Hi from Australia

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Hi

I am 46 y.o. A couple of months ago I had never heard of Aspergers and I have self diagnosed myself. I rank pretty high on the online tests.

It is really wierd seeing my life in your experiences on the net.

At first I found it difficult having a label, but understanding helps. My wife (married 20 yrs) says she can make more sense of me now.

I wish I knew about aspergers 30 years ago. It would have made things easier.

Good luck to all going thru what I have behind me. For me it doesn't go away, but I have learnt to overcome. Eye contact is still something I have to concentrate on.

Cheers

Ian a.k.a. blackduck (I am a duck hunter)

P.S. I found target shooting and hunting good for me. Shooters are generally very welcoming and friendly people. Looking back, this helped a lot in making friends.

Hi blackduck

from emc in Brisvegas (waves).

from memory we have quite a few Victorians on here,

I'm sure you'll come across the other Aussies on here eventually.

Hi, Ian!

Welcome to Wrongplanet!

I am an American, but I know a lot about Australian culture. I bet you see a lot of kangaroos around where you live. To this day, I begin to wonder if there was actually someone by the name of Matilda in Australian history.

There were quite a few Australians on this forum quite a while ago, but then they all left. Now, they all seem to be coming back. That is a good thing.

I hope you enjoy posting here!

Welcome to the boards, there are quite a few Aussies here

Hi Ian.

Hi

I (blackduck) am from Melbourne, Australia.

While I am self diagnosed, I have no doubt I am an aspie. While I don’t think I am in a position to give advice, I had a quick look at http://www.freewebs.com/byaag/ and I don’t think this group would have been good for me as a young adult. I also don’t know what level I have compared to others so I don't want to criticise/compare.

After school and dropping out of uni where I had no friends at all, I joined the public [civil] service. The office was quite social and I was sent on lots of training courses (leadership, public speaking, first aid, etc). There was no volunteering for this, I was just sent. I think this was all good and some other job would not have worked as well fore me.

I knew I had difficulties communicating and meeting people, making friends etc. To do something about it I joined Young Liberals [Young Republicans would be equivalent for you Americans, young Democrats would be as good] and joined the debating group. Although feeling almost paralysed by fear, I did it. I didn’t know there was any reason for how I felt and my anger at myself for being “gutless” and wanting to opt out overcame my fear of doing it. I could write a debate without having to put any of my own personality into it and practice delivering it with some animation. I copied and tried to mimic others techniques. Young Libs were friendly and welcoming and gave nothing but encouragement, although I can’t say I made any friends but I did not expect to.

I am also interested (obsessed?) with guns. I joined SSAA and FGA [like NRA] and took up target shooting. This was good. You don’t need to talk a lot, and when you do its all about guns and shooting and it doesn’t bore anyone. Everyone is friendly, but I had to make an effort.

I also joined the Army Reserve Infantry (I was always interested in that too). The army doesn’t care if you don’t feel empathy for others, but is big on comradeship and helping your mates. This was all good too.

I think if I spent much time with other aspies it would have been bad for my personal development, although its nice to know you are out there. However I don’t know any other aspies so I don’t really know and as I said, I don’t feel qualified to give any advice. This was just how I got through and is just something to think about.

Don’t know if any of this helps.

Kind regards

Ian

blackduck, you have spent time with other Aspies, because it only became a diagnosis in 1994!

a friend in the local group is ex-Army!

Hello from NSW blackduck.

G'day, Ian!

I went Down Under on holiday with my family once; I think I was 11. We lived in Hong Kong (on business) at the time. We brought a ton of clothes because it was your winter and we were stopping in Indonesia on the way back. I recently met 2 boys from Sydney; we were camping (yep, with tents and sleeping bags) at a Christian rock music festival. It was great!

If I ever return to Australia, I'd probably try to plan it so that I'd have extra time to meet some Aus-pies. (Oz aspies) *LOL*

Cya 'round, mate!

Hi blackduck. It is very nice to hear a couple of details about yourself. I was diagnosed when I was two years old. I am 11 now, and my social skills improve every day according to Mr. Johnson (my Special Education teacher). He says that I don't need the program anymore, but he was going to keep me in it for my first year of Middle School.
How is Austrailia? Have you seen any King Cobras? If I lived in Australia I would have the fear of King Cobras.

Happy Posting!

No king cobras.

We have King Browns among others. I live in Victoria in the South. The worst here are Tiger snakes. They are agressive. Most others keep out of your way. Tiger snakes like swampy areas (where I go duck hunting) but it is rare to see them. I live near a river. Sometimes there are reposts of people finding tiger snakes in backyards, but is is uncommon. Not really something to worry about.

We also have black snakes (also poisonous but not deadly) that are said to be predators of other snakes, so thats good.

In the North (Queensland, Northern Territory) there are Taipans and Western Taipans that are really nasty. There is no antivenine for their poison. However snakebite is not common. There are only about 1 or 2 deaths a year from snakes. I would be more concerned about bears in USA forests.

Most snake bites are from people trying to catch or kill them when the snakes will defend themselves.

If you are thinking about travelling "down under" one day, look at New Zealand. NZ is to Australia what Canada is to USA. They don't have any snakes.

australia cool

welcome

I dont want to seem preoccupied with snakes, but we also have a type of kingfisher called a kookaburra that kills snakes.

see picture: http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgu ... s%26sa%3DG

the kookaburra's call sounds like a laugh.

Another Victorian!

Welcome to WP.net!

Melbourne

Go Dees.

Sorry about God's son's knee