At first I was diagnosed with Selective Mutism (SM). I was not comfortable speaking to other people other than in my home environment. It was hard for me to verbalize what I needed at the time. I have overcome it with a lot of practice and determination, and great people that would understand. I have seen other stories on YouTube with SM seem to overcome which seems to be that you can outgrow SM. By eleventh grade something changed for me and I started to speak more with my teachers and in the classroom if I felt comfortable. I also have anxiety, which I still have today and I see myself with OCD anxiety because I experience intrusive thoughts that my mind consumes which causes anxiety.
I was more open to sharing my experience because it felt good to help others and get things off your chest when you constantly consume yourself with the thoughts about how things came to be. I asked the principal of my school if I could give a little message to my graduating class. I happened to be able to do it and I shared my inspiration and that I had High Functioning Autism. I cried when I gave the message because I was nervous, but I felt better after giving the message.
I was finally diagnosed with autism after extensive amounts of testing when I was young. I went to a lot of appointments that my mom took me to. She wanted to help me so I could pursue my dreams and possibly not be trapped in my own body relying on other people for help. I went to a place which trains your brain. I did other services like neurofeedback, play therapy, PT, OT, and Speech Therapy. I met many people along the way that helped me where I am today.
I also on top of that lost my step dad when I was 8 yrs old. (I knew him when I was 3 to 4 yrs old.) After I lost him, it was hard for me and I regressed. I forgot how to do some things that I knew how to do before. I finally can do them again, but that was my way at the time of processing what happened. I don’t know why that happened but I’m glad I am able to live a happy life without major struggles in my daily life that I came to overcome.
-Chastain
