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General Discussion
Discuss your favorites: TV shows, music, games and hobbies.
TOPIC | FR Autistics
I'm 31, and was diagnosed with an Aspergers/bipolar combination just six months ago. I always knew I was different to everyone else, but was also way too paranoid to try to get help - I was convinced that doctors and therapists were only interested in helping "normal" people that like socialising and children and such, or if they wanted to help me, it would only be to try to make me "normal"... and I LIKE being weird. Normal people are boring and shallow. So it took really ending up in a very strange and dark place for me to try to get help, which eventually lead to the dual diagnosis (after being passed around five doctors, two therapists and two psychiatric nurses who couldn't make any sense of me.)
Six weeks ago, I was fired from my job because of my diagnosis. A job that I had for nearly 10 years, where my bosses liked to boast about my "special brain" when clients had a weird problem that needed solving and I was the ONLY one who could figure it out. But as soon as there was an official diagnosis, they didn't want me anymore. Yeah, I know I should sue... but I really don't want the stress.
My special interests vary over time, and tend to come and go. I tend to obsess solidly about a couple of things for a while, then switch to something else. But my loves include:
* Fantasy
* Particularly dragons
* Particularly FLUFFY dragons
* Sci-fi
* Stargate SG-1
* Pokemon
* Plushies (recently taught myself how to make them)
* Dolphins and whales
* Cephalopods
* Invertebrates in general
* Writing
* Drawing
Sensory issues are a big thing for me. I can't stand most foods either because of taste or texture. I hate high-pitched noises, particularly the screaming of babies/children (which is nail-on-blackboard painful for me).
But on the flip side, I really enjoy my sensitivity to colour... there's nothing more glorious than those days when everything is bright and vivid, when brightly coloured things seem to glow.
Six weeks ago, I was fired from my job because of my diagnosis. A job that I had for nearly 10 years, where my bosses liked to boast about my "special brain" when clients had a weird problem that needed solving and I was the ONLY one who could figure it out. But as soon as there was an official diagnosis, they didn't want me anymore. Yeah, I know I should sue... but I really don't want the stress.
My special interests vary over time, and tend to come and go. I tend to obsess solidly about a couple of things for a while, then switch to something else. But my loves include:
* Fantasy
* Particularly dragons
* Particularly FLUFFY dragons
* Sci-fi
* Stargate SG-1
* Pokemon
* Plushies (recently taught myself how to make them)
* Dolphins and whales
* Cephalopods
* Invertebrates in general
* Writing
* Drawing
Sensory issues are a big thing for me. I can't stand most foods either because of taste or texture. I hate high-pitched noises, particularly the screaming of babies/children (which is nail-on-blackboard painful for me).
But on the flip side, I really enjoy my sensitivity to colour... there's nothing more glorious than those days when everything is bright and vivid, when brightly coloured things seem to glow.
I'm 31, and was diagnosed with an Aspergers/bipolar combination just six months ago. I always knew I was different to everyone else, but was also way too paranoid to try to get help - I was convinced that doctors and therapists were only interested in helping "normal" people that like socialising and children and such, or if they wanted to help me, it would only be to try to make me "normal"... and I LIKE being weird. Normal people are boring and shallow. So it took really ending up in a very strange and dark place for me to try to get help, which eventually lead to the dual diagnosis (after being passed around five doctors, two therapists and two psychiatric nurses who couldn't make any sense of me.)
Six weeks ago, I was fired from my job because of my diagnosis. A job that I had for nearly 10 years, where my bosses liked to boast about my "special brain" when clients had a weird problem that needed solving and I was the ONLY one who could figure it out. But as soon as there was an official diagnosis, they didn't want me anymore. Yeah, I know I should sue... but I really don't want the stress.
My special interests vary over time, and tend to come and go. I tend to obsess solidly about a couple of things for a while, then switch to something else. But my loves include:
* Fantasy
* Particularly dragons
* Particularly FLUFFY dragons
* Sci-fi
* Stargate SG-1
* Pokemon
* Plushies (recently taught myself how to make them)
* Dolphins and whales
* Cephalopods
* Invertebrates in general
* Writing
* Drawing
Sensory issues are a big thing for me. I can't stand most foods either because of taste or texture. I hate high-pitched noises, particularly the screaming of babies/children (which is nail-on-blackboard painful for me).
But on the flip side, I really enjoy my sensitivity to colour... there's nothing more glorious than those days when everything is bright and vivid, when brightly coloured things seem to glow.
Six weeks ago, I was fired from my job because of my diagnosis. A job that I had for nearly 10 years, where my bosses liked to boast about my "special brain" when clients had a weird problem that needed solving and I was the ONLY one who could figure it out. But as soon as there was an official diagnosis, they didn't want me anymore. Yeah, I know I should sue... but I really don't want the stress.
