I’m autistic, but I didn’t really have any of the classic autistic struggles in childhood

I often hear that autistic kids struggle with social connection and have a hard time in school, but that wasn’t my experience as a kid. I had plenty of friends, didn’t have specific routines I needed to follow, and spoke and used language at a typical age. I also engaged in imaginative play and generally didn’t face the challenges that are often associated with autism in childhood.

However I did have some traits like sensory insensitivity to noise, heightened anxiety, and slightly delayed gross motor skills.

I began struggling a bit as a pre-teen. And in my teens, everything came crashing down. I started feeling constantly stressed and overwhelmed, developed an eating disorder, and isolated myself. Eventually, I dropped out of school. I still had friends at the time, but I was so depressed and burned out that those friendships just fizzled out. I was diagnosed with autism at 16.

That was when I really started noticing how effortless social interactions—and life in general—seemed for other people. I became jealous of how easily they could manage things without burning out. That’s when I started feeling different.

I’m just wondering does anyone else relate to this experience?