New Alien Landed

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Hello All,
My name is Jillian and I identify as an AuDHD cavewoman. I finally figured out my ND a few years ago, after my son self-diagnosed as AuDHD. Turns out he released much of our family from the chains of neurotypical captivity. I am an LCSW and (uh-oh) I specialize in AuDHD but **I am here to be my non-clinical self** and hopefully make some friends. Fun story: My mom wanted me to be an engineer so we (I) compromised and became a social worker. Jokes on her! In truth, I should have been a farmer. I LOVE gardening and growing food. I live on what I refer to as a small hobby farm and I grow various tree and vine fruit, chestnuts, pecans, olives, vegetables, and I raise chickens for eggs. I have three, main special interests: the farming food thing, hiking in western backcountry, and dogs. My dogs are also hyperfocused on hiking so it works out. I have three adult-ish kids, all are Ausome people. I'm curious to be here and also, about the cavewoman part: I am happiest off social media and as disconnected from modern life as possible. And while I speak fluent symbolism: I. do. NOT. speak Emojiese. If you send me an emoji, I will not understand it. I know, it's a little backward but please bear with me. I am GenX and I remember when the world was in black and white (this is a joke) and what a clear summer day sounded and smelled like before cell phones, so much air traffic, and Axe body spray (this is not a joke - it was so lovely).

Welcome Jilian hope you have lots of interesting interesting interactions here on WP. Welcome. Still a few baby boomers left alive here so, can understand , about how things were in the time before now. Big Smiles inserted here.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Disconnecting from the internet is certainly an admirable goal; I would do it myself but it's the only way to communicate in my generation. WP is a nice place though. I hope you like it.

Welcome to our planet, best in the system where we can all strive to be princes or princesses of our unique provinces. Enjoy getting to know the lay of the land.

Hi Circe,
(You chose a handle, I hope you don't mind having it abbreviated)
Welcome to WP.
Would love to see a picture of your dogs in -Post a pic-
You'll need an image host that allows direct access to the image (as opposed to a webpage with the image on it. I suggest https://postimages.org/)

Interesting post. You are the second person (at least) to complain about emojis. Therefore, it has been decided. As one of my New Year's Resolutions, I will no longer use emojis on Wrong Planet in deference to our brothers and sisters in the community. If I forget, remind me because I suffer from CRS (Can't Remember ... )

I am Gen X too and remember a better day, back in the day. I rather liked landline phones for one thing. And answering machines.

No idea what AuDHD means but let's check my old friend Wikipedia. "The term AuDHD is sometimes used for those with both autism and ADHD." As a regular, I can tell you there are plenty of AuDHD on this forum, however that is a new acronym on me and possibly them too, however I think it is a good one to use. My brother is same, I believe. I think that my entire nuclear family was autistic, but only my brother was ADHD. However, I suspect there is an advantage to ADHD, in terms of energy levels and interest variety. My brother is a very active, energetic, physical sort. So, I believe it is not all disadvantage, I think the overall equation has some balance to it.

The farming sounds wholesome and fun, I would like to get into that sort of thing when I retire perhaps, but I don't know whether I am good with plants. My mother let me grow things in the backyard, but as I recall, they did not fare well. Now during the pandemic, I bought African violets, and they lasted about two years, but have been dying off at a steady rate. I forget to water them, or else water too much, and no matter what I do, they wither and just don't seem to be doing well at all. It is likely that they need to be transplanted. The store probably puts them in Miracle Gro and that stuff only is good for about a year or so.

BarefootCirce, Welcome to Wrong Planet.

You used quite a bit of abbreviations. I am not really a fan of abbreviations, but I will drill into them. According to the internet:

AuDHD refers to having both autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

LCSW refers to Licensed Clinical Social Workers hold a master's degree in social work and are licensed to provide diagnoses and counseling services to individuals suffering from mental, behavioral, and other emotional issues.

Then you wrote about you skills, "I should have been a farmer. I LOVE gardening and growing food. I live on what I refer to as a small hobby farm and I grow various tree and vine fruit, chestnuts, pecans, olives, vegetables, and I raise chickens for eggs."

It sounds like you found your true calling in life. Around 50 years ago, I left the city life and went deep into the country, bought 35 acres of land and built my home. It is a fabulous unique home, a one of a kind home. I love building things. You talked about growing chestnuts. There is a tree in the U.S. that has been killed. It is called the American Chestnut tree. There are four main varieties of chestnut trees. These are the American Chestnut (Castanea dentata), European Chestnut (C. sativa), Chinese Chestnut (C. mollissima) and Japanese Chestnut (C. crenata). Around a hundred years ago a dominant tree, the American Chestnut was destroyed by a blight.

American Chestnuts were present in North America during the Eocene Epoch, beginning over 50 Million years ago. The chestnut tree became one of the dominant species in eastern North America from what is now southern Maine, growing west to the Great Lakes and south to the Gulf Coast. In the cool, moist, temperate rainforest in the Smoky Mountains, trees grew 12′ or more in diameter, and over 100′ tall. But a blight from China killed off these trees, billions and billions of trees. It happened around 100 years ago.

But some very smart people, much smarter then me began to bring them back. They began to try and build a blight resistant variety of this great tree. I have purchased some of these trees and they are growing and producing chestnuts. So in a small way I am trying to bring back something that has died. This year they produced about 4 pounds of chestnuts.



What else can I say? You and your children may have autism but that gives them special skills. Skills that other humans do not have, do not possess. We are explorers. We love the outdoors. Someday we may join Elon Musk and travel to the stars.

Welcome to the wrong planet!

HHH *

* "Howdy Howdy Howdy".

Welcome to WP! I hope you like it here.

P.S. I am "Double Retired". Both retirements were from careers in computers. And I don't trust computers. I do like to use the Internet and I do not trust it, either. I have two computers on my desk, one connected to the Internet (this one) and one not (the one I do "important" stuff on). I do have a phone, it is on my desk and connected to the wall by a wire. Our TV is not connected to the Internet, either...we have an antenna in the attic.

I am not a fan of social media, either. I am not on Facebook.

But I am on Wrong Planet, and I like it here!

Welcome to Wrong Planet from a fellow Oregonian!