My special interests vary over time, and tend to come and go. I tend to obsess solidly about a couple of things for a while, then switch to something else. But my loves include:
* Fantasy
* Particularly dragons
* Particularly FLUFFY dragons
* Sci-fi
* Stargate SG-1
* Pokemon
* Plushies (recently taught myself how to make them)
* Dolphins and whales
* Cephalopods
* Invertebrates in general
* Writing
* Drawing
Sensory issues are a big thing for me. I can't stand most foods either because of taste or texture. I hate high-pitched noises, particularly the screaming of babies/children (which is nail-on-blackboard painful for me).
But on the flip side, I really enjoy my sensitivity to colour... there's nothing more glorious than those days when everything is bright and vivid, when brightly coloured things seem to glow.
I'm very glad you started this thread - thank you! I'm much older than many on the site - 49 - and have a 16yo daughter on here. We were both diagnosed with Asperger's in 2008 and my son (6yo - obviously not on FR, but loves to help us with dragon names) was diagnosed with moderate autism in 2011. He has been in early intervention programs since he was 3yo and is probably the most verbal 6yo I've ever met. Both are enthusiastic about Minecraft (on tablets) and Legos.
I homeschool my daughter since her level of anxiety makes it difficult for her to be in a classroom. That option was not available when I was a kid, so I'm glad things have changed. I do have a few very close friends, some I've known for decades and who are able to accept me as I am.
I studied anthropology so I could better understand humans and I've learned adaptive behavior over time. I would say I still have several issues with sound, bright lights, certain odors, and touch if I don't expect it.
Our household is pretty normal for us. We understand that volume of noise = a strong reaction from 3/4 of the family, so we try to be aware of sudden noises. I often have to remind my kids who don't necessarily hear how loud their voices are to keep it down a bit. I love music, but certain frequencies bother me.
I held off on pursuing a college degree until I was in my late 30s, so I wound up spending close to a decade pursuing degrees in anthropology, history, and library science. My goal was to work in a library, museum, archive, or historical society - cultural preservation. Until I'm satisfied my daughter is more self-reliant, I'm holding off on a career and volunteer at my son's school. It can be a bit overwhelming with a dozen plus little people in my face. Usually takes me a couple of days to decompress from all of that. However, I find it a bit invigorating and it pushes me to use my skills and fascination with how people interact to work through some of my social anxiety.
Right now, most of my interests are on stand-by while things are sorted out with my kids. The whole multi-tasking thing just isn't something I do well, and if I focus on my own interests too much, I lose focus on them ;)
I homeschool my daughter since her level of anxiety makes it difficult for her to be in a classroom. That option was not available when I was a kid, so I'm glad things have changed. I do have a few very close friends, some I've known for decades and who are able to accept me as I am.
I studied anthropology so I could better understand humans and I've learned adaptive behavior over time. I would say I still have several issues with sound, bright lights, certain odors, and touch if I don't expect it.
Our household is pretty normal for us. We understand that volume of noise = a strong reaction from 3/4 of the family, so we try to be aware of sudden noises. I often have to remind my kids who don't necessarily hear how loud their voices are to keep it down a bit. I love music, but certain frequencies bother me.
I held off on pursuing a college degree until I was in my late 30s, so I wound up spending close to a decade pursuing degrees in anthropology, history, and library science. My goal was to work in a library, museum, archive, or historical society - cultural preservation. Until I'm satisfied my daughter is more self-reliant, I'm holding off on a career and volunteer at my son's school. It can be a bit overwhelming with a dozen plus little people in my face. Usually takes me a couple of days to decompress from all of that. However, I find it a bit invigorating and it pushes me to use my skills and fascination with how people interact to work through some of my social anxiety.
Right now, most of my interests are on stand-by while things are sorted out with my kids. The whole multi-tasking thing just isn't something I do well, and if I focus on my own interests too much, I lose focus on them ;)
I'm very glad you started this thread - thank you! I'm much older than many on the site - 49 - and have a 16yo daughter on here. We were both diagnosed with Asperger's in 2008 and my son (6yo - obviously not on FR, but loves to help us with dragon names) was diagnosed with moderate autism in 2011. He has been in early intervention programs since he was 3yo and is probably the most verbal 6yo I've ever met. Both are enthusiastic about Minecraft (on tablets) and Legos.
I homeschool my daughter since her level of anxiety makes it difficult for her to be in a classroom. That option was not available when I was a kid, so I'm glad things have changed. I do have a few very close friends, some I've known for decades and who are able to accept me as I am.
I studied anthropology so I could better understand humans and I've learned adaptive behavior over time. I would say I still have several issues with sound, bright lights, certain odors, and touch if I don't expect it.
