Aspie college student trying to volunteer, having difficulty

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Hello, I have Asperger's Syndrome and am highly gifted. I am 20 years old and have overcome large obstacles to make great personal progress towards being an independently functional and fulfilled individual. I live alone, go to college, and even have a girlfriend. (still working on that job thing...)

I was hoping I could contribute to the local Autism Spectrum Disorder community. I read very little about the life of ASD people in College, and what I do often remarks on the lack of such material. Having had relative success in life, I wanted to provide hope and insight to local ASD youth, and just as importantly, their parents. (the last couple years have made me appreciate my own parents)

Over the last two days I have spent several hours searching online for support groups or other similar organizations in my city (Huntsville, Alabama). My best result was a seminar which cost $20 to enter; there are apparently no dedicated ASD support groups native to my city.

Which is very odd, because Huntsville is one of the largest population centers in my state, and has a very high ASD occurance rate. (which is likely due to all the engineers - the Marshall Spaceflight Center is here, as well as the geek-classic Space Camp)

So what should I do? After having a friend tell me how an ASD parent broke down in tears after being hearing part of my story (the acquaintance of my friend has never been able to hug her 15 year old son - it was just this year I was able to hug my own mother) I sincerely want to help however I can, especially people who might be struggling with similar problems as I have had.

But how? Should I try to start my own group? Any insight, especially the unexpected sort, is greatly appreciated!

(Never too good at brevity)

I think that would be really good. I find it hard to believe there isn't a support group, though....

There's the Autism Society of Alabama: http://www.autism-alabama.org
And there's a "social skills group" run by Eidele Sainker (256) 880-7173

I don't know how to go about forming your own group, though. I guess just advertise and try to find some other people who are interested and start meeting regularly in the same place. You'd have to be pretty devoted to it to make it work well, though, I think.

@Marathon

Almost everything that the Autism Society of Alabama has is located in Birmingham (2 hours away). I saw the social skills group, but it lacked any additional information (and cross referencing her phone number shows that her partner is a psychiatrist who tries to hypnotize away Irritable Bowel Syndrome) so I wrote it off. Ill give her a call tomorrow, I guess.

Hi