Living with Autism

Living with Autism
by
Diana Shelton

I don’t know how to type this out, but think I’ll start by telling a little about myself. I was diagnosed at a young age and had speech therapy and special education in elementary school. I had found out later on that I was the first autistic child to attend the school. My autism has made it difficult for me to focus on a task that doesn’t interest me and thus I was frequently sent home with a lot of homework. I was also a frequent target of bullying though I was lucky enough that they didn’t beat me up. I don’t know how they found out that I was different from them, but I do know that they have saw that as a reason to hate me. It was almost as if they hated my existence. My elementary and intermediate school years were nice, but my middle school years were an absolute Hell, to put it lightly. My parents had to pull both me and my sister, who is also autistic, out of school as it was having a terrible effect on my health and view on life.




I’m an adult who still lives with her parents along with her sister and I feel ashamed of it. The autism had robbed me of a life I would have lived had I been neuro-typical. I have been improving though I do still have my moments. I have noticed that I had been focusing more on certain tasks and even broadening my interests! I even took an interest in cooking! What I hope for is a cure for autism that will enable me and my sister to live normal lives. Even better, I would like to be cured and able to keep the benefits that the autism had granted to me. Everyday, I have been doing my best to break out of the rut that the condition had stuck me in. Maybe one day, I might even gain the confidence to learn how to drive! Due to the fact that I’m a high-functioning autistic and I have received some special education, I have been able to pass myself off as normal most of the time.




My sister, whose autism is worse then mine, is incapable of living on her own. While I am able to adjust to a new situation, she would have a meltdown even at the slightest change. She is also a picky eater to the extreme, limiting our menu options. We have to bend over backwards in order to please her so she won’t have a meltdown in public. Once she has a meltdown, nothing will snap her out of it and she will never, ever shut up about how she hate this or that until we give her what she wants. Yes, my sister was able to get away with almost everything because of her autism! That makes me really mad. At least I actually feel guilty when I got something I wanted because of my meltdown! My sister is so autistic that she doesn’t understand that she can’t always have her way nor does she know that she was taken advantage of! Not to mention it adds to her thick-headed nature, refusing to change her ways! She never listens to a word we say, making it impossible to communicate with her! Trying to get information out of her is like talking to a brick wall as she would be very vague with her answers! She watches and repeatedly says lines from annoying shows to the point that I want to smack some sense into her! She even gets contrary at the most inappropriate times! I am so sorry that if I am bad-mouthing my sister, but I needed to vent and give you an honest opinion of what it is like to live with her! She really is a sweet girl most of the time and is concerned for the rest of the family. I still love her even though she annoys me and am worried that her autistic antics would annoy the wrong person.




So this is how it is like living with autism. I have been doing my best to overcome it everyday and I hope to continue to improve until a cure can be found.