Our household is pretty normal for us. We understand that volume of noise = a strong reaction from 3/4 of the family, so we try to be aware of sudden noises. I often have to remind my kids who don't necessarily hear how loud their voices are to keep it down a bit. I love music, but certain frequencies bother me.
I held off on pursuing a college degree until I was in my late 30s, so I wound up spending close to a decade pursuing degrees in anthropology, history, and library science. My goal was to work in a library, museum, archive, or historical society - cultural preservation. Until I'm satisfied my daughter is more self-reliant, I'm holding off on a career and volunteer at my son's school. It can be a bit overwhelming with a dozen plus little people in my face. Usually takes me a couple of days to decompress from all of that. However, I find it a bit invigorating and it pushes me to use my skills and fascination with how people interact to work through some of my social anxiety.
Right now, most of my interests are on stand-by while things are sorted out with my kids. The whole multi-tasking thing just isn't something I do well, and if I focus on my own interests too much, I lose focus on them ;)
I homeschool my daughter since her level of anxiety makes it difficult for her to be in a classroom. That option was not available when I was a kid, so I'm glad things have changed. I do have a few very close friends, some I've known for decades and who are able to accept me as I am.
I studied anthropology so I could better understand humans and I've learned adaptive behavior over time. I would say I still have several issues with sound, bright lights, certain odors, and touch if I don't expect it.
Our household is pretty normal for us. We understand that volume of noise = a strong reaction from 3/4 of the family, so we try to be aware of sudden noises. I often have to remind my kids who don't necessarily hear how loud their voices are to keep it down a bit. I love music, but certain frequencies bother me.
I held off on pursuing a college degree until I was in my late 30s, so I wound up spending close to a decade pursuing degrees in anthropology, history, and library science. My goal was to work in a library, museum, archive, or historical society - cultural preservation. Until I'm satisfied my daughter is more self-reliant, I'm holding off on a career and volunteer at my son's school. It can be a bit overwhelming with a dozen plus little people in my face. Usually takes me a couple of days to decompress from all of that. However, I find it a bit invigorating and it pushes me to use my skills and fascination with how people interact to work through some of my social anxiety.
Right now, most of my interests are on stand-by while things are sorted out with my kids. The whole multi-tasking thing just isn't something I do well, and if I focus on my own interests too much, I lose focus on them ;)
Hi! It looks like I didn't post in this thread already, I must have only introduced myself as autistic w/in my own flight...
ANYway.
I was diagnosed with OCD, ADD, and clinical depression when I was very young (young enough that I could not tell you how old I was, just that I remember various therapists and doctors, and trying medications, and all that stuff), and then when I was in college, my (late) dad, and my younger brother and I were all diagnosed with Asperger's, and then more recently my diagnosis was adjusted to just Autism, that was somewhat before they took Asperger's off the DSM and replaced it all with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
My mother is a specialist in autism education. Her main job is in diagnosing pre-K kids in her school district, when they're referred to her offices, and because of our family situation, she's able to tell parents of the kids she does diagnose that it's okay and that you can still have a loving relationship with your kids even if they don't express their emotions outwardly the way you expect, that they can still grow up to find love or success even if it's not exactly what you dreamed for them, and to not mourn the child you don't have. Which is good. (It's a little weird how she's so great at understanding autistic people who aren't her own kids, but we often have to explain our stuff to her more than once... but the important thing is that she tries to be understanding and to modify her behavior where necessary instead of merely expecting us to modify ours. We've also got a neurotypical sister who's really good at knowing what might trigger us and when to step lightly or stop asking questions, or when to provide a distraction).
MY AREAS OF INTEREST:
-Various fandoms (I don't lose interest in a fandom completely when I move on to something new, though the new thing will often dominate my fandom time-- I still hold the same love for my old fandoms and often cycle through them). Most notably- Sherlock Holmes (the books first, followed by many but not all adaptations, this was one of my first obsessions because Sherlock Holmes reminded me of myself in ways I was not equipped to articulate), Star Trek (TOS and DS9 first and foremost), Team Fortress 2, PACIFIC RIM!... (and Night Vale, but I'm very behind because I started to empathize so strongly with Cecil that I couldn't listen for a while because it was stressing me out on a physical level)
-Octopi! And other sea critters-- Pinnipeds, cetaceans, anything deep sea and weird. Sharks as well. (also mermaids and other not-so-real sea creatures)
-CATS. Let me tell you about my cat. My cat is the best cat, but every cat is a pretty great cat. I've forgotten more about cats than most of my acquaintances know. That's not true, I remember most of what I've learned about cats.
-Dinosaurs Dinosaurs Dinosaurs.
-Disneyana. Films, memorabilia, trivia, parks, it's my happy place and it reminds me of my dad. I mean, I love animation (and illustrative art) in general, but my dad used to work at Disneyland when he was in college, so he knew all this stuff about the park, and he loved the movies his whole life, and he was born in '55 and my grandmother took him when he was six months old when it first opened, and so Disney and Disneyland make me think of him.
