A 2010 About Me, Re~Do

In researching some of my relatives, i came across an old Facebook post i had written, as an appeal for help, in early 2010. Rather than just delete it, i’m going to repost it here and on my WordPress, only without the awful ableistic language i used back then, well, because, i did not know what i know now about my autism, and i was searching for support and community. I was scared, still new to Facebook, and still not yet woken about so many things, so i used functioning labels, because i just didn’t know any better.
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Below is my old appeal, because it is still too well-written to just delete and forget about, only no ableistic language this time!

[CW for some ableist slurs.]

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Not The Cr**y Lady Of Mean Bully Monster Street!!!!
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Hi–my name is Melissa. I only began to reach out on Facebook to tell my story of horror that happened to me around the holidays. (And now as i re-write this, it is 2019, and i forgot what that horrible was, and will have to find time to go back in my blogs and revisit my old post.) Basically, i am an autistic adult, 49 yrs. old, going on 50, who has never been able to work or fulfill any of her lifelong dreams and goals. (I am now almost 59 years old.)
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Also a new re-write to this, I live in a neighborhood that is mixed residential and light industrial. I have had to live here since May of 1991, and it has been sheer hell for me. I have never been able to work bc of my disabilities, so i have been living trapped in an unhealthy environment full of bullies who make it their mission to torment me almost on a daily basis, by making the very noises they know trigger me. The noises include: Loud banshee style man yells, cussing at me, calling me names, (even the r word), loud sustained horn honking, louder than F engine revving, and turning their bass filled music up so loud my entire house vibrates and shakes. Stuff i cannot just unhear.
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And, they do this right in front of my house.
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Some of my history….

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From Spring of 1976 up to April of 1992, my only problems were that i was firstly in high school, wanting a way to be able to pursue my dreams of becoming an actress and an FM rock radio deejay, then, after high school, a way for me to get off of the gov’t aid i was on, so i could be able to learn how to drive, get my own car, go to work and have a self-sufficient and productive life–and then, hopefully,–i’d be able to fulfill my dreams and goals.
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My big problems with ppl taunting me and being cruel to me, were a thing of my past, or so i thought. That all occured during my early childhood and my school years, between years K thru 4th grade–it stopped in 4th grade, when i happened to go to a school that had nice kids who liked me….and then resumed again, in earnest, when my family and i moved to the country, and my 5th grade resumed being a nightmare again, with the kids being viciously cruel to me again. My 5th thru 8th grade years remained very painful..and my first two years of high school–were more of the same. I had family problems too, with mean brothers and mean sisters, all being mean and insensitive to my being different, too. I gained relief after high school, when these mean brothers and sisters moved out on their own, got married and began having families of their own. In the spring and summer of ’76, before my junior year of high school, i learned to cope by developing a silly goofy personality that my brothers and sisters all seemed to like. In other words, i learned how to mask my “differentness”.
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I never knew i was autistic. My mom always called my disability a “perceptual handicap”. 3 months into first grade, i was put into EH classes for the emotionally handicapped, and i stayed in those classes until 4th grade, when i went to a nice school where the kids and teachers were both nice to me.
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In 1981, i began to seek out pen pals who liked the same music i did–which was album-oriented rock, progressive rock, hard rock, heavy metal and new wave music. I LOOOVED the music of the late ’70’s and all of the ’80’s!!! I had sooooo much HOPE for my life in these days!!!!!!!!
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Finally, in late 1987, my parents were financially able to afford to rent a small granny unit behind a bigger house for me so that i could be back in town again. This worked out great for me for the next 3 1/2 years, because i lived in a nice quiet residential neighborhood, where my neighbors were all nice–including the two old ladies who lived in the front house, Winnie and Joyce. They, as well as their family, and their church, all took me under their wings-and i blossomed even further, as a result!!
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I was finally able to learn how to drive and i got my driver’s license and my grandmother’s car, in 1990. After this, i moved Heaven and Earth to try to get myself up and out of my rut. In 1991, however, my father, who had already had a stroke in 1989, had to also have major heart surgery–and i was forced to move here to–Mean Bully Monster Street. Because, my sister Mona owned a duplex here. So–i moved to one of the little cottages, next door to a girl who was 21 years old.
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I continued to do great living here in the little cottage next door to me—for the next 10 months. I got along great with Molly–(not her real name)— and her friends–until Molly had one of those friends move in with her in April of 1992. Immediately after that, i began to be treated to shrill loud bubblegum pop music, with a huge megabass loudspeaker, aimed right at my house—and the battle was on. This was happening like clockwork, every single afternoon when Molly’s friend would come home from work. She would come inside their little studio apartment–and immediately, up would go the pop music–drowning out my rock music and my TV, to where i could not enjoy them. And–they were nasty about it. They would say that they were going to turn it down, telling me and my mom that it wouldn’t be a problem anymore–but they would turn right around and turn it right back up just as loudly, after two or three days again. In addition, they stopped being friendly to me right after Molly moved her friend in with her–something that i have always hated—-to have ppl hating me!!
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I regressed BIGTIME–yes, it was me being back to having full-on screaming meltdowns just like the ones i had when i was a child and teenager again–because i was back to being taunted again, just like when i grew up with the mean schoolkids, and mean siblings. At the time, i felt like an utter failure as a person because i was having meltdowns again. I felt HUMILIATED—-because at that point in time, i felt like i was all wrong and defective, and i had spent so much energy working hard to get PAST all my painful growing-up years!!!!! I did not realize till much later on in life that this was internalized ableism, the thinking of myself as wrong and defective. But this was, sadly, what my family and society wanted me to be so i could fit in. And still, today, in 2019, many neurotypicals and non-disableds feel like being autistic and disabled is all wrong, all bad. And that we need to be fixed, cured, and healed and “in recovery”.
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And, the past (now, 28 years) i have paid a million fold, because i got noticed for having those meltdowns—by all the other meanies who lived and worked on this street—-and most still live and work here, as of now, March 2019. The rest you all pretty much know about–and i have told this story in full, in my blogs, both on WordPress, and Blogspot.
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I am here, because i feel that i am now near death because of my circumstances. And i feel so now more than ever, as i re-write this in 2019. Because i am now on kidney dialysis.
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Yes. This has greatly affected my physical health. My health began going downhill the first week of Molly having her mean friend there playing the louder than F music right into my living room every fucking afternoon.
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Back when i was still in what i thought to be my happy bubble—-when i still lived on Happy Street next to the 2 kind old ladies—i began to write appeal letters to a rich aunt and uncle—-because his wife is my late father’s sister–to ask for a small trust fund i could live on, so that i could have the freedom to get the help i needed so that i could do things to better my life without me having to fear being penalized by Social Security and then being totally knocked off my benefits-and then, if things didn’t work out, i wouldn’t have to face the very real risk that ppl have of not being able to get their benefits back.

