Are You An Autistic Ab/dl? (confidental Poll!)

[AutieAB]

Ok, here goes. I've been meaning to post this for ages but kept putting it off. It's no secret on DailyDiapers that I'm autistic. It's in my username (which contrary to popular belief does not contain an 'n', as many people seem to read it ), it's in my signature and I've mentioned it a few times in a couple of threads. People who knew what to look for, saw it. But it's come to my attention in my seven months or so on DD, that I'm not the only autistic ABDL around here, far from it...

In fact, given how many I know there to be amongst DailyDiapers' core 400-or-so posters, I'd say that there's a statistically unlikely amount of us here. Which begs the question, are autistic people more likely to be AB or DL than the general population? (or vice-versa?)

So would anyone care to pipe up and join me in the non-socially-demanding autie thread? Obviously participation in this poll can be entirely confidential. You can check the Yes box without anybody knowing that you did so but if you want to comment, please do - I'm eager to get some discussion going

---

Me first, I guess it's only fair. My story is fairly typical. I was the odd kid at school, I was different but no one knew why (least of all, me!). As anyone who posts under me will probably say too, I was bullied mercilessly from my first day at school to my last because I was the awkward, social-misfit kid that hides in the back of the classroom hoping the world won't notice them. Whilst I was academically very capable, my work and behaviour suffered, I got in trouble and I was assessed (endlessly!) and eventually they decided I have AS. I spent time in care and 4 years of my early- to mid-teens in a residential special school fifty miles from home. I often feel like I didn't have much of a childhood.

As an adult, I struggle a great deal with social interactions. I actively seek to avoid social engagement in the real world (pubs, parties, friends, etc). At least 75% of the time, I misinterpret or or miss altogether the non-verbal cues of people outside my immediate family & fiancée. I have to think so consciously to understand whether someone is being serious or joking, annoyed at me or annoyed at a situation, being friendly or creeping after something, etc, etc that I'll often tune-out the words being said to me to compensate. Not much point in that, then . I don't make an ass of myself as much as I used to but that's mainly through avoidance than learning/improvement in my social abilities. When I do engage socially, either through obligation or necessity, I can't keep it up for long because it costs too much. I'm currently considered unfit for work and receive disability benefits.

Finding diapers and later my AB side kept me sane. It's how I cope as a square peg being bashed daily into a round hole.

AutieAB

[Sunshine2585]

I'm not autistic. But I wanted to point out that in the poll on here, you can't submit your vote unless you have voted in all the questions. So you are either going to get non-autistic people voting in the last two questions, or you are going to get no votes for non-autistic people.

[Guest]

i have 5 little brothers, the oldest one has asperger syndrome, and the 3rd oldest has autism

[AutieAB]

I'm not autistic. But I wanted to point out that in the poll on here, you can't submit your vote unless you have voted in all the questions. So you are either going to get non-autistic people voting in the last two questions, or you are going to get no votes for non-autistic people.

Oh well. Poll options are locked once you submit the post and you don't get to preview the poll so I guess I screwed that some.

To be honest though, that doesn't matter too much - I guess that while discussion is obviously invited, perhaps non-autistic people could refrain from voting in the poll itself to avoid skewing any stats that may (or may not) be generated.

[baby_tommy]

Yep, and by the way I love the links in your sig! It really pisses me off when people go on about that Autism Speaks rubbish! Voted .

[AutieAB]

Yep, and by the way I love the links in your sig! It really pisses me off when people go on about that Autism Speaks rubbish! Voted .

Thanks for posting. Also thanks to the others who answered the poll.

Yes, it's fair to say that I'm not exactly filled with admiration for Autism Speaks... I find their ultimate goal (a pre-natal test for ASDs akin to the situation with Downs' Syndrome) to be utterly abhorrent as well as the way they portray us in the media.

I'm pleasantly surprised to find a little subgroup of autistic people here. Given the size of DD, it's obvious there's going to be some here but it's nice to know that I'm not going nuts when I started thinking there seem to be rather a lot

[enfant]

I feel a kinship with autistic people (being the father of one, and possibly the husband of another, though she never received a formal diagnosis). I was an odd, geeky, socially-inept sort of kid, too, but I only meet a couple of the diagnostic criteria for an autistic spectrum disorder. Personally, though, I think the "autism spectrum" includes everyone; we're all on it somewhere. I happen to be closer to the so-called "normal" end of the spectrum, and my son is more toward the "autistic" end... but really, the differences between him and other kids are a lot like the ones I had, just a little more intense.

