Life with Asperger's
A battle between me and myself
I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was in my first year of school. Despite that my mum had a feeling that I was on the spectrum I was unable to get a diagnosis until I started school. The doctors explained to us that due to the way that my brain had developed it would surely give me problems in the future. we were told that my handwriting would never improve and that I should start typing on a computer. we were also told to see multiple speech therapists and pediatricians. I was seeing a speech therapist and a pediatrician every 6 months but every time we would be sent to see someone else so we were having to tell the same story over and over again. it felt like we were getting nowhere and we still didn't have answers on how I was meant to improve so I would be better prepared for when I was to start my own life.
This went on for 9 years. during those 9 years, I was pulled out of school at the end of grade 5 because the school had full funding to help me but did nothing so I was homeschooled for 4 years. This was the first time in 6 years of my school life that I was actually improving. At school, I was not just having problems with my work but I had very high anxiety which would be embarrassing for me when I would be told in front of the whole class to go wash my underarms in the girl's bathroom. that's how bad my anxiety was and it still is but I have a bit more control of it now.
because of being homeschooled my handwriting was neater, I was memorizing what I was learning, I was able to read at an average academic level and I was having fun too. when I was 15 years old I went to see my next pediatrician expecting the same results but I was not prepared for what to hear next. we had told the same old story and I waited for them to send me to someone else but out of the blue, they turned around and said we can not help you and that was the end of it. I was stunned by the response I was given. no more specialists to see and I had no answers on how I was meant to deal with my disability as they called it for when I was to move out and live on my own. I didn't know during that time that I had a lot of talent and potential that I could use to my advantage to get ahead.
In year 10, my family moved to another state and I started going back to school. It was strange to be back in the system again and to interact with people the same age as me. It had changed quite a lot in 4 years. I didn't understand some of the things that they would talk about and how they acted I felt a bit out of place but I soon managed to find a group of people that understood me. year 10 was unexpectedly easy and I could do the work without any problems and my grades had never looked better.
Despite that I had had trouble in year 11 that caused me to have mental break downs every day and that I was unable to finish school due to moving back to my home state but I did not give up and I kept on pushing my limits and I am now on my way to finish university and I am now an educator in childcare and I am starting to write my own novels at the age of 18 so I can keep on improving and keep on pushing my limits to get myself ahead. I am not going to give up or let anyone push me down because of my disability because it is the reason for me to move forward.
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