shiny and new

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arisu
Snowy Owl

Joined: 8 Jul 2009
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Posts: 161

10 Jul 2009, 12:35 pm

so i'm new to the site and new to being an aspie. i'm turning 22 in few weeks. i was misdiagnosed at 16 and it wasn't until recently that it occurred to me that i might have asperger's. well, i guessed it!

since i have a lot of "textbook" behaviors i can't be sure why no one caught this earlier, except that i suppose i'm fairly good at acting NT. also i'm a girl, which i've heard can be a barrier to diagnosis. people are willing, often, to forgive my quirks.

so now i'm trying to decide how i feel about being autistic. i'm happy to know, finally, what makes me different. i guess i'm also glad that there really isn't anything WRONG with me; this is just who i am. :wink:

of course, finding out so late (relatively speaking) kind of sucks. i wish i had gone into college knowing this information. heck, maybe i would even have enjoyed it. the big question now is how to tell everyone or anyone.

it's just me and my sisters. I approached them earlier with the idea that i might have asperger's and they had fairly distinct reactions. one seemed to think the idea made sense and that i should get checked out. the other sort of flipped at the notion that i would want to label myself autistic. some bias there i guess. they don't know yet that i already know.

i'm trying to figure out how to tell them, how to tell other people i know: friends and co-workers. also since i'm looking for a new job, i'm not sure if this is something you're supposed to bring up at an interview.

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"Life can be very confusing...filled with good things and filled with bad things. But it's my life...and I have choices." -Amber Brown

OddFinn
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Joined: 27 Jun 2009
Age: 57
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,276
Location: Finland

10 Jul 2009, 2:17 pm

Welcome. I hope you'll feel at home here.

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j0sh
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Joined: 18 Nov 2008
Age: 47
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,191
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10 Jul 2009, 2:34 pm

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

salamander
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

Joined: 25 Aug 2008
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Posts: 50

10 Jul 2009, 3:03 pm

My reactions are that telling most people is probably not a good idea, especially an employer.

The reason is simply because people have no clue what Asperger's or autism is, even if they think they do. Their biases will make them think you are something you are not, and trying to explain it to them is probably not going to work.

People I've told have reacted poorly. They want to believe I'm just a jerk, or just off, or whatever, and think Asperger's is an excuse. They are so wrapped up in the notion that all people's brains work like theirs do that they can't understand that I am not the same.

It doesn't seem to help to talk to these people, not until the truth about autism is understood to the public.

JetLag
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Joined: 7 Aug 2008
Age: 75
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Posts: 4,762
Location: California

10 Jul 2009, 4:10 pm

"Hello," fellow-traveler arisu, and welcome aboard the Wrong Planet.

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Nebx
Butterfly

Joined: 23 Sep 2008
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 9

20 Jul 2009, 11:01 pm

I'd actually get diagnosed before telling everyone that i have/might have AS... you'll look pretty ret*d later on if, for some reason, you just don't get diagnosed with AS...

Also, i'm not sure what's up with everyone feeling so much better when they find a label that fits their personality... You know you have weird traits... i'm not sure how it makes a difference, and how it helps you accept yourself to know that your weird personality and behavior is known as AS...

Tim_Tex
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