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Well–in the beginning, my aunt would read my letters—and my aunt would always call my mom to discuss my plight—and she would always ask my mom lots and lots of questions about me, as if she was genuinely concerned about me.
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I would get my hopes up so high everytime that i would get a letter and the money i was asking for.
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It resulted in me once getting $300 from her to help pay for some car repairs i needed. Then, in 1994, i began to write asking my Aunt if i could be in my uncle’s TV commercials–so i could earn money that way. I also asked if she would help me to get my artwork, stories and poetry published so i could make money through my creative endeavors. I also asked for help with the dental care that i needed that Medi-Cal would not cover at the time, to help save some of my teeth. (This is why my teeth are now really bad). Her heart had already grown hardened against me now—for no reason at all—so–her answer to all of this–was a loud, resounding “NO!!!!” To my mom, she said “No–she cannot be in her uncle’s commercials because of this and this and that—no–i won’t help her with her dental care or her therapy–or anything!!!!”
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She went onto say to my mother that:
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“Melissa just needs to be satisfied with what she gets from the government aid programs–make the best of things as they are, and just tighten her belt and not have cable TV or a car or music or books or magazines, etc. She needs to just count her blessings that she has gov’t aid–and leave me alone!!!”
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I stopped writing those letters for awhile–and then began writing them again. Then, my father passed away in February of 2000. Shortly after that, she began just throwing my letters away. She told my mother she was doing this, in one of her phone calls to her–and my mom, appalled, asked her to just please send them to her, and she would keep them for me in a file. The aunt complied–and so now, when i write to her–my mother gets the letter–unopened. I finally began writing to my uncle in 2007 and 2008. As a result, my aunt sent another small amount to my mother on Christmas of 2007–“For Melissa’s care.” I was finally able to buy a computer for the first time ever–and pay off a bunch of debts i had, with this money. (I have now stopped writing this aunt. But i now have numerous dreams where i am talking to her. In some of the dreams she is actually nice to me, in others, she is stern and cold, and acts lie she hates my guts.)
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During another period where i was doing >alittle< bit better, my parents and two of my sisters, their families and my little brother and his family–all moved to Idaho. I stayed behind, b/c i now had a kind cop helping me–and the support of a bunch of kind ppl in a Christian Singles group that i was into from 1996 thru early 2000. My goal was now to move to Arroyo Grande, where i could be close to all of my Christian singles friends..so i could finally be away from this nightmare street, once and for all!!!!
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That didn’t happen–again, b/c i am on Section 8–and you cannot find a decent place on govt aid. Plus–again–if i were to move–and it were to not work out–and i had to move BACK here–my mom could no longer rent to me on Sec. 8, b/c of their new rules that do not allow ppl to rent from family members. In 1997, my sister was going to put this duplex up for sale, and my mother bought them so i wouldn’t face being possibly homeless for the first time in my life.
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My street problems continue to be downright unbearable–EXCRUCIATINGLY UNBEARABLE–at times.
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I have switched my days and nights around NUMEROUS times during the past 28 years, to cope with this.
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I have also learned to sleep with loud white noise, loud music, and loud TV–to cover the noise and the harassments and tauntings from the bullies.
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I have to be very careful how and when i leave my house. Now that i have caregivers, it is easier for me, much easier.
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Sometimes things aren’t so bad. But–the majority of the time–it is.
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Alot of ppl will say things such as: “Oh, you just need to ignore the bullies and they will stop,” or “You need to stop letting them have this power over you.”
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With my autism the way it manifests–this is WAY impossible to do–b/c i do not have to filters to be able to do that—-this is truly the kind of stuff that i am NOT able to ignore–especially when it involves men actually BANSHEE-yelling at me, laying VERY loudly on their car horns, playing with their car alarm systems, yelping at me, cat-calling, calling me “Fat, fucking [r word] bitch”,–AND—the UN-GODLY way they will just SCREAM, ROAR, AND SCREECH thru here with their already loud, modified hot rods, motorcycles, SUV’s, pickups, sports cars, sports motorcycles, muscle cars, and etc.
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I DO try to find happiness even in spite of the way things are. I am only posting these notes and letters on here to get help and relief–and also to educate people that this is a VERY real and pervasive issue for autistic children and adults!!!! Most people don’t understand that our sensory issues are a real thing that needs to be accomodated. This is where i have to live until i finally find a way to break free from here, and the bullies are continuing to make it a living hell for me, because they refuse to take this seriously. I’m not asking them to stop doing their work. I am asking for the tauntings and harassment so stop.
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Some of the things i would like to try are being able to film/document what’s going on on my street and post it to YouTube. I do have one story sort of written about my life–with pictures. (I do now have a YouTube channel….just Google Melissa Fields Autistic, and you will find my blogs and YT channel.)
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I just want relief from this pit already—i think that being here for 28 long years is enough, on top of now knowing i could die soon from my kidney disease–that is why i am here.
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Thank you for listening and for getting this and for being my friends, those of you who are my friends. God bless you all!!!!
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Love,
Melissa

