I've never been diagnosed with autism, but I've always thought there
was something wrong with me. My family insists that I hardly ever
cried when I was a child (I am the oldest child--and therefore I was
the only child for a while--so my parents may or may not have been
aware of what was "normal" for a kid). I never played with toys or
used my imagination, not even as I got older. However, I had no
problem learning to speak and I was reading by age 3.

As I got older, however, other things emerged. I was a sterling
student, getting straight A's without effort. However, I could never
follow what was going on in class (I had, and still have, a hard time
following people when they're speaking to me). But it didn't seem to
matter. I could always do the work perfectly, as if I were born
understanding it; I never had to "learn" anything (this was true all
the way through college).

However, I wouldn't speak at all at school. It wasn't until several
years later that I ever made a friend at, or outside, school (of
course, it didn't help that I didn't "play" at recess). I've never
been social, but I'm definitely not "phobic." I've known a couple
people who have phobias about being around lots of people. I'm
clearly not phobic, as I have no fear or anxiety about being around
other people. However, I do have trouble engaging with people--having
a conversation with them, making eye contact, etc.

I've always been very, very literal-minded, to the point that it took
me three years to learn to drive because I couldn't understand that,
to turn the car 90 degrees, you had to turn the steering wheel MORE
than 90 degrees (why couldn't be exactly 90 degrees?). I could never
"get into" science fiction, cartoons, or anything that wasn't "real"
or couldn't possibly be "real." To this day, I still have to ask for
clarification when someone uses a colloquialism, though I'm a native
English speaker. I always had an issue with idioms in English, though
my vocabulary was always quite strong. I've gotten better with time,
but I still have difficulties with idiomatic English.

Additionally, I CANNOT STAND NOISE! At all. I carry earplugs around
with me in my purse. Nothing reduces me to tears faster than to have
to hear something for a prolonged amount of time. Noise is very
painful for me. The noise at the grocery store or mall (or any public
place for that matter) disorients me and I end up feeling like I'm
going to have a nervous breakdown or pass out. My husband--wonderful
man that he is--has caught on to my noise sensitivity (though I often
have to ask him to lower his voice when he speaks to me, even though
he's never yelling...but it's always too loud for me) and knows when I
need to move to a less stimulating environment.

There are more "symptoms" but I'll stop here. What do you think?
Could I be autistic?