Anyone else have a sorta neuro-eccentric social group?

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I am in the unique position of helping run a performance and art venue..and because it was started by folks on the spectrum..(my partner and I)...it tends towards being a beacon to folks on the spectrum...and pretty much of all of the people who come to our place and become regulars and become our friends are generally folks on the spectrum...so it ends up that we are the insiders and most other people are more-or-less outsiders. It is a pretty small group..but one nonetheless. We all have the common bond of our assortment of neuro-issues and the fact that we don't really fit in anywhere else....There is even this total hyper-spazzy ADD-and-something-else girl who comes around and actually talks to me....and i can actually converse with her comfortably for longer than normal..as there is usually an invisible wall between me and most females....

The only person who has anything to do with running our place who is remotely NT is our soundguy/handyman...and that is defined by his social flexibilty and lack of executive dysfunction.

Anyone else in a similar position..not specifically running a venue (though I would be interested in hearing if you do)....But of winding up with a circle of friends that is mostly non-NT?

Yes. I know many people in my country in the art scene. I also joined NA twelve yearsa go and know many, many ex-junkies through its meetings. Whilst I maintain a hermit life, I know hundreds of people. Most people I know are odd, eccentric outisder types - --- free thinkers, artists or musicians or writers and/or ex-junkies who have reformed their lives. All have lived unusual lives. None are mainstream. Most of these people are accepting and embracing of '"difference" and oddness. Many are dual diagnosis or have lived through incredible trauma. I don;t really make the distinction wre ASD/NT with people I know, because all the people i know - even though they are not ASD, have very unusual lives and ways of dealing with the world.

I still spend all day and every day alone - except for a meeting or art thing here or there. I do keep in contact with people via email and indirectly.
i do not understand "mainstream 9-5" lifestyle. It has never really been a part of my world, how I think, how I live or how i function. I could not fit in with it even if i wanted to (which I do not.)
I have lived on the edge of society my whole life and it is by far my preference. I am freer to be me which is all i want and care about.

Not in a group. Don't want to be.

YES. I can never understand the people on here who say they've never met another Aspie, since I seem to be surrounded by them. I knew there were others who were "weird" like me and longed to find them when I was a child, and went looking for them as soon as I could. I found them at fan conventions, at pagan festivals, and among computer geeks. Those subcultures are absolutely THICK with Aspies and tolerant NTs.

Just looking at my friendslist on the blogging site I frequent, I see one diagnosed and two self-diagnosed Aspies (plus four more who I consider "diagnosable"), two fathers of autistics who have some traits themselves, one diagnosed with ADD and another with borderline personality disorder, and a dozen more who I know take antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications. With one exception, these are all folks I know in real life and didn't meet because of our shared disabilities--they are all lovely people who don't let their diagnosis define who they are, and I am glad I have them in my life.

Yup. The few people I actually get on with are pretty much all "weird" in one way or another!

I wouldn't be surprised if the contra dance scene had a much higher incidence of people on the spectrum than other groups. We take pride in our diversity of eccentrics!

Most of my friends are non-Aspie (or not diagnosed Aspie anyway!), but nevertheless eccentric or "alternative". Some are neurotypical but are just not quite mainstream, e.g. a struggling rock musician; a super-tidy part-time Goth, whose home is done out entirely in minimalistic beige tones; a hyper-intelligent geneticist/programmer; a rather lonely security guard; a PhD guy who lectures in medical technology who has long dreads and multiple piercings, etc. (In case you were wondering, I am not a Goth, I don't have dreads, and I don't have body piercings or tattoos.) I was married to a dyslexic inventor for 17 years. One of my friends has bipolar disorder. He's a very wise person.

At my workplace we have:

1. Senior Partner: Neurotypical, but a lonely one. Intravert, but definitely not shy. Great business leader.
2. Director (me): Aspergers, ADHD, well-managed OCD.
3. Flexible Portfolio: ADHD and possibly other co-morbid conditions. Great emotional intelligence.
4. Programme Manager: On lifelong medication for chronic depression; serious relationship/communication/authority problems; a kind of post-traumatic stress disorder.

We will also have a job vacancy in a month or two, and we are specifically looking for someone who is not neurologically/psychologically "normal" to fill the position.

I had never heard the term contra dance until I read that, so I looked it up at Wikipedia. It seems to be the same as what we usually call line dancing around here, and I must say, my own experience of it has certainly been that it is one of the nerdiest types of dancing out there, so you could be right! I first came accross it at a Scripture Union camp in my teens.

I actually did a post about contra dance a little while back and why I thought it catered to Aspie traits quite well.

And it really is quite fun!

Yes, I am in a group of 4 friends and 3 of us are aspies, and the NT is a total nerd anyway.

What defines the NT as being the NT?..(jus' curious)

because he doesn't have anything.

Hehe, "he doesn't have anything" = "his limbs and organs are all missing" or "he doesn't flap and throw tantrums"? What makes him a nerd, though?

I count people regardless of whether or not they have diagnoses....The main people who hang around us who do, are Houstonian members we met at least partially from from Wrong Planet...


My very good AS-ish friend who I met because he became a regular at my venue years ago and eventually became a regular part of our circle...does not have any sort of diagnosis, and probably never will...I call him AS-ish because he has sensory issues...social problems...an all-encompassing obsession with army regalia...was a late talker...is a visual thinker...hates foods touching...has meltdowns..Like me, he acts like an adult-kid...and he also has the gender identity issues that I have seen a lot of on the board.

I call my sound guy NT because even though he is a bit weird, he has no social anxiety whatsoever...and no sensory issues...and so-on...

One of our newest regulars is an artist/photographer who you can sorta guess is on the spectrum just by looking at/talking to him..

the first one, lol only joking. He's a nerd because he likes nerdy things and is really into video games, oh and he hangs ut with nerds/geeks etc

I think starting an acting group for disabled people is a brilliant idea!