Hello to one and all

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I'm Kevin, a 27 year old male from the UK.

Have been reading about Asperger's for some time but still havent quite figured out if I'm and Aspie myself, so hoping someone here might be able to shed some light on it for me.

I am a fairly shy person overall, although i have a close group of friends who I am very confident and outgoing with, however I rarely meet anyone new as I clam up around strangers.

I tend to dislike eye contact, and jump out of my skin if touched unexpectedly.

I get very irritable and panic sometimes in loud, crowded spaces, which obviously has an impact on my social life. I was diagnosed with anxiety about 18 months ago and put on medication, but I stopped taking it due to the side effects, and the fact it never really seemed to affect the social difficulties I can have.

All my life I have been obsessive over various subjects, some of which I am still interested today, others the interest died over time. Some of my obsessions include; national flags and capital cities, maps, airline liveries, astronomy, obscure travel destinations, gambling (an expensive obsession!), dictatorships, foriegn languages (usually without much success), sci-fi. Plus various others. I bore most people to death about all of these things, although I am a great hit at pub quizzes!

I dont seem to have the problems with assessing peoples moods that some Aspies have, but I am notorious for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, although usually more for comic effect than an inability to control myself.

Well, thats enough about me. Thanks for reading this far. Questions and comments are appreciated!

hi Kevin
welcome to WP

Hi Kevin and welcome to WP!! ! Hope you like it here.

To me it sounds like you likely belong in this nuthouse island of sanity. Note particularly your obsessions. Lots of people have hobbies, but how many of them have hobbies that operate through their lives like your's do?

One thing I've noticed being here. Individual symptoms vary tremendously. I'm hopeless at memorizing random stuff and routines drive me crazy. I'm beginning to wonder whether any typical aspies exist. I'm not sure how the assembly line workers at the mental health factory ever diagnose anybody. Guess they just put in their time and show their supervisors results, like cops issuing speeding tickets. Except the cops are often doing something worthwhile and they're sometimes right.

Hang around and check things out. You know your own life better than anybody else.

Hey Kevin...wecome to WP....

This is a pretty confussing DX in my opinion....I have been "researching it" for several months and keep going back and forth...I am,I am not,I am,I am not...so sick of "wondering" I decided to get
specialist input(though,who knows if I will believe what ever the result...major cynic here.)

One thing this DR has stressed is the importance of childhood in making the DX...by adulthood we have learned skills using logic and have some desensitizing(depending on where you are on the spectrum to begin with)the important thing for me is that I like the people on this site...they amuse me,make me think,are suportive and I can relate to a lot of "issues" that people in my daily life have "poo-pooed"
as "silly".

Anyway,hope you like it here.....caution...can be very addicting(but cheaper then gambling)

Hi Kevin.. & welcome,

What's your obsession with obscure travel destinations about ?
Do you visit places or just research? I'm thinking about a holiday myself; I'm looking for somewhere quiet & relaxing, off the beaten track, any suggestions ?

As for the gambling.. you know that if you become obsessed by winning, then you may find it less expensive

welcome to wp

Last year I travelled the Trans-Siberian railway. Depending upon how you do it, that can be very relaxing, just staring out of the window watching the world go by for a week. Lots of interesting scenery, lots of time to read, practice your Russian.

The route I took was from Beijing to Moscow, so at either end of the journey you have two exciting cities to explore too. Or you can break the journey along the way in various more remote destinations.

Not everyones cup of tea I know, but I enjoyed it. Plus there are markers placed every 100 meters along the side of the track and every kilometer a signs showing your distance from Moscow. All makes for lots of fun using your watch to calculate the trains average speed along the route. Aspie paradise!

Good idea, that sounds cool, i will look into it.
Practice my Russian - lol - that shouldn't take too long.