Was diagnosed with Asperger's in Year 2 (aged 6). I'm now reaching the end of Sixth-Form and am heading off to a Russell League University (leaders in research in the UK pretty much) next year.

• I was bullied a lot before entering secondary school. I don't believe it was because I was autistic and they were picking on me to make fun of it, I think it was more because I was very vulnerable and never would have thought of fighting back. It was to the point where I lost many of my old friends (all female, I'm a guy).
• Thankfully since then I've made a lot more friends who are all really supportive of me. It's very difficult for me to express how I feel, even through body language or anything like that. A moment that sticks in my head is when we were told at school of the suicide of my best friend the night before. I couldn't express myself then and, despite being around friends who understood, I still felt very guilty.
• As a result of the bullying and losing my friends, I found it very difficult for me to develop my emotional intelligence and so I'm still learning about interactions and what I can and can't do. Luckily, I made friends with the best people (and my dog, who my parents adopted 3 years ago, probably not seeing how much he'd mean to me). It really can feel like you're alone in everything, but there's always my interests, and my friends (and my dog) to help keep me independent.