Could I have lost my Autism?

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If doctors didn't think that, then they didn't know a lot about autism.

5 years old is one of the most common times for autistic people to speak. Expecting an autistic child who is younger than five to never be able to speak because they are not speaking at 5, is like expecting a 3-month-old child never to be able to walk because they can't walk yet.

Additionally, almost all autistic people acquire some kind of speech at some point in their life. Which is another reason the doctors clearly didn't know what they are talking about. There are no predictors prior to the age of 5 of who will and won't speak at 5 or any of the later ages autistic people often learn to speak.

To me, it just sounds like you got older. I'm not trying to discount anything, it's just that assuming that an autistic child will never speak because they don't speak when they're little, and then thinking it's amazing when they do at the age of five, is exactly the same as assuming a non-autistic child will never speak because they don't speak when they're 6 months old, and then thinking it's amazing when they speak at the age of 12 months.

I agree whole heartedly. Congratulations.

And I notice that my autistic symptoms come and go according to health status, issues in life, age, weather, etc I think the common denominator is my ability to adapt - what resources I have available and the demands on my nervous system.

It is frustrating at times to tell a health professional that I am experiencing symptoms and to have them disbelieve me because I "look too good" - adapting well takes effort and energy - it does not cure the underlying problem.

I have been very fortunate to have a psychiatrist who could ascertain that I was adapting to the environment and who could explain to me what he was seeing. His modelling in communication has been very helpful.

We are so used to doing what we do that we don't even know what is 'normal' or 'usual' for the average person. We don't even know how we adapt and accommodate until someone helps us see it.

Our development is delayed, slower, we're "behind" in certain areas, and these areas improve as we age (it doesn't mean we're behind in all areas, far from it--some we can be ahead in).

I was clearly "autistic" when little, I moved up to the "Asperger's" end when my verbal ability caught up massively within a short period of time (a few words to speaking fluent sentences after speech therapy in a year at 5).

Congrats! It's really good to hear if a person has coped so well!

Totally seconding this. It can be sad in some way actually, because some extreme things are just about to kill you, but in the end, this statement is absolutely true.

Age1600 has said it quite right too (I'll keep this sentence in mind, because I couldn't have thought of a better way to verbalise this thought!).




I'm also veeery 'high functioning' today. The last 'move up' happened when I was 15 years old. I wasn't the classic autistic/asperger's person, a mix of both instead, but I was also very autistic as a child, including the good quirks and bad things.

I learned to speak on time though and I was very eloquent when tested, but I didn't start conversations and often failed to hear/answer until I was about 5 to 6. From that point on, I suddenly started using my language to express needs and all, it was an extremely huge change. It went on like that, I had a kind of 'growth spurt' every 5 to 6 years that made me a lot more 'high functioning'.

I don't think my brain has totally changed its basic setting so that it's now almost neurotypical. I think it just learned to adapt and find ways around problems by learning.

If I compare how I think to how a non-autistic person thinks about the same exercise, then it's obvious for all that my train of thought is totally different and even in school not understandable for a neurotypical person and vice versa. That's how I know that I (still) think differently even though I have the same solution in the end!

You were fortunate to begin therapy almost right away, and it helped you to grow up, learn and function in life. People don't outgrow autism, but they do grow up and gain skills. You were helped to realize your potential in life.

I definitely agree with you. I have days where I feel "normal", and then there are days I just feel stupid and feel that I'm dumb that I could have ever thought I could be normal. I do find that my symptoms are less severe then most of the people on here, I don't tic, stim, or anything like that, and in a twisted way it makes me feel extremely lonely, because I feel like I'm not Autistic or Normal.

u will always have da autism or aspergers syndrome wid u but as wot i can c is dat u have over come some barriers which means ur goin in da right direction.