Interestingly, a while ago I saw a study about sexual behavior among institutionalized autistic adults, and apparently a substantial portion of them--I want to say 25%, but it might even have been more--had some kind of fetish. I don't know if anyone has ever studied whether there's a correlation between fetishism and autism in the wider world, but it's an interesting question.

I've sometimes written, here and elsewhere, about how I was a "little professor" type when I was little, always trying to use long words and seem more adult than I really was, and it's interesting to me how often other infantilists chime in and say they were the same way. Well, that "little professor" behavior is often seen with milder forms of autism. Maybe it's just that the infantilists I know are all computer people, so there's a sampling bias... but on the other hand, maybe there really is a connection.

[rickibrat2]

autism spectrum

over the years i fel it has grown to encompass many more then should be under the heading

i can remember back in the early 70 working in a autistic children's unit unit at a state hospital, and could nor believes the number of the illness would go away as they reached adulthood.

even dr's felt the same way back then it seemed,over the years the system has changed a lot but still has a long ways to go as far as meeting the needs of children and adults in schools and living independently.

the school would rather work with a child that was MR/DD then autistic it seems, o told them years ago my grand son was autistic and they kept saying no is is DD or retarded but you do not see those actions in a retarded person.

but he lives with his father and his daddys mommy, who both are always putting him down telling him he will never amount to any thing, which i feel is a big mistake.

the one thing he loved more then anything about school was music in 6 months he had mastered all the woodwind instruments the school had and even did special performance's for other groups, till his dad decide his grades were not what they should be and took him out of music

he has his own voice but most of the time he will talk like a cartoon person

but over the years i have worked with many children and adults with it and few can understand the pain they feel from the bodys over reaction to in put of sound or light or even clothing touching there bodys

[AutieAB]

I feel a kinship with autistic people (being the father of one, and possibly the husband of another, though she never received a formal diagnosis). I was an odd, geeky, socially-inept sort of kid, too, but I only meet a couple of the diagnostic criteria for an autistic spectrum disorder. Personally, though, I think the "autism spectrum" includes everyone; we're all on it somewhere. I happen to be closer to the so-called "normal" end of the spectrum, and my son is more toward the "autistic" end... but really, the differences between him and other kids are a lot like the ones I had, just a little more intense.

I agree entirely. And it's where that boundary line lies that's one of the trickiest questions to answer. If you look back 50 or 60 years, only the most non-verbal, sitting-in-the-corner-lining-up-toys type of people got a diagnosis. The prevalence of autism was thought to be around 5 in 10,000. Jump forward to the 1980s and early 90s, suddenly people started taking notice of Hans Asperger's works of the 40s when Lorna Wing translated them into English [link] and suddenly people realised that the verbal delays, upon which diagnosis was entirely dependant at the time, is in fact, only present in the minority of cases. Suddenly the floodgates open for all those people who knew they were different and who deep down, knew it was autism but couldn't get any acknowledgement because they spoke at age two as predicted. Today, the prevalence of autism & associated labels is around the 1 in 200 mark, a ten-fold increase on 50 years ago.

Of course, that has lead directly to the current claims of an autism 'epidemic' and the desperate bid to find something to blame (MMR, et al) by short-sighted people who can't see that genuine incidences of autism are steady and it's the proportion of affected people who have been diagnosed, which is up. Obviously they have no idea what it feels like to be referred to so publicly as an epidemic, a scourge on society, a drain on public resources, etc, etc. Does wonders for one's self esteem, I can tell you!

The other thing that's pushed up diagnostic rates amongst adults, is parents seeing their own children diagnosed, suddenly understand themselves in a whole new light

Interestingly, a while ago I saw a study about sexual behavior among institutionalized autistic adults, and apparently a substantial portion of them--I want to say 25%, but it might even have been more--had some kind of fetish. I don't know if anyone has ever studied whether there's a correlation between fetishism and autism in the wider world, but it's an interesting question.

