arjen37 introduction

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Hi all,

I am Arjen, 49, from the Netherlands. In 2012 diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. I also recognize myself in ADD and Alexithymia. Divorced, father of two girls, young adults now, also with autisme spectrum disorder diagnosis.

I work over 25 years as a software engineer, the last 21 years for the same company. Bit of luck they accept me the way I am.

Also I volunteer for several Dutch organisations in the autisme area. For those I arrange meetings for adults with autism, help handing out information, sometimes give a presentation about my life with autism, I manage a large Facebook group on autism and have my own site with a lot of information about autism.

Question? Feel free to ask.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Hey

Welcome Arjen!

Ahoy-hoy.

Welcome to WP

Welcome to WP! I hope you'll be able to share some insights where they can help.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

welcome, hope you find what you need. Glad you are with us.

arjen37, Welcome to the Site.

You mentioned that you have Asperger's Syndrome (Aspie) for short. I have that condition. But this condition is not all negatives. It also gives me many positive qualities. Many people with Asperger's have high I.Q. and some of the most brilliant scientist, doctors, writers, musicians, inventors, story tellers also are Aspies (in my humble opinion).

You talked about another one of your conditions Alexithymia. According to Wikipedia:

Alexithymia, also called emotional blindness, is a neuropsychological phenomenon characterized by significant challenges in recognizing, expressing, sourcing, and describing one's emotions.

So I guess using that definition I also have this quality. I tend to see this condition displayed in films and movies. In the original Star Trek series, I would fit in as Mr. Spock.

Thank you all for your welcome. I forgot to turn on notification, so I just saw your messages.

Aspie/ASD for sure is not all negatives. We just have a mind wired different from the general population. Which sometimes gives trouble in understanding (both ways, also known as the Double Empathy Problem), but also can give new insights in things. When people see our strengths we can grow infinite.

arjen37 In my humble opinion the human brain is a very complex organism. This is because we have multiple brains that coexist within us.

One book that I found very interesting was a book by Jill Bolte Taylor called Whole Brain Living. She almost died from a massive stroke at around age 35. It split around the middle of her brain. She came back as a very different person, a right side of her brain person rather then the normal left side dominant person. It was a very interesting book to read and may help you understand more about who you are.