*Blows on the Mic* ?Hello, Is this thing on??

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Greetings!

I'd like to begin my introduction by sharing a vivid memory from early childhood (I was around five or so) that continues to haunt and define me to this day. I was standing in my own backyard while a number of children from around the neighborhood were actively engaged in playing, swinging, and generally doing what kids that age do ? or did at that time (mid-late 60s). I felt like an outsider watching the activities, but with no clue how to become a part of the idyllic scene. While obviously I was too young to make the intellectual connection that I was different in some way, I have since come to would realize that my brain just was wired differently than most people.

Fast forward about 46 years. I'm now 51 and after doing extensive research on AS, I've come to the conclusion that I am probably on the autism spectrum. Time after time I have these ?ah, ha!? moments while reading on the subject and from perusing this forum.

Most of my life, I've been plagued by social anxiety, an inability to focus or concentrate for long period (ADD, I suspect), and singular obsessions that can go on for sometimes years. Like many people with AD, I've learned to blend in with NT individuals by forcing myself to act and behave in a fashion that is constantly a struggle for me.

Currently, my life is in a bit of a state of limbo as I am serving as the primary caregiver to my 92-year-old mother while getting my writing career back on track. (I compose mostly internet content at the moment.)

Anyway, I look forward to conversing and getting to know the folks in this forum.

Welcome to WrongPlanet, VegetableMan! I'm sure you'll find others whose interests match yours.

Thank you, LoneyJar. I'm sure you are quite correct.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Thank you kindly, AnonymousAnonymous.

Hi, VegetableMan! There are some of us older Aspies here on Wrong Planet. We don't have our own forum or hangout on here, though I think we ought to since more and more of us over 40s are realizing that Aspie or Autistic traits gibe with our past and present behavior. And we end up here, reading posts and saying, "yes, I do that too!" or "When I was 3 (or 5 or 10 or 20), I was like that!"

But we also have unique problems from being older and not being diagnosed. From having to fit in -- or not -- as best we could. Not being able to say what we needed to be more comfortable around people and be taken seriously. Not understanding why we just couldn't deal with something most other people didn't even notice.

Hello,OnPorpoise,

Yes, I've noticed a fair amount of older members here, which is why I felt comfortable in finally registering and posting.

Very true, indeed! I think since I began to strongly believe I'm on the autism spectrum, it's given me a sense of understanding that will hopefully lead to being to cope with all those issues more effectively. Even if in time if I come to the conclusion that my self diagnoses has been in error, I have a feeling I'll still take away something valuable from the associations I hope to cultivate here, since the similarities to myself are obviously striking.

Thanks for a thoughtful post!

Welcome to WrongPlanet. Being relatively new myself, in terms of how much I have actually interacted here since registering a while back, it seems a little arrogant to welcome you, but hey, hello anyway.

The outsider feeling is very familiar to me. I recall wandering around the playground hoping someone would invite me to join their games. I don't recall thinking that taking the initiative was an option, or perhaps I feared rejection. I know - looking back - that I made some really basic social errors that are obvious to me now, but I evidently did not realise they were unacceptable at the time.

I began to get the feeling that Asperger's best accounted for my struggles a few years ago. I then sought a diagnosis which I was fortunate enough to gain - though I do think it is a bit of a lottery with something so complex. Tbh, I know enough about life and this 'condition' (way of being) to have talked up the stuff that points to my Aspie-ness. I think this was especially necessary tho, as time and learned behaviour has dulled the more obvious manifestations of the way I am wired, in that endeavour to fit in that is familiar to so many of us.

I certainly relate to the experience of knowing I was different from an early age, though the final 'why' has only come recently. There is something about those 'ah-hah' moments that relieved much of the pressure I placed on myself. Having been labelled depressed - amongst other things - it is good to realise that this was an effect rather than the root cause of many of the challenges. The biggest relief it to be able to tell myself "It is okay, I am not wrong, I don't need to be fixed/get better/whatever, I simply need to accept and work with the way I am made, and what that means in this alien world that I inhabit.

I appear to have hijacked your self-introduction, VegetableMan, in order to re-introduce myself. Hope you don't mind. Welcome anyway.

Nahhh, not arrogant at all, Dithra. You still have more posts than me, eh? In fact, I actually considered making my initial post on someone else's welcome thread strictly for the sense of irony. Heh! I wisely chose to ignore that impulse.

I don't mind at all, I encourage all comments of any kind. Thanks for the welcome!

Btw, I meant to say how much I liked the heading to your intro. The image of blowing on the mic and asking if it is on was suitably amusing. Ta!

*stops flattering new online pal and shuffles off*

I will never discourage flattery, but you might want to be careful since I already suffer the delusion that I'm one of the 10 funniest people on the internet! Heh! Appreciate the compliment, Dithra!

Hello and Welcome from me too VegetableMan!

51 and recently self-diagnosed myself. That being the case I can't think of much to say right now that's not already been said in the above posts (yours included).

Aint it great to know you're not alone down here though?

Hi Stringy! Thanks for the welcome.

Absolutely!

Welcome to WP! Your situation reminds me uncannily of my own.

Like you, I've made quite a few posts on the "Say something rude...." thread. Let me assure you, I'm not as bad as I seem (and neither is Babybird!!).

Thanks for the welcome, DeepHour!

I don't know why, but the "Say something rude..." thread just kind of sucked me in. It quite enjoyable, harmless, verbal sparring.

not sure whether I am correct in thinking that the Dino-Aspie Ex-Café might be a bit of a hangout for those of us 'feeling creaky' on occasion

Hi VegetableMan, welcome to WP