Hello! (Part 1)

My Sister & I (1983)

 And welcome to my blog! It’s been quite a long time since I last blogged - about anything! But I’m hoping to do this in tandem with my TikTok account. Sometimes there are things that need more clarification than what I can express orally within a 1-3 minute video.

I struggle with communication. I’m much more able to communicate in writing, than I can expressing myself verbally. 

So where to start? I guess an in-depth introduction?

I was born in 1980, in a then-small town next to an elder couple who we adopted as family. My mother was 7 months pregnant with me when my elder sister was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We moved into Toronto to have easier access to Sick Kids for my sister when I was three. Unfortunately, my sister would succumb to her disease. We moved to a suburb of Toronto until I was 9. Then we moved to the city my parents and I currently live in. 

My parents had no clue I was disabled when they raised me. It’s not like Google existed, & autism was considered a boys-only disorder. I was hyperlexic in both French and English, so it seemed to most people I was quite intelligent & precocious. Problems at school began in grade 4, with the introduction of more difficult maths. 

I had been in the enrichment program, but my struggles in math caused me to be removed from the program. I was devastated by that. My parents & teachers could not explain why there was such a discrepancy between my verbal and nonverbal skills. I couldn’t communicate I was struggling. Non Verbal Learning Disability was not known among schools. Just like how kids with ADHD got yelled at for “acting out”, I was yelled at for being “lazy” by my teachers.

This is where I will leave it for tonight - had insomnia & now I’m finally feeling sleepy. Good night!