Hello all.
As evident by my informative subject text, I am 26 year old male living in Virginia (Manassas to be exact). After learning last year that Asperger's existed, I was officially diagnosed with AS earlier this week. It was a relief to get the confirmation and to subsequently find a community like this where I feel such a connection to the methodology in which people think. It amazes me how so many seemingly unrelated aspects of my life fit so neatly into the Asperger's package.
I hope to eventually share more detailed account of my experiences and personal insights relating to AS, however I'll try to share a short synopsis for the casual reader or if I neglect to post.
The most prevalent aspect of my life that clued me in to my suspicion of AS wasn't exactly my lack of social skills but more in regards to the ways in which I tried to improve them. I remember in 6th grade asking my friend how to handle the greeting "What's up?" since I felt like I should answer it as if it were a real question and not just as a synonym for hello. I classified each of my social interactions into mental templates on how I should act (peer to peer, superior to inferior, retailer to customer, meeting a new person, small group, etc...), and tried to avoid ones that I didn't quite understand yet. And most implausibly, I took up improvisational comedy for a couple of years; which allowed me to practice a wide range of social situations in a safe environment.
Despite, or possibly because of, my peculiarities, I have managed a comfortable life for myself. I earned a master's degree and I now live on my own while working as a software engineer. I still have a lot of learning to do and a ot of lost time to make up but I hope that with the guidance of this diagnosis and the support of this forum, I can finally make some real progress in my ability to comfortably interact with the world around me.
Thank you to those who have choosen to have read my introduction and I look forward to eventually learning who a few of you are.
Last edited by andyroyd on 05 Apr 2009, 2:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
04 Apr 2009, 7:09 pm
