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My Experiences With High-Functioning Autism

Many people think of autism as something only kids have, something that makes them less intelligent and that is partially correct. Autism has two main forms High Functioning Autism (HFA) and and Low Functioning Autism (LFA). LFA is the one most people think of when it comes to autism. It is categorized with cognitive impairments (typically with an I.Q of lower than 70). HFA is categorized with people who are deemed "higher functioning" (typically with an I.Q of 70 or higher). I was diagnosed with Ausbergers Syndrome (now Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)), which is a type of HFA, when I was a child. There was a lot of things I felt that made my life more difficult than other people's life and here are just a few of them.

1) Medications

My Experiences With High-Functioning Autism

On a daily basis I would take five or six pills. Part of this could have to do with my dual diagnosis of Ausberger's Syndrome and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and partial with my depression (more on that later) but there was (and still is) medicine that I had to take for my autism and this made me feel very different from my friends and peers and made me feel a bit jealous that they got to live "normal" lives and I didn't. Not to mention, the medication is expensive and can take months to work out the right medications and dosages.

2) Depression

My Experiences With High-Functioning Autism

While autism and depression can seem unrelated, people with autism (or any mental disorder for that matter) often have both. Allow me to explain. As I stated, I often felt different from everyone else, I wish I could be more like them. This can often times lead to a person developing depression. On top of this, depression isn't just sadness, it is various mood swings ranging from happy to mad to sad.

3) Socialization

My Experiences With High-Functioning Autism

Asperberg's Syndrome effects ones ability to effectively socialize and communicate. Every conversation with a teacher felt like I was being interrogated. Every statement I made was instantly met with regret and a feeling that I shouldn't have said that, even if I said nothing wrong. In addition, I felt like I had to be secluded from everyone else because I had autism.

4) Society's Reception/Ridicule

My Experiences With High-Functioning Autism

I would often be ridiculed if I brought up my autism. I would often heard "oh, he's just not trying hard enough" or "he just wants attention." While our society as a whole has grown more accepting and understanding of mental disorders as a whole, there are those who still see it as an "unnecessary diagnosis" and "a waste of time, money, and effort." People would often assume that because I had autism, I was dumb, even though it was the exact opposite. I was a very smart child, it just took me longer to learn things than most people or some things, I would lean faster than other. It all really depended on what it was. I would even be scared to open up to people in a fear that I wouldn't be accepted and so I became more introverted. Even now, after I conquered that fear of social rejection, my introversion remains (and if I am being honest, I don't see that as a bad thing any more). Finally, often times when I am referred to as "autistic" it would make me feel hurt, so my therapist (and many others) started using first-person terminology, so instead of saying "an autistic person" they would say "a person with autism" to put more emphasis on the mental disorder rater than the the person. This is something that many people don't understand or even knows will affect someone, but that doesn't change the fact that it still hurts to be called "autistic."

Those are some of my experiences with HFA. I hope it helped shed some light on autism and provided people with an inside look at what people with autism go through. I am aware that there are many types of autism out there both on the HFA and LFA sides, that are all very different from one another. If anybody has autism or knows someone with autism do you have your own experiences you'd like to share? Do you or someone you know share these experiences? I would love to hear them if so and as always, thanks for reading.

My Experiences With High-Functioning Autism
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