-Fantasy. And sci-fi, though I don't lump them together. And all the -punk subgenres of both. And just the academic, meta sort of study of the evolution of genre fiction and of subcultures that have sprung up out of them. Also mythology and children's literature.
-TOYS. I collect dolls, action figures, and some plush things, little figurines, all sorts of miniatures... That's one that my brother and I share, but he also *makes* toys, and has a focus on the history of playthings and on Lego.
-I LOVE ROBOTS.
-Tabletop gaming. D&D (and others-- I've got a couple GURPS books and an old Batman RPG of all things that I found once for a buck), and board games. I am a huge board game geek and I wish I had table space (ours is craft central so there's never any room, someone's always using it to sculpt or sew or stage photographs or lay out paints...), and more games... Casual party games, euro-style ones, ones with cards, ones with a bunch of little pieces... I love them all.
-Theatre. Theatre literally saved my life. Also it taught me how to communicate with the neurotypical world. I love going to plays, and I love acting. (If you've never seen 'Who Am I This Time?' I recommend it-- it's based on a Vonnegut short story, it was a made for TV movie with Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon. She plays a woman who moves to a small town while working for a telephone company, and she auditions for a community theatre production, and this guy comes in, asks 'who am I this time?', they hand him a script, and BAM. He's the most brilliant, electrifying thing she's ever seen. She kind of falls in love with him. Then she sees him at the hardware store where he works, and he can't make eye contact with her, he can only talk about what the hardware store sells... She's mystified, but eventually they work things out and they go on dates where she brings him scripts and they read scenes from plays together and they connect through theatre and he expresses himself that way and I'm getting a little emotional but anyway yeah that's me)
I'm leaving out stuff I know, but I'm also starting to ramble a lot.
AUTISM STUFF:
-Sensory overload is a huge thing for me, as is misophonia. In my case, the sound of certain fabrics getting rubbed or scratched makes me literally sick to my stomach. Certain high pitched tones set off a headache and bother me, but the fabric noise is the only one that really sends me into hiding.
-Textural issues with food. More than taste, texture is what puts me off of something I don't like. I can't eat couscous (I couldn't eat rice for a couple years when I was a kid, though now there are rice dishes that I enjoy-- still won't touch rice pudding with a ten foot pole (why would I touch something with a ten foot pole to begin with?)). I don't like cooked vegetables to be mushy, don't do tapioca...
-Social anxiety is way better than it used to be, but I do still get hit with it sometimes.
-THINGS HAPPENING IN MY PERIPHERAL... SENSORY AREA. It's not even vision, because I freak out if I feel something move behind me where I can't see at all. I keep my back to the wall like I was a veteran poker player or a secret agent. Hate having people move behind me. I'm hard to sneak up on, but easy to startle, because knowing something is there doesn't prevent the physical startle reflex.
-Time as a concept??? Like, what does five minutes feel like? Either it feels like thirty seconds or an hour depending on what I'm doing, I've got no set sense of it but outside of periods of waiting/boredom, it always goes by so fast and I feel really left behind by it. (the song 'The Future Just Ain't What It Used To Be' sums up my feelings on the passing of time and arrested development fairly well with the half-a-line 'I'm too young to be old'...) (wait, add Jim Steinman to my list of interests?! A lot of his songs capture something in them that resonates with me on a level I recognize as being autism-related, the way that I vibed with Sherlock Holmes and Spock and Egon Spengler. It's not the 'Autism Classic' but it touches the same part of me? Bad at explaining things sometimes)
ANYway.
I was diagnosed with OCD, ADD, and clinical depression when I was very young (young enough that I could not tell you how old I was, just that I remember various therapists and doctors, and trying medications, and all that stuff), and then when I was in college, my (late) dad, and my younger brother and I were all diagnosed with Asperger's, and then more recently my diagnosis was adjusted to just Autism, that was somewhat before they took Asperger's off the DSM and replaced it all with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
My mother is a specialist in autism education. Her main job is in diagnosing pre-K kids in her school district, when they're referred to her offices, and because of our family situation, she's able to tell parents of the kids she does diagnose that it's okay and that you can still have a loving relationship with your kids even if they don't express their emotions outwardly the way you expect, that they can still grow up to find love or success even if it's not exactly what you dreamed for them, and to not mourn the child you don't have. Which is good. (It's a little weird how she's so great at understanding autistic people who aren't her own kids, but we often have to explain our stuff to her more than once... but the important thing is that she tries to be understanding and to modify her behavior where necessary instead of merely expecting us to modify ours. We've also got a neurotypical sister who's really good at knowing what might trigger us and when to step lightly or stop asking questions, or when to provide a distraction).
