Tyler Baltierra is opening up about being on the autistic spectrum.
Catelynn Lowell and her husband really stand out among Teen Mom stars. They’ve been together forever. They often admit when they’re wrong. And they clearly love each other.
In addition to sharing their messier moments, they are also very open about mental health topics.
Tyler is opening up about how an eye-opening new diagnosis is making so much sense for him. And how he underwent his assessment because one of their children is displaying the same behaviors that he once did.
Tyler Baltierra is on the autistic spectrum
On this week’s episode of the Cate & Ty Break It Down podcast, hosts Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra revealed that Tyler has received an autism diagnosis.
Like many who only learn that they are on the autistic spectrum as adults, Tyler is proficient at masking — that is, behaving in a neurotypical manner.
One might compare this to a left-handed person who makes a habit out of using their right hand, even though it is less comfortable and coordinated.
Also like many adults first receiving an autism diagnosis, Tyler found out because of one of his kids.
(Anecdotally, this seems to be an extremely common phenomenon, with parents asking “wait, don’t all kids do this?”)
Tyler and Catelynn’s 6-year-old daughter, Vaeda, is acting similarly to how Tyler did when he was a kid.
“I’m a little bit more of a present parent, I think, than my mom could have been back then,” the father acknowledged.
He noted that he was an “ADHD hyper kid” as a child.
That’s not necessarily untrue — it’s so common for these underdiagnosed brain differences to coincide that many refer to the pair as audhd — autism and ADHD.
‘I remember doing that’
“Just seeing so many things in Vaeda that I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I get why she’s doing that. Oh my God, when I was a kid, I remember doing that,’” Tyler explained.
“First thing I noticed is that small things [that] should not be a big deal are a huge deal to her,” he noted.
As many may recall, Tyler received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder several years ago.
But he did not experience the extreme highs and lows. Now, he says, his more accurate diagnosis may explain his mood swings.
“ … She was like, ‘Your mood swings are based [on] things not going right in your weird little routine that I won’t be able to understand, your wife will never be able to understand fully,” Tyler detailed.
“You can explain it as much as you can about how these things operate in your head,” he continued.
“And how when one thing is off … so these mood swings will come across [like] something really frustrated you real quick.’”
Tyler also shared that he “ranked super-high in masking.” Many people hide aspects of themselves to make their lives easier, even though masking requires effort and can often be uncomfortable.
This is a learned and often unconscious behavior. It can also delay getting a diagnosis, obviously.
Knowing that he’s autistic evoked a lot of feelings, especially as he looks back at his life
“It felt like a big sigh of relief,” Tyler Baltierra said of his diagnosis. “And then I got really sad … because I thought about all the stuff I went through as a kid.”
He explained: “Because I felt so sad for that little kid who was like, ‘What’s wrong with me? Something’s wrong, why am I not normal?’” That is a very common experience.
” … If I would have known about my stuff, being autistic or being on the spectrum, would that have changed my therapy?” Tyler reflected.
“It got me thinking, ‘Wow, there’s so many things that could have been different.’”
Based upon noticing these behaviors overlapping, they plan to have Vaeda go through an assessment for autism. Their hope is that if they know early with her, she won’t have to grow up wondering why she thinks differently than many of her peers.
As for Tyler, however, he’s not planning a “treatment” for his diagnosis because it’s just who he is.
He now has more information about himself.
“It’s just the way my brain works,” he affirmed. “Instead of trying to fix it, let’s just try to live with this thing and I think knowing this information makes me better aware.”
Congratulations, Tyler! Everyone deserves a full grasp of the qualities that make them who they are.