Talk about yourself for a bit
Hey all, my name is Daniel. 19 years of age, I live in England, Oxfordshire in a small town called Witney.
I'm interested in a great deal of things, computers, psychology, gaming. That kinda thing, I find it hard to talk to anyone and I'm apparently according to some people "Very hard to get to know". I find it a lot easier talking via the internet than I do in real life.
I work in a super market, so I am practically forced to deal with people when I work, which I do find difficult, I find it hard to understand why people do what they do and the like. I was diagnosed with Aspergers when I was 3, and had to have lots of help when in school. My handwriting is barely readable, so I had to use a laptop for school and exams, not easy.
I don't know what else to add. I don't really know any other people with autism or aspergers, so yeah. Maybe I'll be comfortable here
Hey, I'm Sean. I'm 22 y.o from Sydney, Australia. I'm currently finishing a bachelor of science. I was formally diagnosed with mild AS just last month, after my parents told me for the first time I had a lot austistic traits as a young child. After reading about AS and other ASD's, trying both the rdos and Baron-Cohen tests (both putting me clearly in AS/Autism territory), I stumbled upon this website.
My interests shift virtually every month - currently it's trance music, ASDs, MMORPGs and North Korea (completely random topic of the month heh).
My current aim is to improve my communication and ability to read non-verbal cues
Wow, I suck at this "about me" stuff. OK, here goes - I'm soon to turn 45 (yikes!), I live in Nashville, TN, my educational background is in German Language/Literature and Music, but I'm currently a Project Manager for an IT company. *insert retching noise here* Oh well, one does what one must - gotta have health insurance! Anyway, I was diagnosed with AS a couple of years ago. Comorbid with ADHD-I and BD. Oh yeah, and Dyscalculia. Yay me.
I've managed to do pretty well for myself, considering, but I sure wish there had been an understanding, hell even an awareness, of such things when I was growing up.
Aidans_Mum
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: 25 Sep 2009
Age: 61
Gender: Female
Posts: 28
Location: Ontario, Canada
Hi! I'm Aidan's Mum, Aidan is my 9½ year old son who was recently diagnosed with AS, although it came as no surprise to us at all. We live in Canada and I'm very protective of our personal information on the internet, I hope you don't mind.
I'm trying to get in to a parent's support group soon (the only local meetings were on bad dates for us) and I'm on a waiting list for some books to read. We have our appointment with our Special Ed teacher on Wednesday, to discuss an IEP. I plan on printing off all of those IEP statements that are posted here, they are wonderful!
We also have a 12½ year old with an anxiety disorder, he had selective mutism at age 5 but is better now but still (of course) has anxiety. Adian's been our challenge though, not knowing how to deal with him and wondering "is this an act?" until his diagnosis confirmed our suspicions.
I'm 45, live in Ontario, happily married to a very supportive man (Aidan's Dad) who also seems to be a wit's end at times. We think we're dealing with this properly and then we realise we're not, we're yelling at poor Aidan or not recognising his true panic. And then of course we feel horrible, like this weekend. Aidan had a meltdown on Thursday night, I lost it and started yelling at him and this also made our 12 year old cry. I've apologised profusely to Aidan for this behaviour but now he seems like it never happened or he doesn't care that it did, back to his usual "monotone" self.
Aidan was a unique baby. He cried 18 hours a day and was inconsolable. As an infant, he would straighten out like an ironing board and you were sure you were about to drop him. I kept telling his doctor that there was something wrong and she tested him for so many physiological problems and we found he had a minor hearing problem brought on by his many ear infections. I kept saying to her "But he's so miserable, cranky, and grumpy" but she thought that this was his 'personality', although NO ONE in my or hubby's family is like that. Two years ago, he had the worst school year ever, and a very uncompromising teacher, that made our whole year bad. Last year, we had a much better teacher who helped us as best as he could and things were getting better, although Aidan HATES school. Aidan has been on Fluvox for the past year, it seems to help with the daily crying spells and the "everyone hates me" spells.
I feel like I'm at the bottom of Mount Everest, I don't have any climbing gear and it's snowing.
