I'm specifically making a thread about this because there's one aspect of it relevant to it and not Autism and Asperger's. Which is simply that it's not Autism or Asperger's. I have nothing against people with those, I do like to connect with those people as well, because I can. But...Sometimes it leaves me excluded from the Autism pool. A good example is my friend, the only offline friend I have (I love her dearly don't get me wrong she's great) seems incapable of accepting my more Autistic traits as what they are and has told me I can't be Autistic. She once outright told me I wasn't smart enough to be Autistic. Because I don't fit nicely into what she knows it looks like. She's got two cousins who are Autistic so she isn't clueless.
But yet all my life I have still had problems with these symptoms. I wasn't diagnosed until I was 23. Everyone, my close friends, mom included called me weird. Teachers thought I was disruptive, I had a really hard time learning. School was just a nightmare for me because no one knew what to do with me. I was tested to see if I could be put in the special ed class but I scored too high in everything for that. Although the results were bizarre. Because I tested above or at grade level for most, college level on some, and it just all yielded strange things. But since I couldn't be put in the special ed class they still had no idea what to do with me.
Then when I was 23 my mental health took a swan dive. And I was finally given a full psychological evaluation. And diagnosed with PDD NOS. And my therapist made sure to call it that, Atypical Autism and every other name it has. I was a bit baffle at first because I didn't know much about Autistic spectrum disorders. but after I started reading up on it so many things I did or though began to make sense. Then I started poking around online at communities for people with ASDs, following blogs and the like. It's great. Because now I can talk to people who can empathize with the same problems. And I see stuff that makes me go that is so me! And understand myself better.
I mean I assume I'm still kinda weird in some ways, but maybe that's a good thing. I mean I'm extremely sarcastic, so obviously I understand the concept. But I have a hard time recognizing when other people are being sarcastic. I spend a lot of time asking people if they're being serious or not because I can't tell so I never know for sure. Especially online. OK seriously HOW does ANYONE catch sarcasm through text?