I had virtually no sensitivity to pain in young childhood and still have extremely high pain tolerance. Despite that I am sensitive and can only tolerate some types of clothing and fabric on my skin. I am also sensitive to food textures, smells, lights and sound.

I can appear to fit in for short periods of time but it takes monumental effort and is exhausting. I have to spend subsequent days recuperating from anything that overstimulates me, spending time with people in particular and if I can’t get time to calm myself, I will have meltdowns and even become genuinely physically ill from the stress.

I have changed and adapted over the years as anyone would but the core issues remain.

I could go on, but there is little point. I would say that the characters in movies and on television that supposedly have an Autism Spectrum Disorder have done far more damage than most that would self-diagnose. I think many of them are not taken seriously anyway, and people can tell if someone is intelligent, educated, and have done their homework in regards to the disorders.