20 Apr 2014, 9:50 am
I'm new to the site. My brother is the one who recommended I talk to other people on the autism spectrum. I've never been formally diagnosed (it wasn't a known thing when I was growing up and while my parents knew that I was very, very different and often a handful, I was never causing harm to anyone or anything so they didn't get me evaluated).
Today's my 23rd birthday and it's also Easter, which means being around lots of family members... often when I was younger I would just play Pokemon on my Gameboy or read a book, but I'm trying to be a little more social with them, since I spent around 2 years living away from my family and they missed me, and I'm not good at keeping in touch with them 
So a little about myself:
-I have very few friends but I really want to make more. It's sad for me when they're busy too much because then I have no one to talk to at all. I get nervous meeting new people but once I know them we tell each other anything and everything and are extremely close for many many years, are 100% open-minded and not judgmental at all.
-I am terrified - and I mean terrified - of rejection. That's why it's hard for me to make friends and why I am still single. Even just to go up to someone and start a friendly conversation, I get so worried they're going to be mean to me, or reject me, or even just pretend not to hear me and ignore me. I don't know, it's something I really worry about but if people start talking to me first then I don't really have that problem as much.
- I am an expert on dogs... seriously. Anything you could ever hope to know about their care but especially the different breeds of dog. I am great at identifying them, describing them, even discerning mixes in a lot of cases better than vets or animal control officers because I know more than just the AKC breeds.
-I love genetics but mostly coat-color genetics in dogs. I spent a lot of time as a kid learning the genes for each coat color and marking, which ones were dominant or recessive, what you'd get if you mixed two dogs, etc.
-I like to draw and when I was younger I would only draw animals and not humans or objects or backgrounds. Now I'm starting to decide to draw people. It turns out that I really like to draw more exotic looking people and just had no interest in the generic 'all-American' pretty boy type, I guess. *shrugs* this isn't something I realized until I talked with my brother about it. He is basically a mentor to me.
-I don't know if there is anyone else on this site who is really into the 'swag' craze? It's a style that adds together elements of stuff I've loved all my life into one package. People tell me I dress like a teenager or kid or whatever, and always have, but I love that other people are doing the style too. Is it weird for me to like that, or the really urban look? I was always fascinated by graffiti and pictures of inner-city stuff, even though I live in the suburbs..
-I guess anything else, just ask or you will learn it around the forums 
20 Apr 2014, 10:24 am
20 Apr 2014, 8:57 pm
21 Apr 2014, 6:39 am
Welcome!
When I was younger I also tend to read when there was a meeting of many relatives because of my birthday or whatever. One time I spent the whole afternoon building a house with Lego in my room. I just came out to eat cake and drink. But after I was told many times that that´s not social and I want to be more social I really try to talk with them and to participate the meetings now.
I have no friends at all and it´s hard for me to make one because of the reasons you mentioned about rejection and meeting new people. It´s really sad because I want to have friends but find it hard to make at least one. 
AnonymousAnonymous
Veteran
Joined: 23 Nov 2006
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 72,858
Location: Portland, Oregon
24 Apr 2014, 2:16 pm
24 Apr 2014, 10:24 pm
26 Apr 2014, 5:43 pm
Thank you everyone! It's good to hear from you
Btw some of my favorite dogs are Bull Terriers and Catahoula Leopard Dogs
26 Apr 2014, 6:21 pm