MY AREAS OF INTEREST:
-Various fandoms (I don't lose interest in a fandom completely when I move on to something new, though the new thing will often dominate my fandom time-- I still hold the same love for my old fandoms and often cycle through them). Most notably- Sherlock Holmes (the books first, followed by many but not all adaptations, this was one of my first obsessions because Sherlock Holmes reminded me of myself in ways I was not equipped to articulate), Star Trek (TOS and DS9 first and foremost), Team Fortress 2, PACIFIC RIM!... (and Night Vale, but I'm very behind because I started to empathize so strongly with Cecil that I couldn't listen for a while because it was stressing me out on a physical level)
-Octopi! And other sea critters-- Pinnipeds, cetaceans, anything deep sea and weird. Sharks as well. (also mermaids and other not-so-real sea creatures)
-CATS. Let me tell you about my cat. My cat is the best cat, but every cat is a pretty great cat. I've forgotten more about cats than most of my acquaintances know. That's not true, I remember most of what I've learned about cats.
-Dinosaurs Dinosaurs Dinosaurs.
-Disneyana. Films, memorabilia, trivia, parks, it's my happy place and it reminds me of my dad. I mean, I love animation (and illustrative art) in general, but my dad used to work at Disneyland when he was in college, so he knew all this stuff about the park, and he loved the movies his whole life, and he was born in '55 and my grandmother took him when he was six months old when it first opened, and so Disney and Disneyland make me think of him.
-Fantasy. And sci-fi, though I don't lump them together. And all the -punk subgenres of both. And just the academic, meta sort of study of the evolution of genre fiction and of subcultures that have sprung up out of them. Also mythology and children's literature.
-TOYS. I collect dolls, action figures, and some plush things, little figurines, all sorts of miniatures... That's one that my brother and I share, but he also *makes* toys, and has a focus on the history of playthings and on Lego.
-I LOVE ROBOTS.
-Tabletop gaming. D&D (and others-- I've got a couple GURPS books and an old Batman RPG of all things that I found once for a buck), and board games. I am a huge board game geek and I wish I had table space (ours is craft central so there's never any room, someone's always using it to sculpt or sew or stage photographs or lay out paints...), and more games... Casual party games, euro-style ones, ones with cards, ones with a bunch of little pieces... I love them all.
-Theatre. Theatre literally saved my life. Also it taught me how to communicate with the neurotypical world. I love going to plays, and I love acting. (If you've never seen 'Who Am I This Time?' I recommend it-- it's based on a Vonnegut short story, it was a made for TV movie with Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon. She plays a woman who moves to a small town while working for a telephone company, and she auditions for a community theatre production, and this guy comes in, asks 'who am I this time?', they hand him a script, and BAM. He's the most brilliant, electrifying thing she's ever seen. She kind of falls in love with him. Then she sees him at the hardware store where he works, and he can't make eye contact with her, he can only talk about what the hardware store sells... She's mystified, but eventually they work things out and they go on dates where she brings him scripts and they read scenes from plays together and they connect through theatre and he expresses himself that way and I'm getting a little emotional but anyway yeah that's me)
I'm leaving out stuff I know, but I'm also starting to ramble a lot.
AUTISM STUFF:
-Sensory overload is a huge thing for me, as is misophonia. In my case, the sound of certain fabrics getting rubbed or scratched makes me literally sick to my stomach. Certain high pitched tones set off a headache and bother me, but the fabric noise is the only one that really sends me into hiding.
-Textural issues with food. More than taste, texture is what puts me off of something I don't like. I can't eat couscous (I couldn't eat rice for a couple years when I was a kid, though now there are rice dishes that I enjoy-- still won't touch rice pudding with a ten foot pole (why would I touch something with a ten foot pole to begin with?)). I don't like cooked vegetables to be mushy, don't do tapioca...
-Social anxiety is way better than it used to be, but I do still get hit with it sometimes.
-THINGS HAPPENING IN MY PERIPHERAL... SENSORY AREA. It's not even vision, because I freak out if I feel something move behind me where I can't see at all. I keep my back to the wall like I was a veteran poker player or a secret agent. Hate having people move behind me. I'm hard to sneak up on, but easy to startle, because knowing something is there doesn't prevent the physical startle reflex.
-Time as a concept??? Like, what does five minutes feel like? Either it feels like thirty seconds or an hour depending on what I'm doing, I've got no set sense of it but outside of periods of waiting/boredom, it always goes by so fast and I feel really left behind by it. (the song 'The Future Just Ain't What It Used To Be' sums up my feelings on the passing of time and arrested development fairly well with the half-a-line 'I'm too young to be old'...) (wait, add Jim Steinman to my list of interests?! A lot of his songs capture something in them that resonates with me on a level I recognize as being autism-related, the way that I vibed with Sherlock Holmes and Spock and Egon Spengler. It's not the 'Autism Classic' but it touches the same part of me? Bad at explaining things sometimes)
Hi! It looks like I didn't post in this thread already, I must have only introduced myself as autistic w/in my own flight...
