Get an insight into my lifelong struggle being an undiagnosed autistic with Charlotte Bergslien
Vivalicious Food @ 2023-08-31 10:03:20 +0200
Charlotte's word:
Hi my name is Charlotte and my alter ego is The Spectrum Girl 🍭 I adopted the colorful lollipop as a part of my brand because it shows that a Spectrum is not linear. I was born in 1982, 40 yrs old soon to be 41 and I am Autistic and have AD(H)D as well, except I didn’t know this about myself until recently. I was diagnosed with ASD officially at 38 (and with adhd after)
My entire life was spent feeling like I was on the outside of everything looking in
I knew quite early that I was different from the rest, I just didn’t know in what way. There were others like me but they weren’t as good at hiding or masking it as me. Those were mostly boys.
My peers didn’t invite me to parties unless I was hyper vigilant about what was going on and hovered around people until they had no other choice but to invite me too.
I was the kid that was always picked last in school sports and other team related activities.
I spent much of my school recess time walking around the school yard avoiding being seen alone, and avoiding the confusing social situations
If girls wanted to play with Barbies I struggled to follow the playing, I always found it so boring and just really wanted an excavator for the sandbox instead.. But I didn’t dare tell that to anyone as it was a toy for boys, back then.
I loved to read my mamas school books (she was studying to become a nurse) and the human body medical books she had were the best. Pictures of gouging wounds and stitches, body parts, different diseases and a deformed fetus that did not survive the Chernobyl disaster was super fascinating to me.The big cat encyclopedia and National Geographic documentaries were also great fun, I especially enjoyed A documentary about fish auctions in Tsukiji market in Tokyo. This was from age 7. I got a microscope once and loved it so much, all though it wasn’t very advanced. I also had a magician kit I liked because of the problem solving. But playing house with dolls or barbies were never my cup of tea. I never understood the appeal of what was seen as typical girls interests.
My entire life was spent feeling like I was on the outside of everything looking in
I knew quite early that I was different from the rest, I just didn’t know in what way. There were others like me but they weren’t as good at hiding or masking it as me. Those were mostly boys.
My peers didn’t invite me to parties unless I was hyper vigilant about what was going on and hovered around people until they had no other choice but to invite me too.
I was the kid that was always picked last in school sports and other team related activities.
I spent much of my school recess time walking around the school yard avoiding being seen alone, and avoiding the confusing social situations
If girls wanted to play with Barbies I struggled to follow the playing, I always found it so boring and just really wanted an excavator for the sandbox instead.. But I didn’t dare tell that to anyone as it was a toy for boys, back then.
I loved to read my mamas school books (she was studying to become a nurse) and the human body medical books she had were the best. Pictures of gouging wounds and stitches, body parts, different diseases and a deformed fetus that did not survive the Chernobyl disaster was super fascinating to me.The big cat encyclopedia and National Geographic documentaries were also great fun, I especially enjoyed A documentary about fish auctions in Tsukiji market in Tokyo. This was from age 7. I got a microscope once and loved it so much, all though it wasn’t very advanced. I also had a magician kit I liked because of the problem solving. But playing house with dolls or barbies were never my cup of tea. I never understood the appeal of what was seen as typical girls interests.
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