I run into the problem of people think I am exaggerating all the time. Mostly because I use a lot of adjectives when I talk. However, often I try to let people know just the bare bones about my disabilities so that they don't freak out and call 911 if I have problems in public. I hate having to deal with an emergency team when I am close to non-responsive. Especially since they can do nothing for me and the standard things they do just make me worse.

People think I am joking when I tell them that it is no big deal that I fall to the floor paralyzed and can't respond for 5 minutes. Just leave me alone and I will be fine. At least they think I am joking until I fall to the floor and can't respond for 5 minutes...

For most people, they can't empathize with a problem they can't imagine. You can either spend a lot of time and energy explaining your issues in great detail to someone who may or may not be interested or you can let them come up with explainations on their own for your challenges. I prefer spending all that time and energy personally. It prevents me from being called a drunk when I haven't been priviledged to have even 1 glass of wine in the last month. If I am going to be insulted it is going to be about problems I actually have, not imagined problems others try to give me.

Why did you quit school, sports, and music? Was OCD and/or SPD that made them too difficult? What exactly where the problems you faced in each of these areas that led you to quit?