Hello everyone, my name's Rachel and I am a self-diagnosed Aspie. Here is a brief summary of my history and how I ended up here. As a child, I had an above-average IQ and excelled in spelling, reading, writing, and math. My parents believed that I was very smart and were confused when I exhibited poor social skills, i.e. sitting in the corner by myself during Girl Scout meetings. It didn't take me long to realize that I was "different" from others, but I always just thought I was weird. I had (and still have) quirks such as ritualistic OCD and a fear of loud noises (fireworks). My dad would get angry with me for not "looking him in the eye" and getting a "glazed expression" at inopportune times. I never realized I was doing this. I was verbally bullied by my peers quite a bit, especially during middle school. As you can probably guess, I never quite understood what I was doing wrong. I always had problems making and keeping friends and never had a set peer group. I also always wondered how I could be so intelligent in some areas but so stupid in others. I was terrible at team sports because I was not able to grasp the "big picture", and I have always gotten notoriously lost in places that should be familiar to me. I have always been very detail oriented and excelled in areas such as writing and playing saxophone. As I got older, I found solace in alcohol and overcame a period of excessive drinking. About two years ago, my dad called me and told me about an article he had read about something called Asperger's syndrome, and told me that he was convinced that it described me perfectly. At first I rejected this notion because I was afraid of the negative connotations and I had always struggled to not be "different". However, the more I thought about it, I realized that to overcome the obstacles that Asperger's entails, I had to face it and not be afraid. So, here I am. : )
What is your first name? Rach
Age: 24
Location: Augusta, GA
Hobbies and Interests: reading, music (particularly classic rock), psychology, nature, mask making
Why are you here? self-diagnosed Aspie; have been in denial about this for a bit, but decided to accept it and attempt understand it better, maybe meet other people like me
When were you diagnosed?(skip if you don't have a disorder): see above
Favorite subjects: English, psychology, science
Year/Grade: college student
Favorite music: lots of classic rock (grateful dead, steely dan, captain beefheart, van halen, etc) some other stuff like Bjork, Massive Attack, Peaches, Ministry, Pantera, Cocteau Twins, Alice in Chains, etc.
Books: Still Life With Woodpecker, In Cold Blood, Tommyknockers, Bright Shiny Morning, Owl at Home, Fragile Things, etc.
TV shows/Movies: Dexter, South Park, Family Guy, The Office, Black Snake Moan, Benny and Joon, Happiness, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Blow, Easy Rider, The Trip, A Clockwork Orange, 2001: Space Odyssey, Superbad, Coraline, Mary and Max, Capote, Into the Wild, Adventureland, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, The Wicker Man (73), Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway...
Instrument: alto sax
Do you like sports? distance running, not into watching sports
Family: married to a wonderful bear, no children yet.
Clothing: I love dresses of all kinds.
How did you find this website? web surfing
Job: Formerly a linguist in the USAF; now attending college
Plans for the future? psychology major, want kids in the future
26 Jul 2010, 8:22 pm
