What’s something most people don’t understand?

little bit of a suspicion that I was very different from a lot of people. I’d be obsessive if I lost something; I would have very intense, short bursts of random but specialized interests. I’d feel like crying if things got too loud, I couldn’t always tell how people were feeling, but I thought everyone felt that way.

I mentioned something about it to my friends, and they said that they didn’t ever get like that. I put it out of my mind until I saw an ad for a test one day. It was an autism test by either a reputable university or autism organization (not Autism Speaks, I don’t remember exactly what it was). I thought it would be interesting to take even though I obviously didn’t have it.

They had a scale from 0–38; 30–38 meaning that you likely have autism.

I got a 29.5.

I was a little upset when I realized that if I would have known sooner, I could have gotten something in my GIEP. I’m too neurotypical to be seen as autistic by some people, but too “off” to be considered normal to others. I realized that why I like movies is because I can study them. I can notice behavior patterns and understand them, or learn empathy, or just feel better about myself. I had no clue I was doing it until I finally put a name to what I was feeling.

I hope people don’t think I’m sharing this for attention. I just wish that people understood why I didn’t get that one joke or that the lights really are too bright. It’s like I’m trying to straddle two sides of a cliff, and I’m just trying not to fall into the ravine.want to learn more