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Postscript to the above post, which was written in February 2010….i still live here, and last June was hospitalized for three weeks, and diagnosed with end stage (stage 5) kidney disease. I have been on kidney hemodialysis ever since June 19th 2018.
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The employees of the auto shop still torment me almost daily.
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In 2005, i developed lymphedma in both my legs, where fluid builds up in a person’s arms, legs, etc., nd they swell up, and my physical health has kept on declining since then, to where i had to stop driving in 2012, and had to start relying on in home caregivers.
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Being autistic, most non-autistics do not get autistic people, our triggers, our challenges, etc., and as a result, most of my caregiver experiences have only added to my agony. In March 2014, i wrote a six part series on several of the abusive caregivers i endured from 2012 through 2014.
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I was diagnosed as being autistic at age 4, but did not know this until i was 39, when an actual therapist i was seeing at that time, diagnosed me as having what was called Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of “high-functioning” autism, their words, not mine, because i now know functioning labels are bogus AF.
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It was only when i came onto Facebook and met people like Tricia Kenney, Sharon Da Vanport, Heather Farley, Emily Titon, etc., that i got woke. Until then i thought i was the broken one, and that i was all wrong. And i sadly, grew up with that ableistic mindset. Because that was what got drilled into me by my own family, and the schools i went to.
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Being autistic is not the problem; the problem lies in when most of society keeps insisting we are behavior problems and puzzle pieces that are to be controlled, scolded, lectured, fixed, solved, and worse yet, cured. Even worse? When Charismatic Christians want to lay hands on me and “pray my autism away.” Ummm, miss me with that trope, thank you.
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Autistic people are born autistic, and are going to die being autistic, so please listen and learn from us, instead of fighting us.