Oddtistic person here

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I guess I'm not really sure where I should start. I've joined plenty of forums and message boards in the past and have written a lot of "Hey, I'm new here" posts, but I suppose the trouble here is that most of those were more focused on things like video games or TV shows, and perhaps not quite so personal. While I'm autistic myself, I hate to feel like I'm walking on eggshells and really hope I don't offend anybody in any way, as I seem to have a knack for saying really stupid things without even intending to. So if I've done that already in this first paragraph, I'm sorry. :p

So my name's Travis, or you can call me Boxy as most of my friends have come to refer to me, or whatever else works for you. I was diagnosed I think at perhaps around 2 years old? I can't recall, and I only have my parents to ask about stuff from earlier on than that. While I did go to therapy to help with my speech and a few other things, I've never really given much thought as to how I was different from others, and even though I wasn't particularly popular, I was able to make some close friends. Everyone had their own unique personalities and I didn't feel different in any truly significant way.

We moved when I was almost 13, so I had to pretty much start over with making new friends, and that would be a little harder being homeschooled at the time, but I felt like it was no big deal. I even met my first "girlfriend", if you could even call something that lasted a couple of weeks a relationship, but after being rejected, I guess I had to deal with a lot of issues with self esteem and...I'm not sure if I should call it depression because I don't want to belittle anyone else, and I believe everyone's demons show up in different ways so it's not right to act is if you've got it worse than everyone else. The way I felt, I was alone, even with my family there to talk to, and I simply tried to escape into books and video games, and as a result it seems that a lot of my teen years were just a blur and nothing really happened.

Eventually I was able to get a job, and that change was good, to be able to have a real work ethic and to be responsible for myself, as well as to push myself to be more social and at least get along with my co-workers. Besides that, the money was also good. :p I've always been a fan of video games, but waiting for good stuff from Nintendo took a lot of patience, so I bought an Xbox and eventually got to know a group of people I'd call friends through playing games like Halo(some even came to visit once, which, while a bit of a jarring experience, was alright). Things took a turn for the worse with the job as it seemed to cause more and more stress, but I still have those other friends to talk to and have fun times with.

Recently, I guess on a whim, I've just been more interested in others who have autism or those who know people with it, as I've ever only known one in person. Maybe it was this one girl I took interest in who had a sister with autism, I don't know. It could be a lot of things, like wondering how successful some are or how their experiences in life have differed from my own. I always hope to make friends wherever I go, or at least be easygoing enough to not make enemies with anyone, but with how much more personal this can be, I think that's why I was reluctant to join at first. So maybe I should stop here and not give my whole life story so I don't bore you guys too much. :p Thanks for anyone who took the time to read all this or those who'll welcome me.

hi, boxy.

i have a job and am married and i have AS. it took me 50 years to gain the social skills to pull it off. my advice - never give up.

Welcome, Boxy.

Thanks guys. Yeah I hope to be married someday. Social skills are a problem but the way I see it you just have to push yourself out of your comfort zone long enough to become familiar with things. I guess it's a stupid example but for the longest time I didn't like to play really competitive games or first person shooters, but as I practiced more at it I got more enjoyment out of them.

Plus, they're only fun when you're winning. xD

lol yeah I guess so...though sometimes I can have fun just fooling around if I find it funny. Some friends and I will just go around with riot shields in Call of Duty, or create very original and fun games to play with Halo's forge mode. But yeah my main point is just like expanding your horizons because you never know what you might be missing out on.

Welcome!

Welkome to WP

Mick