Mmmph
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: 29 Sep 2009
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 68
Location: Fantastica
Hello, I'm Terra from Iowa. I like internet humor, fantasy books, really warped humor, and extreme weather. I will stay up all night and focus intently on lighting; even if it means being late for work the following morning. I also really love fog for some reason.
I was diagnosed with ADD as a small child, medicated for that up until highschool, changed doctors, then was diagnosed with Aspergers. And then, medicated for that, too. There was a time I blamed all my problems on autism, but then I learned to embrace it. I stopped taking meds after I turned 18. I feel spacey all the time, but that's how I like it. My favorite place to retreat to is my own mind, where I create worlds.
I like to collect things. I collect little trinkets from throughout my life; little souvineers of my past. Seashells are my favorite. I collect music of all kinds of generes; it all represents what my friends introduced to me and the time in my life I aquired it. Off the top of my head, my favorites are KMFDM, Juno Reactor, Garbage, Beethoven, :wumpscut:. When I'm alone, I dance to my music, and if there's no room to dance, I sing.
I am an atheist. I follow no religion because I don't like "righteous" things people do and say in the name of god. "God hates this, god hates that". I don't believe that we are born sinners; I can sin on my own, and can atone on my own.
I think that I have changed a lot over the years. The two main events that have pulled me out of my "shell" are working in the world of retail where I was forced to learn social skills, and having friends that wouldn't leave me alone. It was a forceful way, but it worked!
Hello!
My name is Markus. I'm 24 years old and I live in Sweden. In 2008 I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, adhd, social anxiety and depression. Although when I'm in a good mood, not even depression can kill my spirit. But if I'm in a bad mood I can't talk to anyone, because I just hate it. My main interest is music, I play the guitar and sing. Singing is my "gift", so to speak. Any artform has been and probably always will be what defines my family. I don't really know about my father though, but he was a bit strange my mother says. So he's probably an artist as well, hehe. I have two brothers, ten and fifteen years older than me. They're both into creating and fixing stuff, none of them are diagnosed with anything. But I think that one of them have Asperger's syndrome. We're so much alike in certain areas it's scary. When I was younger my other brother always said I used to be like him (the one I think have Asperger's). But we're basically not the same, I have different values and stronger principles. He's a much easier guy to hang around. We're equally screwed as far social relationships go though. Anyway, this is not a family history lesson, and I'm really bad with introduction. I usually jump right into discussion. Thanks.
(I've been registered here before but I lost my information, which is very unusual but due to personal stuff I do tend disappear from the internet sometimes.)
Hi, everyone. I'm new to the community. I'm in the closet about my (strongly) suspected AS at the moment, so I'm not going to disclose my real name. You can call me CR.
I'm a female in my late 20s, living in Queens, which is an outer borough of New York City, and the most ethnically diverse borough in the United States. I am not officially diagnosed with AS, probably because it wasn't added to the DSM until I was thirteen years old. I was odd enough as a child to lead to quite a bit of concern among the adults in my life, and a great deal of rejection at the hands of my peers.
As a child, I was diagnosed with ADHD-Inattentive Type and Dyspraxia (embarrassingly SEVERE motor difficulties across the board). These diagnoses are almost definitely accurate, however they don't come close to encompassing everything about me, and the challenges I've been dealing with for as long as I can remember. I now have an MSED in Special Education. With the knowledge I now have, I'm able to see that the people who evaluated me missed quite a bit. It was mentioned that I had "gravitational insecurity" (which I still struggle with) but no mention was made of Sensory Processing Disorder, which I almost definitely have. They were unable to average my IQ test scores, as there was such a huge difference between my Verbal IQ and my Performance IQ, with the former coming out 52 points higher than the latter. The evaluator told my mother in bewilderment that he had never seen anything like that, and didn't know what to make of it. No mention was ever made of Nonverbal Learning Disorder, which I also almost definitely have. It was mentioned that I had significant social difficulties, and couldn'tsem to figure out how to relate to my peers. It was also mentioned that I tended to ask too many questions, and harp on and on about certain topics, not knowing when to stop. No mention was ever made of Aspergers Syndrome. I almost definitely have that as well, which is why I'm here.
