Hi - Newbie-ish in the UK

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Hey
I've been floating around reading the forum for a while now but not really made a proper introduction, or indeed even posted. I'm not diagnosed officially, and I a little reluctant to give myself the AS label as a definitive answer, since I am not a doctor, but...it fits. More than I ever imagined it would. When I read the 'generic' list of AS traits I can't really work out how to apply them, but the more I dig deeper, the more I think 'wow, that's so how I am.' It's the little things that always shock me. Things I always thought were just my idiosyncrasies and they turn out to be strong AS traits.

I'm 30 (on Monday! Eep!), I'm female, I live in the UK. I've been different my entire life. When I was a little kid I was hyperlexic - my teacher in primary school had me on junior school books, and my reading age was put at 16+ when I was tested at around 7. I used to sneak my parents' adult books from their book shelves - Stephen King, Virginia Andrews - and when my mum found me reading them she used to freak out. Not that it really mattered as I understood far less than I was able to read. I was rather a precocious child, and I'd charm the old ladies at the bus stop from the age of about 18 months - I had a highly developed vocabulary for my age. I had friends, but I used to boss them about instead of interacting with them as other kids do. My favourite game was playing quiz master, and I'd make up questions even I didn't know the answer to then tell them they got the answers wrong. lol

As I got older, I became more and more withdrawn socially. I didn't understand social etiquette, and I didn't understand why anybody would want to participate in normal social activities (to me, parties usually meant a bunch of people who didn't much like each other, standing around trying to act like they did like each other). I've had boyfriends, etc, but now I'm neither looking or bothered if I have one or not. Sometimes it would be nice to have someone to be intimate with (on all levels) but I find it so draining going through the usual routes of finding someone in the first place. For the same reason I don't really have any friends either (just one, online) but I'd rather have no friends than 'fake' friends, which I often wonder if that's what a lot of people have - like the social arena is one big game of 'faking it'. Sure, there are some genuine friendships out there, but I see so many just built on convenience, and so many people stabbing each other in the back. People think I am shy, which I find quite amusing. I'm not shy - I'm just disinterested in the types of social interaction most seem to enjoy. I loathe small talk.

Past considered diagnoses have been bipolar and BPD. Most people just think I'm odd. I don't bother much with fashion (though I LOVE handbags for some reason) and tend to buy multiples of the same clothes in the same colour (always black. lol). My main interest is books/writing - I am close to finishing my final draft of a novel I have been writing and then I will try and submit it to agents. I read anything I can get my hands on. When I was a teenager I used to get through a dozen books a week, but now I have a full time job I am probably down to about three or four.

I also love Harry Potter, and am a huge collector of anything HP I can get my hands on. Oh, and my chihuahua.

Other obsessions seem to come and go. I'll get stuck on something for a few months (that annoyingly normally costs me loads of money) and then I will go off it again.

Anyway, nice to meet you...I felt it was about time I introduced myself. I am hoping to be able to talk to some like-minded people here, and maybe make some friends.

Hi, nice to read you. Although much younger, I can perfectly understand you in many of your points

hi,

what a great intro you wrote!

i don't hate all small talk. i'm just not good at it.

welcome to wrong planet.

Welkome to WP

Mick

Welcome to WP! Great to read your intro and good luck with getting your novel publish

Hello there. Welcome to WP. Hope you like it here.

There are quite a lot of British-based members here too (I think they're the largest group on WP after the Americans) so there are lots of people you might well relate to.

Welcome to the forums, i somewhat agree with your take on parties, and on starting relationships, hell id rather just meet someone, say ok lets give it a go, and go from single to involved in one step... instead of the whole who-hah thats usually involved. so yeah i don't try much these days either.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

To WrongPlanet!! !