Hi all....
My name is Scott, founder of Greater Chattanooga Aspies. I made an introduction about GCA and its mission statement in another forum, so you can read more about my organization there. One thing I will say is that having a support group has enabled me to work on social skills and see people in the group make new friends with others as well. I have lived in the United States my entire life, although I went to Canada for a week. So, that's the highlight of my international tourist experience (although it would nice to go to many places I haven't yet).
I am an offiically diagnosed Aspie as of 2007, and received written notification in 2010 for the AS. I'm 44, celebrating my 45th birthday in April 2012. When my mom was 40 and I was in my early teens, I thought to myself, "There is no way I'll be 40.. .40 is too old." Next thing I know, I'm in my 40s and my mom is in her 70s. Go figure. Social skills was an area I struggled at for a long time. Even today, even a joke flies above my head (like some person trying to discuss something very complex) and I might not get it right away. I figure it's all part of the grand plan of what I signed up for having high functioning autism. However, I can carry my own in a conversation, especially if it's a topic of interest to me.
Although many NTs cannot tell I am AS (unless I disclose it to them), I get along well with people of all walks of life. I have strong social justive values, am progressive, and enjoy great conversation (I've even managed the chit chat about the weather and such). I have a variety of interests, which include college football/college basketball, writing, all things numbers, outdoors, cooking, and autism advocacy. I love going to universities and finding out the history behind them. I am studying HMTL/CSS in my spare time to build GCA's future website (after the initial one goes up), so website development interests me as well. I am much more interested in playing board and card games off the computer than on them. I have outgrown playing Tecmo Bowl and other computer games, so I ponder the philosophical meaning from time to time behind playing a computer game online. I'll take a quiet day out in nature over a computer game.
That's me in a nutshell (or a pretty big peanut, if you consider that what I wrote was quite a bit). I'm always interested in chatting it up over autism advocacy, brainstorming ideas for Aspie meetings, and so much more. Your msgs and emails are welcomed.
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Scott, Founder/Program Director - GCA Centre for Adult Autism
The mission of GCA Centre for Adult Autism:"Empowering the lives of autistic adults and young adults and their parents/caregivers by serving as a resource center to provide mutual support, information, and activities" in the Southeast USA
http://www.gcaspies.org2nd Annual Southeast Adult Autism Symposium- Early Bird online registration starts in late March 2018
- More information can be found at
http://www.gcaspies.org/symposiumhomepage