in all fairness, all the evaluations I was subjected to took place in the mid-eighties through early nineties. Considering the information that was/ wasn't available at that time, none of this is really very surprising. I was de-classified from all special services in 1993, when I was about to finish sixth grade and start junior high. By that time, I was a complete social outcast who had basically given up on talking into schools after too many incidents of being rejected by my peers for talking too much and/ or saying the wrong thing. However, I was doing reasonably well academically, so it was decided that I no longer in need of any extra help and support. The adults in my life stopped looking for any special needs in me, and started ignoring them instead, even as the torture at the hands of my peers worsened in junior high. The stress lead to some truly disgusting stims on my part, such as compulsiely chewing on the end of my pen, and worse, playing with the used gum other students had left in the desks. I know it was gross, but I was compelled to do it anyway. The year after I was declassified, AS was added to the DSM.
I also have significant (diagnosed) issues with depression and anxiety, both generalized and social. The anxiety in particular complicates my life on a daily basis. I also have significant self esteem issues, and I suspect that the years of persistent bullying and rejection have left me with some form of PTSD. I definitely have some PTSD traits.
Okay, enough of the clinical stuff, and harping on how the education system failed me. Issues in education is a perseveration of mine, and once I get started, it's hard for me to stop.
My obsessions tend involve specific books, movies, TV shows and literary characters, and there are a few different ones I tend to rotate between. The Harry Potter books, and the TV show "Scrubs" are just a couple of examples of this. I have also been becoming obsessed with the show "The Big Bang Theory."
I am also obsessed with children's literature in general, as well as education and special education, particularly at the early childhood level. These days, I relate far better to children than I do adults, which is a complete 180 from my own childhood, when I related far better to adults. I recently landed a position teaching at a preschool which includes both typical children and children on Individualized Education Plans IEPs) My job involves filling in when teachers are out, and when no one's out, I rotate through the rooms providing coverage so teachers can have prep time. I am now coming to the end of my probationary period there, and very much hope to be kept on. It's very difficult to gauge what people think of me when they don't explicitly tell me, so I'm taking nothing for granted.
Otherwise, I have a couple of friends who live some distance away from me. I also have a boyfriend I've been with for close to two years, who I'll call S. S recently started medical school on the other side of the country. Thank heavens for Skype, which allows us to continue to see and talk to each other daily. S has said that he's most likely a little bit Asperger's himself. I agree that he's probably a fellow aspie, though he doesn't share my other issues. He's also significantly more intelligent and high functioning than me. However, he values me for who I am, and I connect with him in a way I've never connected before. I feel very lucky to have found him.
I enjoy reading good books for both adults and children, goofing around on the internet, listening to alternative rock on my i-Tunes. I also enjoy writing fiction and poetry. Recently, I have been focusing on writing stories for young children, and I hope to be published some day.
Cookies for anyone who made it to the bottom of this. I look forward to getting to know everyone here.
_________________
"And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad./ The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had."
Last edited by OuterBoroughGirl on 05 Oct 2009, 8:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Hello everyone!
My name is Matthew, I live in Everett, Massachusetts, which is near Boston and well-accessed by public transportation. My town is ethnically dominated by Italians, Brazilians, as well as Latinos and African-Americans. I have lived around Boston for my entire life.
I first found out about me being autistic about 12-13 years ago. I have high-functioning autism, and I'm trying to get into college where I hope I can start classes by the start of the coming year.
My hobbies include watching Japanese animation (better known as anime), watching and playing sports, video games, internet, fanart and fanfiction, and looking up the history of the world through the many forms of political ideology, among other things. I attend a social group designed specifically for those who has Asperger's or on the Autism Spectrum who live in the Boston area. There are a lot of things that I want to do, but often I cannot make up my mind and sometimes I end up putting off on stuff I should get done.
If anybody wants to know more about me, they can send me a private message! This site is great!