How can I act normal?

Apparently I was diagnosed with a form of autism when I was young. Now that didn't affect me a lot, but it did affect my social, speaking and listening skills.

I'm currently 14 and I still need help. I thought now is the time to get help from people online and try to change myself. One problem is the fact I speak fast, and people take the mick out of it. And when they repeat it to me again and again, I don't know what to say back at them and that makes me look like a fool. I blame myself, but how can I stop it?

And the way I act, it's sort of unusual in the way that I don't have a phone, I overreact, and I'm embarrassed at things that I shouldn't be embarrassed by. Also, the way i'm scared of a lot of things. Another point is the fact that i'm afraid to try new things, such as food. When I was very young it didn't seem like it was a problem, I wasn't afraid of many things for that age and I was keen to try new things but that changed.

And I have a bad habit of daydreaming in lessons. I want to try to stop and pay attention, whether or not the lesson is interesting because there's no way i'll ever learn. I also want to solve the fact I have very little good friends. I have loads others, but either they don't talk to me very much, or they've caused me problems in the past, such as peer pressure. I think it's the way I act that many people find me irritating and it's not someone they'd want to be friends with.

I also appear to be quiet in lessons, not in terms of talking to people on my table, but in terms of answering questions or contributing to class discussions, like for example, the teacher asks a question and everyone has their hands up. I think I know the answer in my head but am unsure if it's right so I don't put my hand up, and when someone does answer it, it does in fact turn out to be correct.

And what about peer pressure? People are asking me to punch them for fun, just to 'test my strength' even though I don't want to. And people ask me to do something bad to someone else, and which i'm also reluctant to do due to the fact that the person who asked me to do it may become moody. Or even asking me to swear at someone else which I also don't want to do.

A major issue is the fact that I stay way too long on the computer every day. On a typical school day, I may be on for a few minutes in the morning, 20 minutes at lunch time when I come home for dinners, an hour after school and two hours before bed. My parents always warn me that this is bad for my eyesight, but I also try my hardest to stay off it, it's hard for me to find something better to do, especially when there's nothing decent on TV or games, weather's bad, there's in fact nothing to play with in my garden except for my bike which I usually ride outside because there's more space there, so how do I solve this?

I know autism is going to stay with me my whole life but I want to act like I don't have it, to avoid mockery if you put it that way, and to gain confidence and respect.

Some people may say 'why would you rather be like the other billions of people in the world?', well being different as a person isn't always a good thing.

So hopefully you people out there can help.

The big problem with hanging labels like 'autistic' on people is there is no way for them to separate what is normal and what is due to their condition. Lots of young people talk fast, all of us had a daydreaming problem in school and most people your age spend too much time on the computer. All of those things say you are perfectly normal. If you look around at the other people in your school, you will find they are all different. The way to judge the effect of your autism is in your performance in school.

If you are doing OK in school, my advice is to just be your natural self and forget that label. If you are having problems, try your best to identify the specific problems you're having, deal with them as individual issues and get help with them.

"Normal" is a term that simply describes the way most of us are like an average. The fact is, all of us have areas that are outside the norm. Regardless of what label society puts on our differences, the key is to understand what your differences are and do your best to maximize the positive and eliminate the negative.

I would also add that you write better than at least 90 percent of the people who ask questions on this site. You are on the right track, just don't make autism a blanket reason for every problem you have.

Honestly, behavior wise, you sound like a younger version of me. When it comes to people making fun of you, I would say simply ignore you. I know that it's easier to say that than it is to actually do that. It's high school, in my opinion, the worst years of life. Like Rob stated though, it's the timid quiet kids that go on to do great things in life. The ones that say things about you will end up regret saying everything, because you will more than likely end up their boss.

You mayyy have a teeensy bit of Dyslexia, I'm not sure. Dyslexia is where you can really concentrate that much. Especially when people talk to you. I'm not sure but, what are your interests? Also, what do you do on the computer, you don't have to respond I'm just trying to help :) And, who's everyone?


~Will