New here - intro and hello!

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Hi all,

Call me Frank. I'm 20M, living in Ireland. Randomly came across this forum and figured I could give it a go. I was always a "weird kid" growing up but I first realised I might be autistic when I was 14 and talking to an online friend who was diagnosed. I saw a lot of similarities between us so I approached them to try and figure out if that might be the case for me too. Later in life I brought it up with my psychiatrist who assessed me but didn't give me an "official" diagnosis because where I'm originally from (I moved to Ireland three years ago so I'm not quite "local") getting an autism diagnosis pretty much hinders any possibility of getting a proper job, getting certain medication and more. I never told my parents about it either, like I said - back at home it was heavily stigmatised. Now I've been living on my own in a country that's much more accepting of neurodiverse people so I feel more comfortable sharing my story with the others.

Anyhoo, a bit of an intro. I live and breathe music and film (favourite directors are the Coen brothers and Jim Jarmusch). My current special interest is the 70s-80s New York art scene in particular. I love Tom Waits music (also currently reading his biography), David Bowie, Ian Dury and John Lurie. I have been getting into photography lately - I am partial to Andy Warhol, Nan Goldin and Anders Petersen. I'm looking for more friends and people to chat on here, about shared interests or pretty much anything else. Tom Waits is a big special interest of mine at the moment so my name on here and my profile picture are a little shout out to him.

Looking forward to meeting new friends on here. The forum looks like a lovely place to be.

Cheers, F.

Hi Frank. Welcome.

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Love is all ♪

Welcome to Wrong Planet! I hope you enjoy it here.

Hi Frank,
Welcome aboard.

Welcome to WP! I hope you enjoy revisiting here.


And I agree with your logic on not getting a formal diagnosis...at least not yet. Perhaps in a few decades when you've firmly established yourself a formal diagnosis might be more of conversation piece and less a problem.

Before I was 64 I knew virtually nothing about the Autism Spectrum and would've dismissed as rude any suggestion I was on it. But then happenstance caused me to read about Autism on the Internet and it sure sounded like me...so I got my official diagnosis a few days before my 65th birthday. It was a surprise but it explained so much.

By the time I got the diagnosis I'd been comfortably retired for almost a decade. For me it was just "interesting".

Welcome to Wrong Planet! Big David Bowie fan here too!! ! I’m also new here and have found a supportive and accepting community! Welcome aboard!

Thank you all for the kind welcome, I feel like I'm going to like it here.

Ziggy Stardust, cheers! How long have you been a fan for? I discovered him when I was just entering my teens and my world was turned upside down... But in the best way possible. As I was growing up, thanks to Bowie I felt like I could express myself the way I wanted to and not care about what anyone else thinks. That's still one of my most important rules of life. When I was 14 I dyed my hair and cut it into a Ziggy-esque mullet and I've been rocking it ever since.

@maninorbit: only been a fan for about 7 years or so, and I’m 52 years old!! ! I have read probably 10 biographies, and/or memoirs about David Bowie! I haven’t done my hair like his, though I think that’s awesome!! I do have 13 Bowie t-shirts (that’s the only ones I wear in public), and 13 CDs, and only two books about Bowie! Definitely a special interest!

He too inspired and empowered me to be myself and probably helped me to realize my neurodivergence!!

Enjoy your visits here and “Love you till Tuesday”!

Welcome to the Planet Maninorbit..!

Hi maninorbit, Welcome to Wrong Planet.

You wrote, "I was always a "weird kid" growing up but I first realised I might be autistic when I was 14 and talking to an online friend who was diagnosed."

Let me try and explain a little here from my perspective. The human brain has two sides, one on the left side of the skull and the other on the right side. They are different brains. Normally, the left side becomes the dominant brain and the right side becomes the support brain. As a child under around age 12 both our brains are active during the daytime. But after that age, the two sides separate and the right side becomes the brain that is primarily active during our sleep.

Now here is the important part. Some of us die before we reach this age. Our left side of our brain dies and the right side come on line and takes its place. But it is a very different brain. It is like we are living on the Wrong Planet. In my case, I died when I was around age 3 or 4. I was attacked by a large bull and I died and experienced what is know as a Near Death Experience. My left brain came online a few hours after the incident and I stood next to my dead body. I made the decision to live and at age 76, I am still here. Life was fine as a child. I was a little different but most children accepted me. In a way I was a little like Peter Pan. But then around age 11 or 12, my whole world ended and I was attacked by the other kids in school both physically and mentally for 3 years. They tried to break me but in the end they discovered they couldn't so they fled away.

So welcome to Wrong Planet. You have a skill set, a unique skill set that other people do not have. It gives you certain advantages in life. Some of us have very high I.Q.s. Many of us are artist, musicians, poets, writers, scientist, doctors, and great thinkers.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

hi and welcome!