ANYway.
I was diagnosed with OCD, ADD, and clinical depression when I was very young (young enough that I could not tell you how old I was, just that I remember various therapists and doctors, and trying medications, and all that stuff), and then when I was in college, my (late) dad, and my younger brother and I were all diagnosed with Asperger's, and then more recently my diagnosis was adjusted to just Autism, that was somewhat before they took Asperger's off the DSM and replaced it all with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
My mother is a specialist in autism education. Her main job is in diagnosing pre-K kids in her school district, when they're referred to her offices, and because of our family situation, she's able to tell parents of the kids she does diagnose that it's okay and that you can still have a loving relationship with your kids even if they don't express their emotions outwardly the way you expect, that they can still grow up to find love or success even if it's not exactly what you dreamed for them, and to not mourn the child you don't have. Which is good. (It's a little weird how she's so great at understanding autistic people who aren't her own kids, but we often have to explain our stuff to her more than once... but the important thing is that she tries to be understanding and to modify her behavior where necessary instead of merely expecting us to modify ours. We've also got a neurotypical sister who's really good at knowing what might trigger us and when to step lightly or stop asking questions, or when to provide a distraction).
MY AREAS OF INTEREST:
-Various fandoms (I don't lose interest in a fandom completely when I move on to something new, though the new thing will often dominate my fandom time-- I still hold the same love for my old fandoms and often cycle through them). Most notably- Sherlock Holmes (the books first, followed by many but not all adaptations, this was one of my first obsessions because Sherlock Holmes reminded me of myself in ways I was not equipped to articulate), Star Trek (TOS and DS9 first and foremost), Team Fortress 2, PACIFIC RIM!... (and Night Vale, but I'm very behind because I started to empathize so strongly with Cecil that I couldn't listen for a while because it was stressing me out on a physical level)
-Octopi! And other sea critters-- Pinnipeds, cetaceans, anything deep sea and weird. Sharks as well. (also mermaids and other not-so-real sea creatures)
-CATS. Let me tell you about my cat. My cat is the best cat, but every cat is a pretty great cat. I've forgotten more about cats than most of my acquaintances know. That's not true, I remember most of what I've learned about cats.
-Dinosaurs Dinosaurs Dinosaurs.
-Disneyana. Films, memorabilia, trivia, parks, it's my happy place and it reminds me of my dad. I mean, I love animation (and illustrative art) in general, but my dad used to work at Disneyland when he was in college, so he knew all this stuff about the park, and he loved the movies his whole life, and he was born in '55 and my grandmother took him when he was six months old when it first opened, and so Disney and Disneyland make me think of him.
-Fantasy. And sci-fi, though I don't lump them together. And all the -punk subgenres of both. And just the academic, meta sort of study of the evolution of genre fiction and of subcultures that have sprung up out of them. Also mythology and children's literature.
-TOYS. I collect dolls, action figures, and some plush things, little figurines, all sorts of miniatures... That's one that my brother and I share, but he also *makes* toys, and has a focus on the history of playthings and on Lego.
-I LOVE ROBOTS.
-Tabletop gaming. D&D (and others-- I've got a couple GURPS books and an old Batman RPG of all things that I found once for a buck), and board games. I am a huge board game geek and I wish I had table space (ours is craft central so there's never any room, someone's always using it to sculpt or sew or stage photographs or lay out paints...), and more games... Casual party games, euro-style ones, ones with cards, ones with a bunch of little pieces... I love them all.
-Theatre. Theatre literally saved my life. Also it taught me how to communicate with the neurotypical world. I love going to plays, and I love acting. (If you've never seen 'Who Am I This Time?' I recommend it-- it's based on a Vonnegut short story, it was a made for TV movie with Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon. She plays a woman who moves to a small town while working for a telephone company, and she auditions for a community theatre production, and this guy comes in, asks 'who am I this time?', they hand him a script, and BAM. He's the most brilliant, electrifying thing she's ever seen. She kind of falls in love with him. Then she sees him at the hardware store where he works, and he can't make eye contact with her, he can only talk about what the hardware store sells... She's mystified, but eventually they work things out and they go on dates where she brings him scripts and they read scenes from plays together and they connect through theatre and he expresses himself that way and I'm getting a little emotional but anyway yeah that's me)
I'm leaving out stuff I know, but I'm also starting to ramble a lot.