Yes, I know. There's a popular autism newsgroup of which I am a contributor and the subject of sexuality comes up from time to time. The group isn't large enough to be considered truly indicative of autistic people in general but on that group, the normal 'spread' of sexual identities doesn't apply. There are more gay, bi and asexual people that you would expect (by quite some margin) and whilst there hasn't been a discussion that I've partaken in about fetishes specifically, I too suspect from comments made from time to time, that the rate is higher than the general population there too.

It's not a great stretch of the imagination to see that when many autistic kids spend their formative early teenage years isolated from their peers, it's not hard to see how they could latch onto an alternative sexuality (be it diapers for security or something else) rather than get involved in the social nightmare that is the high school dating scene and of course as we all know, once a fetish is established during teenage years, it's there for life.

I've sometimes written, here and elsewhere, about how I was a "little professor" type when I was little, always trying to use long words and seem more adult than I really was, and it's interesting to me how often other infantilists chime in and say they were the same way. Well, that "little professor" behavior is often seen with milder forms of autism. Maybe it's just that the infantilists I know are all computer people, so there's a sampling bias... but on the other hand, maybe there really is a connection.

I'm starting to wonder. Not in every case, of course, but I can see how it could happen and it does make an element of sense...

autism spectrum

over the years i fel it has grown to encompass many more then should be under the heading

Hmm... Can you expand on that some? I can't really agree with that.

Let me just say that when I say 'autism' or 'autistic' I mean anywhere on the spectrum because to me, the multitude of different labels for different flavours of autism these days are pointless and misleading. I describe myself as autistic, my diagnosis says AS. The difference between them diagnostically is the presence (autism) or not (AS) of a speech and language delay in early childhood. Hardly relevant in adulthood, is it? And the end result is you get stuck. Sooner or later, a child shows up at the psych's office who doesn't fit in any of the neat little pidgeon holes they defined for us - that's when you end up having to label people as having "PDD-NOS." It's very existence as a diagnostic label is evidence that the concept of 'different' autistic spectrum disorders is entirely flawed.

but over the years i have worked with many children and adults with it and few can understand the pain they feel from the bodys over reaction to in put of sound or light or even clothing touching there bodys

But please understand that the extreme sensory problems sometimes seen as characteristic of autism are only rarely present to that extent. Whilst it's true that most autistic people have some sensory weirdness of some description or another, we learn to cope with and compensate for them as we grow up and very few have those extreme reactions. Myself, I have slightly weird hearing. I can hear frequencies above the normal human audibility range. Things like those animal scaring devices that people put in their gardens to stop cats and dogs straying, most people can't hear them but I can. They oscillate in and out of my hearing range. Certain medicines can shift my entire hearing range down a bit, making the whole world sound a note or two flatter.

[nurse_lover]

I am a diaper lover, and have been diagnosed with aspergers as a child, as well as severe ADD. I have substantial tactile hypersensitivity, particularly with regards to hearing. When I started my job, I made sure to tell the guy two cubicles down that I can hear both sides of his telephone conversations, and my hearing test results have also always been off the charts. I have had several relationships end because I have issues with being touched, though Zoloft has been helping somewhat with my social anxiety issues. I used to have a lot of language issues, and was in special education programs for most of grammer school. Well, except for math and science, which I was 2 years ahead in. It took me years longer than everyone else to even grasp english. I was never socially "in" while in High school, and thats when I first started masturbating wearing like 6 pairs of cotton underpants. I think thats what planted the seed for becoming a diaper lover (well, that and wetting the bed into my late teens). It was not until college though when I first started wearing real diapers again.

[afireinside]

I was almost diagnosed with Aspergers when i was 5 years old because of my anti-social behaviour and my anxiety which caused me to be afraid to look people in the eyes.

I was however, diagnosed with social anxiety disorder instead.

[Guest LuvsPampers]

<Deep breath>

Ok, here goes. I've been meaning to post this for ages but kept putting it off. It's no secret on DailyDiapers that I'm autistic. It's in my username (which contrary to popular belief does not contain an 'n', as many people seem to read it ), it's in my signature and I've mentioned it a few times in a couple of threads. People who knew what to look for, saw it. But it's come to my attention in my seven months or so on DD, that I'm not the only autistic ABDL around here, far from it...

