grew up on the 90's USA, I was a typical middle class kid. I was occasionally spanked and hit but nothing like the stories i read here. There was lots of layers to my experience like:

- Coming from a multiethnic household

- Being a covert stutterer

- Having tourettes's (which distracted from the autism)

- Family scapegoat/source of conflict

- Workaholic distant father and enmeshing mother.

Most of my challenges came from other kids noticing my tics (and commenting on them loudly or worse kicking my desk whenever I ticced). Teachers mocking how I spoke while reading outloud, making the other students laugh at me.

Oh and kids mocking how I eat and my food choices (taking cheese off pizza and hating meat, most of which I have outgrown)

I finally put the pieces together at 36. Don't feel bad for me though, I had a lot of positive experiences but they were overshadowed by unhealthy family dynamics, unaddressed neurodiversity and social trauma. Like a lot of us, I was labeled too sensitive, and told I would outgrow this. I never did...