AUTISM STUFF:
-Sensory overload is a huge thing for me, as is misophonia. In my case, the sound of certain fabrics getting rubbed or scratched makes me literally sick to my stomach. Certain high pitched tones set off a headache and bother me, but the fabric noise is the only one that really sends me into hiding.
-Textural issues with food. More than taste, texture is what puts me off of something I don't like. I can't eat couscous (I couldn't eat rice for a couple years when I was a kid, though now there are rice dishes that I enjoy-- still won't touch rice pudding with a ten foot pole (why would I touch something with a ten foot pole to begin with?)). I don't like cooked vegetables to be mushy, don't do tapioca...
-Social anxiety is way better than it used to be, but I do still get hit with it sometimes.
-THINGS HAPPENING IN MY PERIPHERAL... SENSORY AREA. It's not even vision, because I freak out if I feel something move behind me where I can't see at all. I keep my back to the wall like I was a veteran poker player or a secret agent. Hate having people move behind me. I'm hard to sneak up on, but easy to startle, because knowing something is there doesn't prevent the physical startle reflex.
-Time as a concept??? Like, what does five minutes feel like? Either it feels like thirty seconds or an hour depending on what I'm doing, I've got no set sense of it but outside of periods of waiting/boredom, it always goes by so fast and I feel really left behind by it. (the song 'The Future Just Ain't What It Used To Be' sums up my feelings on the passing of time and arrested development fairly well with the half-a-line 'I'm too young to be old'...) (wait, add Jim Steinman to my list of interests?! A lot of his songs capture something in them that resonates with me on a level I recognize as being autism-related, the way that I vibed with Sherlock Holmes and Spock and Egon Spengler. It's not the 'Autism Classic' but it touches the same part of me? Bad at explaining things sometimes)
ANYway.
I was diagnosed with OCD, ADD, and clinical depression when I was very young (young enough that I could not tell you how old I was, just that I remember various therapists and doctors, and trying medications, and all that stuff), and then when I was in college, my (late) dad, and my younger brother and I were all diagnosed with Asperger's, and then more recently my diagnosis was adjusted to just Autism, that was somewhat before they took Asperger's off the DSM and replaced it all with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
My mother is a specialist in autism education. Her main job is in diagnosing pre-K kids in her school district, when they're referred to her offices, and because of our family situation, she's able to tell parents of the kids she does diagnose that it's okay and that you can still have a loving relationship with your kids even if they don't express their emotions outwardly the way you expect, that they can still grow up to find love or success even if it's not exactly what you dreamed for them, and to not mourn the child you don't have. Which is good. (It's a little weird how she's so great at understanding autistic people who aren't her own kids, but we often have to explain our stuff to her more than once... but the important thing is that she tries to be understanding and to modify her behavior where necessary instead of merely expecting us to modify ours. We've also got a neurotypical sister who's really good at knowing what might trigger us and when to step lightly or stop asking questions, or when to provide a distraction).
MY AREAS OF INTEREST:
-Various fandoms (I don't lose interest in a fandom completely when I move on to something new, though the new thing will often dominate my fandom time-- I still hold the same love for my old fandoms and often cycle through them). Most notably- Sherlock Holmes (the books first, followed by many but not all adaptations, this was one of my first obsessions because Sherlock Holmes reminded me of myself in ways I was not equipped to articulate), Star Trek (TOS and DS9 first and foremost), Team Fortress 2, PACIFIC RIM!... (and Night Vale, but I'm very behind because I started to empathize so strongly with Cecil that I couldn't listen for a while because it was stressing me out on a physical level)
-Octopi! And other sea critters-- Pinnipeds, cetaceans, anything deep sea and weird. Sharks as well. (also mermaids and other not-so-real sea creatures)
-CATS. Let me tell you about my cat. My cat is the best cat, but every cat is a pretty great cat. I've forgotten more about cats than most of my acquaintances know. That's not true, I remember most of what I've learned about cats.
-Dinosaurs Dinosaurs Dinosaurs.
-Disneyana. Films, memorabilia, trivia, parks, it's my happy place and it reminds me of my dad. I mean, I love animation (and illustrative art) in general, but my dad used to work at Disneyland when he was in college, so he knew all this stuff about the park, and he loved the movies his whole life, and he was born in '55 and my grandmother took him when he was six months old when it first opened, and so Disney and Disneyland make me think of him.
-Fantasy. And sci-fi, though I don't lump them together. And all the -punk subgenres of both. And just the academic, meta sort of study of the evolution of genre fiction and of subcultures that have sprung up out of them. Also mythology and children's literature.
-TOYS. I collect dolls, action figures, and some plush things, little figurines, all sorts of miniatures... That's one that my brother and I share, but he also *makes* toys, and has a focus on the history of playthings and on Lego.
-I LOVE ROBOTS.
