Hello to everyone at wrongplanet.com!

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I would like to say hello and introduce myself to everyone as this is my first day registered with this online community. My name is Meg and I am self-diagnosed with AS. I am 26 and have lived in San Diego, CA for my entire life. I have always felt different and experienced a lot of social, communication, and emotional troubles since childhood and they seem to have worsened as I have gotten older. I have always amazed my parents with my memory and have told them my specific early childhood memories in significant detail--like thinking in pictures (Grandin). Like her, I had always believed that everyone thought and percieved the world as I did. Then, when I was 13-14, I began to independetly investigate the possibility that I could have AS. Over the years I've shared this with my family and they agree as we learn more and more about it. As of this year, my father let me know that he thinks he has AS as well--which doesn't surprise me as we are "two peas in a pod," as my mother always says. I can see it in my family and some of my paternal cousins have been tested for autism and are all high-functioning. Growing up in school, I was always labeled the "bright" student by my teachers but lacked hugely in social skills and the ability as well as desire to maintain relationships. I had a few close friends while growing up but soon saw a pattern of dropping them like objects and avoiding all contact just after a few years. As of today I have not 1 girlfriend--just kinda half-friends which are all my husbands and mostly men, of course. For this reason I thought I could meet people like me on Wrong Planet and start back with friendships slowly. I have over five years experience working with children with autism, Asperger's, and related disorders. I have been trained in a variety of the latest methodologies that help to facilitate an effective early intervention process of young children as well as methods to maintain achieved independence with older ones. I have also worked with a student with AS and mainstreamed him from first grade all the way through forth grade. During these years of my life while training to teach these students, it was becoming more and more clear to me that--"Oh, my...this is me! This explains me perfectly!" This realization freed me a bit but I still feel really lost and I don't know what I am going to do with my life. Huge questions and huge decisions--sometimes I just don't know where to begin. If you read through all of this, bless your heart and I hope to begin to network within this community. I figured it wouldn't be so hard for me here because it's through the computer and this is a place where people know what I'm talking about and have a better idea than most people where I am coming from. Thanks for reading my introductory message.

Welcome to WP!

Tim

Hello, I hope that you have a good time at Wrongplanet. Please remember that having a good time here is mandatory. That being said, you had better have a good time while you are here.

or we will find you!

Hey Meg I'm from San Diego too. I'll pm you later.

Thanks guys for the warm welcome. I appreciate your time responding to my message.

G'day Meg

Thanks for reading my introductory message.

Meg:

First of all, it's Wrongplanet.net. Also, hello!

I hope you enjoy posting here!

Welcome to WP ! !!

You work with Autistic children?? I've always wondered if we ASpies would work better with Autistic children than NT's. Do you feel like you understand them better?

Prof_Pretorius,

Interesting you should ask...I definately feel that I work better with most of them. I think that's why I was so passionate about them because we usually got along and communicated effectively. During my training, I took as much as I could and ran with it. I was only 18 when I began to work for the very same school district I had just graduated from. I remember that some of the experts in the field began to spread the word through the distrcit that I was very smart and could really help these kids especially the low functioning. I was a lead therapist over other women on our team, which consisted of others mostly in their 30s and 40s. I eventaully burnt out though because I was working in-home and with very difficult cases (some were very violent, but because of other brain abnormalities) Having to deal with co-workers, parents, and other normies was just too taxing. Thanks for your post!

Meg