Reading the book "Population One" by Tyler McNamer has brought back a flood of memories from my high school days. I knew I was awkward, but I had no idea about my autism at that time.
So while it's fresh on my brain, I wanted to talk about those days. It turns out that most of my high school memories surround my time in band and playing the trombone. Don't worry, I've never been to band camp!
But there are three distinct chunks of my high school band days that I recall, which also demonstrate my autistic struggles: 1) lunchtime and social awkwardness vs. practicing my trombone in a quiet cozy little room, 2) working toward going to state (and the strange and secret motivation that got me there which no one knew about because of my lack of verbalizing my ideas), and 3) the toxic environment that autistic people can be more susceptible to, and my budding leadership skills that came out of my special interest and allowed me to rise above the stress and trauma that surrounded me.