-Tabletop gaming. D&D (and others-- I've got a couple GURPS books and an old Batman RPG of all things that I found once for a buck), and board games. I am a huge board game geek and I wish I had table space (ours is craft central so there's never any room, someone's always using it to sculpt or sew or stage photographs or lay out paints...), and more games... Casual party games, euro-style ones, ones with cards, ones with a bunch of little pieces... I love them all.
-Theatre. Theatre literally saved my life. Also it taught me how to communicate with the neurotypical world. I love going to plays, and I love acting. (If you've never seen 'Who Am I This Time?' I recommend it-- it's based on a Vonnegut short story, it was a made for TV movie with Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon. She plays a woman who moves to a small town while working for a telephone company, and she auditions for a community theatre production, and this guy comes in, asks 'who am I this time?', they hand him a script, and BAM. He's the most brilliant, electrifying thing she's ever seen. She kind of falls in love with him. Then she sees him at the hardware store where he works, and he can't make eye contact with her, he can only talk about what the hardware store sells... She's mystified, but eventually they work things out and they go on dates where she brings him scripts and they read scenes from plays together and they connect through theatre and he expresses himself that way and I'm getting a little emotional but anyway yeah that's me)
I'm leaving out stuff I know, but I'm also starting to ramble a lot.
AUTISM STUFF:
-Sensory overload is a huge thing for me, as is misophonia. In my case, the sound of certain fabrics getting rubbed or scratched makes me literally sick to my stomach. Certain high pitched tones set off a headache and bother me, but the fabric noise is the only one that really sends me into hiding.
-Textural issues with food. More than taste, texture is what puts me off of something I don't like. I can't eat couscous (I couldn't eat rice for a couple years when I was a kid, though now there are rice dishes that I enjoy-- still won't touch rice pudding with a ten foot pole (why would I touch something with a ten foot pole to begin with?)). I don't like cooked vegetables to be mushy, don't do tapioca...
-Social anxiety is way better than it used to be, but I do still get hit with it sometimes.
-THINGS HAPPENING IN MY PERIPHERAL... SENSORY AREA. It's not even vision, because I freak out if I feel something move behind me where I can't see at all. I keep my back to the wall like I was a veteran poker player or a secret agent. Hate having people move behind me. I'm hard to sneak up on, but easy to startle, because knowing something is there doesn't prevent the physical startle reflex.
-Time as a concept??? Like, what does five minutes feel like? Either it feels like thirty seconds or an hour depending on what I'm doing, I've got no set sense of it but outside of periods of waiting/boredom, it always goes by so fast and I feel really left behind by it. (the song 'The Future Just Ain't What It Used To Be' sums up my feelings on the passing of time and arrested development fairly well with the half-a-line 'I'm too young to be old'...) (wait, add Jim Steinman to my list of interests?! A lot of his songs capture something in them that resonates with me on a level I recognize as being autism-related, the way that I vibed with Sherlock Holmes and Spock and Egon Spengler. It's not the 'Autism Classic' but it touches the same part of me? Bad at explaining things sometimes)
Umm hi. I'm Cam and I have high functioning autism. I'm almost mute in school but in choir I can actually speak what's on my mind. I've got fun stuff like hypo-sensitivity to pain to the point where I split my big toe to the bone and didn't notice until someone screamed and that I have crazy sensitive hearing. It's pretty unpleasant but I've learned to cope fairly well
Umm hi. I'm Cam and I have high functioning autism. I'm almost mute in school but in choir I can actually speak what's on my mind. I've got fun stuff like hypo-sensitivity to pain to the point where I split my big toe to the bone and didn't notice until someone screamed and that I have crazy sensitive hearing. It's pretty unpleasant but I've learned to cope fairly well
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Autism spectrum disorder!!
Special interests: The book: Good Omens (Specifically Crowley from Good Omens), space, snakes.
Special interests: The book: Good Omens (Specifically Crowley from Good Omens), space, snakes.
Autism spectrum disorder!!
Special interests: The book: Good Omens (Specifically Crowley from Good Omens), space, snakes.
Special interests: The book: Good Omens (Specifically Crowley from Good Omens), space, snakes.
@anthonyjcrawly
Oh my gosh that is my favorite novel ever! I spotted your username as the last commenter and had to pop in to flail a little in a fannish manner.
(space and snakes are both also individually awesome)
Oh my gosh that is my favorite novel ever! I spotted your username as the last commenter and had to pop in to flail a little in a fannish manner.
(space and snakes are both also individually awesome)
@anthonyjcrawly
Oh my gosh that is my favorite novel ever! I spotted your username as the last commenter and had to pop in to flail a little in a fannish manner.
(space and snakes are both also individually awesome)
Oh my gosh that is my favorite novel ever! I spotted your username as the last commenter and had to pop in to flail a little in a fannish manner.
(space and snakes are both also individually awesome)