On the latest episode of his and wife Catelynn Lowell’s Cate & Ty Break It Down podcast, Tyler Baltierra revealed to listeners that he was recently diagnosed with autism.
The Teen Mom: The Next Chapter star explained that, while he had “behavioral issues” as a child and claimed he was “kicked out of schools” and “multiple daycares,” he only thought to get tested for autism after noticing that his and Cate’s six-year-old daughter, Vaeda, acted similarly to how he did as a kid.
“I’m a little bit more of a present parent, I think, than my mom could have been back then,” Tyler said, recalling that many of his behavioral issues as a child were attributed to him being “an [attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder] hyper kid.”
“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 said. “First thing I noticed is that small things [that] should not be a big deal are a huge deal to her.”
In addition to previously being diagnosed with ADHD, Tyler shared that he was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder– the latter of which he admits he didn’t necessarily agree with. (Tyler revealed that he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder back in 2018, noting at the time that he had previously been diagnosed with depression.)
“ … I remember them telling me that I was bipolar and just feeling inside, like, this doesn’t sit with me … ,” he explained, noting that he didn’t experience the highs and lows that typically come with bipolar disorder.
While undergoing the autism test recently, Tyler said his doctor was able to explain why he exhibits certain behaviors, including 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. You can explain it as much as you can about how these things operate in your head and how when one thing is off … so these mood swings will come across [like] something really frustrated you real quick,’” he said.
After learning that he was on the spectrum, Tyler said his doctor also informed him that he “ranked super-high in masking,” which she said was common for those who receive a diagnosis at his age.
Tyler then revealed that he had mixed feelings after receiving his diagnosis.
“It felt like a big sigh of relief,” he said. “And then I got really sad … because I thought about all the stuff I went through as a kid. 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?’
” … If I would have known about my stuff, being autistic or being on the spectrum, would that have changed my therapy?” he wondered later in the episode. “It got me thinking, ‘Wow, there’s so many things that could have been different.’”
Tyler and Cate said during the podcast episode that they plan to have Vaeda tested for autism, though Tyler revealed that he doesn’t plan seek any treatment for his own diagnosis.
“I could try multiple different things … it’s just the way my brain works,” he said. “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.”
Watch a clip from Cate and Tyler’s latest podcast episode below.
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(Photos: Instagram; MTV)
