic household, we use sarcasm constantly, but there are still times I don’t realize someone is being sarcastic and no one explains it. I have felt very proficient in sarcasm my whole life, but I was quite surprised to find out how much I was still missing. Not saying that’s your story, but it is something to think about. 

5. Now that I’ve been talking forever, sorry for that, there are always some earlier signs of autism because it is a lifetime disorder, however that doesn’t mean people around you or even yourself will notice them. 

Don’t stop looking into autism. If it resonates with you look deeper. When I first read about autism I didn’t think it was me at all. You’d think that would be ridiculous and that I should have seen myself immediately but I didn’t. It wasn’t fancy articles and informational videos that helped me see it either, although they helped, it was through the experiences of other autistic POV. 

I can post somethings about recognizing earlier signs or autism soon, I would recommend for now watching the video I posted about being a teenage aspie, neurowonderful and invisible I are good youtubes for learning about autism. Neurowonderful is more informative and invisible I is a little less accurate but fairly relatable. 

A good blog to look into on tumblr is asdmemory tagged #ASDmemory because they talk a lot about childhood autistic memories. undiagnosedautismfeels is off track of its real intentions, which I know drives the admin nuts, but has stories of before they knew they were autistic. 

Save the things that resonate with you, write em in a book, whatever you want. I wish you well in your journey to self discovery and no friend, I don’t think your are just trying to fit it. I think you are trying discover who you are. <3

(if you still have questions feel free to hit the ask box again i will answer, if you’d like to talk more please don’t be afraid to send me a message. if you still prefer asks because of the anon feature than don’t be afraid to spam me with like 5 in a row. whatever helps you feel like you explained yourself. dont be afraid to ask the same question either if you didnt feel i answered it as it was intended.)

Have a great day! 

[asdcats]

Can you recommend me some other autism blogs please?

Not all of these are 100% autism blogs but they all post good autism content

@asdmemory@sbroxman-autisticquestions@franklyautistic@autisticdreams@aspie-jake@strangerdarkerbetter@candidlyautistic@butterflyinthewell@cosmicautistic@autistic-nathan-drake@myautisticpov@thatautismfeel@autisticproblems@autistickitten@neurowonderful@askanautistic

[strangerdarkerbetter]

As a kid I would stim by clapping my knees together as I swung on the swing set. It was such a great stim!

[aut-of-space]

Childhood Memories

So, I've made a post about this topic and a lot of people seemed to enjoy it! And now, there's a specific blog for the memories of autistic people! If you are as much into the topic as I am, you could go and follow them! It's @asdmemory ! #ASDmemories

[calictii]

more memories

as a kid i had no idea about verbal stimming, and i thought (cause everyone told me) that i was so committed to being annoying that even when i wasn't talking i had to be making noises somehow all the time forever.

[asdmemory]

when i was a really young kid me and the only other autistic kid in my class would sing songs under our breath!! sometimes we even sang together and it must’ve been quite funny for the teacher, just sitting at her desk and then hearing two first graders harmonizing

[rivetingreticence]

#ASDmemory time

I must have been about four years old when this memory happened, because it was at the local Kindergarten. A group of kids were asking around for people’s nicknames, and at some point they got to me (I was playing alone nearby). 

“Do you have a nickname?” the girl asked me and I was very confused, because I didn’t know the term. In German, the word was “Spitzname”, which literally translated would mean something like “pointy name”. So I stood there wondering why and how a name might be pointy and in the end shook my head. I didn’t have a pointy name. I guess the English equivalent of this misunderstanding would be to think of a nickname as a nicked name, a stolen name or a cut name, perhaps. 

I only figured out much later what a nickname was and that I had one.