Over last few weeks I have been taking lots of interview about living life on the autism spectrum as and adult. This is part 3 of a series of blogs where I have taken a few of the questions I’ve been asked and sharing my answers with you.
Question: What was the hardest part of high school and how did you overcome it?
Answer: The hardest part of high school was actually going to school. I was always a smart kid, but going to class all day was a challenge. My freshman year of high school I was kicked out of school for skipping classes. I always did my work for the classes. I even showed up on test days. I was passing the classes, but I just did not want to go to class. It was too overwhelming. Thankfully my parents arranged for me to be let back in school without being expelled. I also had to change schools after my freshman year because we moved to another side of town. That has difficult because I didn’t handle change very well and making friends was difficult for me. I eventually overcame it by getting involved in sports and focusing my energy on that. I knew I had to go to class in order to stay on the team so that motivated me to tough it out.
Question: Did it get easier to deal with your autism as you got older?
Answer: I have only known about my autism for less than two years. I don’t think it gets easier though. When you’re an adult with autism you don’t normally get much appreciation for the things that you silently struggle with. Many people expect you to function or behave a certain way because you’re an adult, but autism doesn’t go away the older you get. There are many ways that autism impacts me as an adult that most likely didn’t impact me as a child.
