Circumpolar Autistic

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Hello!

I was born and raised within 50 miles of Anchorage, Alaska. I'm 39, in college (Major: English [Rhetoric And Language]; Minor: Japanese), and I write.

I was diagnosed (by a neuropsychologist) with Asperger Syndrome in 2006 for the first time when I was 30. However, in my second neuropsych exam appointment with the same doctor, she confessed that in actuality, I am a High-Functioning Autistic; it should have been my original diagnosis. Of course, now it doesn't matter so much.

(But it kind of does).

Anyway.

I joined Wrong Planet primarily to have fellowship with other Aspies and Auties. Thank you for having me.

Sekhmet

Hey Sekhmet Rising welcome.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Hi, Sekhment. I lived four years in North Pole. I love Alaska, not enough to live there forever, but the four years were a grand adventure. I hope you have a good time here.

I like the Kenai Peninsula. Were you raised there?

Seward's nice, too.

Hello again, everyone!

@RoadRatt:

Thank you so very much!


@AnonymousAnonymous:

Thank you so much, as well!


@lelia:

Hehe... yeah, I'm not sure I could live in North Pole for any extended time LoL! It's frakking COLD up there! I admire you for that! And yes, I love my life here--though I must say, I've never lived anywhere else, so I truly have nothing to compare it to. Given the choice? I would never move. (Okay, I might be really okay moving to Homer, which is about 250 miles/4.5 hours south of Anchorage). Did you ever get to make it down to Anchorage when you were here?


@kraftiekortie:

I was born & raised about 20 miles north of Anchorage in a small town called Peter's Creek, within driving distance of the Kenai Peninsual. And totally LOVE the Kenai Peninsual: Homer, Seward, Anchor Point, Sterling, Ninilchik, etc. We've been discussing lately the logistics of moving to Homer. Seward is an awesome city! Did you get to go to the Sealife Center when you were here?

Oddly enough, I preferred North Pole to Anchorage as Anchorage is so much damper and therefore the cold hurts far worse. We traveled around a bit when we could (having a severely autistic daughter who did not want to travel did limit us a bit). We liked Fairbanks, Wasilla, Anchorage, Eagle River, Valdez, and that town whose name I can't remember on the side of a mountain where everybody in town lives in one building with a view of a glacier on one side and the sound on the other. We enjoyed the long train ride through the mountain and then the ferry ride among seals and blue bergs and what not. We lost our son for several hours on one trip. Eeek.
Instead of long walks, which we were used to enjoying, we biked for recreation so we could stay ahead of the mosquitoes. We lived in a log cabin which looked like lincoln logs held together with orange glue.
What I like best about Alaska was whenever I would need to pull to the side of the road while driving because my daughter was trying to damage me (sometimes I would take her to an outing that got cancelled at the last minute and she did not take changes in scheduling at all well) someone would always stop to see if I needed help. (Sometimes it took only a few minutes to die when your car broke down so most of us carried that awareness in the back of our minds. Obviously, the ones who died didn't. Yeah, we stopped to help each other.)
That I homeschooled my boys was not only NOT unusual, but actually supported by the state was wonderful. After Texas, which kept trying to jail my homeschooling acquaintances, Alaska was a joy. Beautiful state. High proportion of beautiful people. I think I had it in me to stay another winter or two, but we had to leave the air force and go back home to help take care of my husband's mother who came down with alzheimer's and deal with the adopted daughter's fetal alcohol effect, as well as try to set up a post-graduation situation for our autistic daughter. We now live in the Vancouver on the Columbia River.