In fact, given how many I know there to be amongst DailyDiapers' core 400-or-so posters, I'd say that there's a statistically unlikely amount of us here. Which begs the question, are autistic people more likely to be AB or DL than the general population? (or vice-versa?)

So would anyone care to pipe up and join me in the non-socially-demanding autie thread? Obviously participation in this poll can be entirely confidential. You can check the Yes box without anybody knowing that you did so but if you want to comment, please do - I'm eager to get some discussion going

---

Me first, I guess it's only fair. My story is fairly typical. I was the odd kid at school, I was different but no one knew why (least of all, me!). As anyone who posts under me will probably say too, I was bullied mercilessly from my first day at school to my last because I was the awkward, social-misfit kid that hides in the back of the classroom hoping the world won't notice them. Whilst I was academically very capable, my work and behaviour suffered, I got in trouble and I was assessed (endlessly!) and eventually they decided I have AS. I spent time in care and 4 years of my early- to mid-teens in a residential special school fifty miles from home. I often feel like I didn't have much of a childhood.

As an adult, I struggle a great deal with social interactions. I actively seek to avoid social engagement in the real world (pubs, parties, friends, etc). At least 75% of the time, I misinterpret or or miss altogether the non-verbal cues of people outside my immediate family & fiancée. I have to think so consciously to understand whether someone is being serious or joking, annoyed at me or annoyed at a situation, being friendly or creeping after something, etc, etc that I'll often tune-out the words being said to me to compensate. Not much point in that, then . I don't make an ass of myself as much as I used to but that's mainly through avoidance than learning/improvement in my social abilities. When I do engage socially, either through obligation or necessity, I can't keep it up for long because it costs too much. I'm currently considered unfit for work and receive disability benefits.

Finding diapers and later my AB side kept me sane. It's how I cope as a square peg being bashed daily into a round hole.

AutieAB

<waits to see what happens>

Autie,

I wanted to reply to your post..... while doing a search on autism and aspergers i found your post on here. There is a new form of autism out there i've found out with AspergersPDD-NOS..... I was diagnosed with Aspergers as a teenager..... Here recently i've been also diagnosed with anxiety and ADHD as well..... Both of those go right along with autism.....

Is filled with all kinds of questions about autism/aspergers and some of the stuff that makes us tick..... I've been on a major search to try to find out some answers here lately...... I just keep running into a lot of dead ends.....

[Knuxie Fawks]

I'm not autistic, but I've never felt like other kids. Not gay, but just different. Growing up, I had few friends, and later, couldn't stand kids my age, and made friends with those half my age, and those years older than me. Little kids have an innocent, fun quality to them, while older kids are more mature and are susceptible to meaningful conversation.

[Guest dragonmaster4066]

my son was diagnosed autistic at the age of 2. now he is 20 and as far as i know has no ab/dl side. he lives here with me. and used to work at the same place i do. he is now looking for another job. he got laid off when work got slack. he is now labled aspergers. he is into video games alot. it helped alot with the early schooling.

[bigbabbyblue75]

I'm not but my girlfriend has AS, she more socal then me not that she very socal, but i unstand others better i think we get along so well becuse we are good at what the other are bad at. I never had friend growing up i was not bullyed becuse i was biger then all the other kids. i think i would have rather been bulyed a little then the kids runing away or acting like i was not there. i felt bad when i would go to a toy on the play ground and all the other kids whould stop playing and move to a new toy i felt like i was ruining everones fun so i start hiding and waching the other kids playing. i got in so much trubble hiding the teachers hated it. now that i older i still dont have friends other then on the computers.

Dont know if this help your pole but i still posted

[Pull-ups man]

I am not autiscit myself, but since Im fond of psychology, I have a friend that works in a medical clinic that helps people when they go through some kind of trauma or other emotionaly difficult experience. So I am going to be working with some people like this in the summer to get extra points on my CV and application for university.

[tris]

I guess everyone seems to describe their own 'autism' differently, and I'm no exception.

