I am a survivor. That is, surviving the 80s/early 90s in a age - TopicsExpress

I am a survivor. That is, surviving the 80s/early 90s in a age where the average individual didnt know what high functioning autism was (I didnt discover I had the psychiatric condition until I was 25 years old in 1999). When I was in school from kindergarten up until 7th grade, I was placed in special ed classes. However, in 8th grade in TR Intermediate West, I was transferred from Cycle 808 (a special ed cycle) to Cycle 804 (a standard cycle) since I was too advanced to be in special ed. Now when it came time to move on to high school, I felt it was gonna be a super sensory overload for an individual like me. TR HS North was no elementary/middle school. Luckily, I pulled through all 4 years and graduated from high school. By no means was I a straight A student, but I got through, regardless. During the course of my first 18 years, through tutelage of my mama and step daddy, I learned how to work at a place of employment, how to drive (when a lot of experts said Id never would learn to operate a motor vehicle back in the day, but I defied the odds and got a legitimate drivers license), associate with people (moving to Toms River from Brick would really change my life cuz to this day just about everyone I befriended/liked were all Toms River natives, which in my book are the most colorful characters Ive ever met), and take care of dogs (my two wire fox terriers Squirt and Sophia; Squirt has since passed away, but Sophias still hanging around at the moment). Of course, Ive gotten nonsense stereotypes about my condition whenever I acted out of place; I would hear youre impolite, you piss off people, youre annoying and repetitive, you make weird facial expressions, et al. For the most part, I chuckle off what those misunderstood individuals said to me. And just because I remember some individuals birthday doesnt mean I know his or her full biography like that. It doesnt mean I know their address, phone #, social security #, and all that. Cmon. I only go by what they mentioned to me about themselves and thats where I stop in regards to asking for their biographies. Im just one heck of a gifted individual who possesses a wonderful memory for certain subjects. All in all, Im Ciaron Anderson and no one else. Its all good who I am.