Ok so this one is about my Journey to get to where I am today, It hasn't always been easy but it is worth it.
Ok so lets start out with the fact that both my Speech and my walking were somewhat delayed wasn't delayed more then a year but around that time Frame however when I did start talking it wasn't in one word phrases it was in Full on Sentences mind you Properly formed sentences I learned how to walk but had problems first off my balance wasn't that great and second off my feet were a bit off center just enough to affect the way I walked, second off my talking was hurt by a Speech Impediment I had well into my early teens. I had to take Years of Physical Therapy and OT for Years well into High School to deal with Issues Assocated with Mild-Cerebral Palsy ( Yes that is what it is according to my doctor he even put it on my last Physical form.)
Mom and dad cause of the Speech impediment and the fact that I had a hard time communicating taught me ASL signs to help me communicate with them, It was fun I did that well after I could talk just fine cause I was used to it.
Then here were the Sensory Interrogation Disorder Issues as I grew up, now mind you I have what a Friend of mine Calls Superman Hearing and I tend to agree I could hear fire alarms turn on, I can hear Sirians from a long way off even now with me losing some of my hearing, and as a Kid a fire alarm going off would send me into a Meltdown and I run, I run for my life, I did this well into the 3rd grade when they figured out maybe they should tell me when we were going to have a Fire Drill or at least the ones they know about, I learned how over time to deal with the loud sounds.
I also dealt a lot with Sensory Overload as Kid and learned how to deal with that, It took Practice and Trial and Error.
Also I had to learn how to make Friends, that wasn't easy cause I didn't understand unspoken Social rules or even how to make and keep Friends and these were not easy skills to learn cause I want to have Friends so bad, I didn't have any Concept to Bullying even when I was Bullied cause I thought I had done something wrong when I was bullied I learned over time to tell the Difference I had to learn to understand basic Jokes and Humor cause it kinda went over my head, Had to learn about this thing people had Called Space Bubbles cause I didn't have one and had no way of Gageing where others people Space Bubbles were also it had to be Explained to me that where most peoples Space Bubbles were is rather Abertery to the person that there were no hard and fast set rules as to where they Existed.
I had to teach myself in those days Coping Mechanisms to be able to cope with a lot of things I didn't understand and learn how to cope with the fact I was different there were no Classes for Coping with ASD I had to learn how to cope all by myself and learn some skills all by myself or with a Friend when I had them.
Then there was Schooling, I loved it and hated it all at the same time, First off cause of my SID issues and some subjects I wasn't so strong in I was put in Special Ed, This often meant leaving the Classroom I was in even when the class was doing something fun that I really wanted to be part of Sped times were hard and fast, I had to teach myself to read somewhat and then taught myself to Speed Read and Comprehend as I speed read mostly cause the English Class I was in was going too slow for my taste, I hated the fact that I could learn a subject I wasn't good at but the teacher wouldn't Belive me so they unless I showed them in a Reasonable time by certain rules and if I couldn't keep up in that timeline, I had to do my work over, they really didn't know how much that Frustrated me and bored me to death on those Subjects. In high School I went and helped Teach ESL at a community center, I am good at doing that in fact I found out I could do it cause I did do it, I also had to learn when people were using the People skills and my good heart that is into helping people to Further there own lives and Ambitions and not give me any Credit for helping out, that hurt me. I have had to deal with the issues of Trusting people cause I have been used in the past to help others then have them take all the Credit for the part of the work I did and not aknowledge me or my skills. I had to learn to type cause of the CP and a few other things My handwriting isn't the best I can Sign my name and if I am Paying real hard Attention when handwriting I might be able to write one legible Senescence, don't ask me to do more then that cause the rest comes out as Chicken Scratch that I can remember what I wrote but you nor I will be able to read it. I learned howto type good and fast at age 8 and have been typing ever seance though we did work on Handwriting in PT/OT
I enjoy helping others always have and always will, It is just part of who I am.
I in Recreant History have learned how to live on my own away from my house with a Roommate and have been Pretty Successful so far and I hope to keep it that way even with the fact my first roommate didn't pay the rent, Didn't tell me he didn't pay the rent and got me Evicted but I learned how to look for a new Roommate and I found a good one. I am also working on becoming a better Cook and getting Pretty good at it.
now for the longest time I had a hard time living with my Autism or dealing with it, my life after 18 kinda became very limited and I dealt a lot of the time with Depression and anger and feeling like I was being left behind and being a spectator in life rather then a partipant, but then When I was 27 I accepted that I had Autism and I decided that I am going to make the lives of people with Autism better and make it so that people with Autism are heard and Respected and accpeted and allowed to have lives they can be Proud of. I Decided I was going to empower people with Autism and let people with Autism get together in peer groups and talk about life with Autism and dreams and goals and have social peer social groups for people with Autism. I started 3 Rivers Autism Outreach, and became a Self-Advocate.
So that is my life up to this point, I hope to get married someday, Have a family someday, and I have other Dreams and Goals as well :) I am proud to have Autism, I am proud to help others with Autism and help them to be the best people they can be. I will continue my work with Three Rivers Autism Outreach and I will continue to help people both with and without Autism and work to make our world a more Accepting place for people with ASD to Maximize there Potential
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