Typical to many autistics, I don't hear well (practically), although hearing tests between audiologist and doctor conflict widely. The doctor says my hearing is fine, and the audiologist says I need hearing aids. Granted, this was all nearly a decade ago, but having smoked a SERIOUS amount of pot since then, I've come to analyze and understand the things I was unable to at the time.

My 'autism' has its roots in my head. It starts with a continuous loop of thoughts and associations that courses strongly thru my mind. My internal monologue is the rails upon which the train slides. My focus defaults to what's going on inside my head, instead of what's going on around me. I have a tendency to get sidetracked easily, and for being well-above average intelligence, I'm rather scatterbrained and appear to be a nitwit until I speak, when it becomes obvious that I'm smarter than the room.

I too was a "Little Professor", but was also forced to interact with grownups on nearly every outing with my mother. For some reason I picked up on the trick of impressing adults (probably for attention) with my smooth-talking and cute smile. Mom's mantra of "Act grownup" really strangled the life out of my childhood, and I see it as a crucial contributing factor in who I am today, however, it was the fuel for routine that got me the attention I so desperately desired.

I don't fully believe that all disorders are strictly genetic or environmental. Anything can happen to ANYONE in this crazy dynamic world of ours.

[underwhere]

Okay. I'll start by saying that I am not autistic. Heck, I'm probably not even on the spectrum, though I do have some traits, I suppose. I often wonder if there is anybody who doesn't have a few traits though since the diagnostic criteria is rather wide-reaching being as you need to have X of this type of trait, and Y of that type of trait, and if you have enough of them, voila, you're autistic or asperger. However, because of my circumstances and life experiences, I seem to relate very well to people who are on the spectrum. I seem to share many of the same emotions, some of the same experiences, many of the same frustrations and difficulties.

In my own personal explorations, because of my own circumstances, (check out my blog which has only one entry here at the moment but, I hope, is rather informative) I've come into contact with a lot of people who are on the spectrum, many of whom share my specific difficulties with facial recognition. Others have reported the hearing "irregularities" (for lack of a better phrase) that some have reported here. If it is of interest to you, you might wish to do some research into Central Auditory Processing Disorder which, as I understand it since I do not have it, is sort of like experiencing the world with a megaphone piped directly into your ear, i.e., you can hear all of the sound but actually distinguish none, or relatively little, of it, especially in a place with a lot of background noise.

One e-mail list I was on a few years ago, which had a mostly ASD focus even though I was fortunate that it accepted people who were generally social misfits, had a sexuality forum. At that time, I was not interested or prepared to explore this aspect, the one that brings me to a place like this or other adult web sites, of myself. Here I am, a few years later, doing so not just on this site but on a few others as well, exploring not just my interest in AB/DL but in s&m/bdsm as well. I guess you could say its been a long time in coming for me being willing to accept this aspect of myself for what it is.

A little more about me, perhaps: I remember being interested in diapers from a very young age. I was also a social misfit in school. I had a lot of difficulty (still do, but as an adult I can control it better) with visual and cognitive overstimulation. Sometimes I wonder if my interest in the whole AB/DL thing has more to do with my desire to have relatively few, but extremely deep, social contacts with people. I understand that this is often something which many autistics report about their own social contacts as well.

I'm not sure what else I should add to this. Feel free to ask me anything here if something I have written seems to perk your interest for a broader explanation.

[justagirl4fun]

I've never been diagnosed with an ASD, but I've always felt odd, very unlike others my age. I came across an article about Asperger's a few months back and found I have quite a few traits of the disorder.

[DiaperBigBoy]

I'm not Autistic, and I can't ever say I know what it's like to be Autistic, but for a whole school year I was in a class with Autistic kids. They were all sever, the only reason I was in there, was my doctor was worried I would get hurt in Gym class physically. But I can't imagine being Autistic, or having Asperger's. Those people are the real heroes of this world

[leafy kille]

im an autie an aspie infact (aspergers, high functioning autism)

i got diagnosed at school at about 16. Also add at about 12 and disgraphia at 14.

i didnt have any seriously outstanding strengths but found math and science easy and spent most of my breaks and lunches in the library to avoid social playground situations.

