About Autism and Me

Autism is not contagious and it's not the parents' fault.  Autism is like a communication disorder.  Children and also adults with autism may have trouble talking to people, holding a conversation, or expressing there feelings.

As for me, I can talk to people, but I am shy.  I've been struggling with communicating all my life, but am getting better at it as time goes on.  I can communicate better vie e-mail or IM than in person or over the phone.  I may not be able to keep a conversation going, but I do listen when being spoken to.  But, sometimes my mother can say something to me and a few minutes later, I'll ask her a question and she'll say that she just told me that.

Some people think that everybody shows a few autistic (autism) characteristics.  There are people that are shy and not as outgoing as other people.  Just because someone is shy or have a social anxiety disorder doesn't mean they have autism, but it may be linked to autism in some way.  If you are wondering if you might show some traits of autism or Asperger Syndrome, there's a free quick online test at wired.com.

As far as expressing my feelings, I'm likely to hide my feelings now as an adult, but when I was a child, I would get mad and scream like a girl or misbehave in school.

I'm glad my form of autism is mild.  Autism can be very severe.  Some people with autism may never talk.

Clipart designed by Cher

The obvious reason for my autism is because the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck when I was born, which stopped or slowed down the oxygen running up to my brain and I was blue.  But I've heard a lot of kids, actually 1 out of 3 are born that way and never have any problems or get diagnosed with autism or anything.  It might depend on how tight the umbilical cord is around the baby's neck and how fast it is taken away.

As my parents told me, I didn't start talking until I was 5 years old.  At first I thought this was normal because I've heard on one of the old Andy Griffith shows that "Goober Pyle" didn't start talking until he was 5 years old too.  It was the color show where "Aunt Bee" was taking care of a baby for a week and every time she tried to hold the baby, the baby cried.  Anyway, Goober came over one day with some toys for the baby to play with and he mentioned in these words: "I didn't start talking until I was 5 years old, I guess I didn't have anything to say."  Those were his exact words from the show.  I've seen those shows so many times.

I was able to improve my autism with the help of speech theory when I was 3+ years old and with the help of a dairy and wheat/gluten free diet when I was 17 years old.

I also started an antidepressant called Luvox, and a supplement of DMG from Kirkmanlabs when I was 17 years old.  My parents started all three treatments at around the same time, so we're not sure which one helped me the most, but I'm confident the diet was a good thing to start for me.  Read more on my treatments page.

I'm not taking Luvox anymore.  I switched over to Paxil (another antidepressant) when I was in the 12th grade.  The teachers didn't like me on Paxil, so I went back to Luvox for the remaining of the school year, then back to Paxil after I graduated from high school.  After around 4 years on Paxil, I started feeling depressed.  It's like the Paxil stopped working.  I wasn't depressed before I starting taking Paxil or Luvox.  The reason my father put me on Luvox was to help calm me down.

So, I switched to another antidepressant for a month with no difference.  Then I tapped down and now I'm off of the antidepressants as of March 24, 2005.  I'm dealing with the withdrawal symptoms.  When I decided to go off of the antidepressants, I thought my brain would go back to the way it was before I went on the antidepressants, but it's different.  If you or your child have any experience with antidepressants, I would love to hear from you.  E-mail me at autism@ericsissom.com