Thus meaning that with a huge amount of studdying i just about managed to get gcse english grade c.

i was never good at conversations or social stuff and by the time i left high school i only knew about 10 people in the whole school by name!

My results where good enough for me to qualify to do a levels at grammer school and at that point the amount of bullying and stuff rapidly decreased. it was at that time that my dl side started to show and i was wearing openly (under clothes ofc!) during large periods of my university time. i did not finish uni and am now a builder (odly i make more as a builder than i would in the career i would have had if i had finished uni!!!) and wear about half the time, partly for convinience and partly for fun

[Chuck D.]

High-functioning autistic here, though many people I know say they never would've guessed the fact...the only noticable afflictions came in the form of a short attention span and limited social skills, which kept me out of the dating scene until about 8 years ago (though both have improved greatly over the years). Typically, if there's something I like, I'll end up memorizing a plethora of info about it (music, TV, world capitals, etc)...it kinda becomes an obsession for me.

Anyway, I wonder if there's something that ties the whole fetish thing into it..."vanilla" never really did anything for me, then I learned about the whole AB/DL thing and something about playing "daddy" to a cute girl in diapers just turned me on, which led me here. :-) The idea of a possible connection is def worth considering...

[justagirl4fun]

Typically, if there's something I like, I'll end up memorizing a plethora of info about it (music, TV, world capitals, etc)...it kinda becomes an obsession for me.

Wow, that sounds exactly like me.

[Nat]

I'm not but my girlfriend has AS, she more socal then me not that she very socal, but i unstand others better i think we get along so well becuse we are good at what the other are bad at. I never had friend growing up i was not bullyed becuse i was biger then all the other kids. i think i would have rather been bulyed a little then the kids runing away or acting like i was not there. i felt bad when i would go to a toy on the play ground and all the other kids whould stop playing and move to a new toy i felt like i was ruining everones fun so i start hiding and waching the other kids playing. i got in so much trubble hiding the teachers hated it. now that i older i still dont have friends other then on the computers.

Dont know if this help your pole but i still posted

He's talking about me

I was labeled as having autism when I was about 2 but my parents didn't buy it but they managed to keep the medical records and the IEP ones. The label pretty much dissapeared when I got to elementary school but it started to appear again when i got to sixth grade when my shrink suspected Aspergers. I got evaluated by a psychiatrist and did the tests which i don't remember and scored positive on the tests. I think I'm very mild.

I was worse as a kid though. I wanted everything my way, was inflexible, had problems fitting in with my friends, hated being touched or hugged but I loved being rubbed and having being cuddled and carried. I hated jeans. I also had odd behavior like I had to sleep with my clothes on and wear shoes to bed when I was four and five. I also had to take my Barbies with me everywhere I went, had to wear shoes as I watched Betty Boop. I did go on and on about the same stuff, had obsessions.

I also was very sensitive to sounds and noise even though my hearing is normal but people have told me I have good hearing. I think it's at the top of the normal hearing range. I can remember someone saying on here about the TVs that make that high pitch sound and only some people can hear it and some can't, is at the edge of the normal hearing range.

I can still hear those mosquito tones but maybe it's because I am still young.

I also had hearing loss when I was a baby so it made me speech delayed and sensitive to sounds. I was told I would have been a little professor, I would have talked on time and developed normally if I wasn't deaf when I was young so another reason why I was given the AS diagnoses instead. But my mother told me I still might have had a speech delay anyway if I wasn't deaf. So that make me HFA then.

But I don't have senses of an autistic anyway and I think my sense of smell is below average. Other people seem to smell better than me. They have smelled things I couldn't smell or I hardly noticed. I could smell it only if I breathed in the air through my nose. Plus I be the last person to notice the smell.

I have quite a lot of symptoms but I have outgrown some too and I am a lot better with changes and being flexible. Of course I get mad when my boyfriend wants to do something unexpectedly on my day off. I prefer to have things planned ahead of time before the day comes.

[babyjakey2]

the doctors say i have asbergers they for the longest time said i had adhd but i dont know cause im not really effected by them at all anymore and i havent taken medicine for adhd or any pycological medicine since i was in 7th grade im now going into my first year of community college so its been a time without medicine so ya.. im sorry your life sucks