LancsLad

I am an adult with AS and recieved my diagnosis when I was 44 years of age. I have been with my partner for over 25 years and have a son who is 7 at the time of writing.

My interest in joining the forum is to offer support to other individuals who share my condition. I am glad I have AS because though it does bring with it issues I strongly believe it has given me an insight and skillset which is reasonably unique and I wouldn't want it any other way.

In my past I have been a Teacher of Design and Technology and was a head of department in one of the countries largest and first specialist technology colleges.

I have been a director of my own retail and design bussiness specialising in Mountain Bike and Triathlon racing.

I have been a senoir qualified cricket coach and have had the privalege to work with youngsters who have gone on to represent their county and country at a professional level.

Along with my partner for a time I was a foster career and was involve with challenging but special individuals from age 8 through to integrating them into independent adult life at age 17. I am pleased to say some still keep in touch and one of them recently became a father for the first time at 26 which was a special moment.

As a result of a lot of life stress I have had a nervous breakdown which eventually resulted in me spending time in a secure mental health unit on suicide watch, the result of which was a forced retirement from my teaching career.

I have since trained in a number of areas and have degree and postgraduate qualifications in Garden Design and Landscape Architecture.

I have made the decision to currently follow a life long dream of qualifying for the Triathlon Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. I started this journey as a clinically obesse individual in very poor health. Through hard work I am still on track in realising my ambition to complete a qualifying race of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile marathon run in under 10 hours though I know this will take another two or three years of training if I am going to be successfull.

I am a very creative individual who really does think outside the box and a lot of my ideas sit well outside mainstream thinking. I recognise the value in what I do and as such would rather pursue my ideas in my own time than work for someone else on things which are not important. My current project involves designing self sustaining human environments on tidal flood plains which integrate tidal power, desalination, marine harvesting for nutrition and living structures as starting points to concepts.

I have had to deal with a number of issues in my life and as such I feel I have some experience of overcoming problems with AS. These issues include clinical depression, miss diagnosis, self harm, suicide, being under severe finacial stresses, living away from home, managing people in a professional context, helping difficult children and young adults move forwards in their lives.

I am comfortable at with the place I find myself in though I still have a long way to go and a lot of things to learn in this life. I hope I can make a difference to someone on the forum and am happy to try and help where I can, as a life long learner I am very open to ideas so feel free to challenge anything that I may write as your views are very much welcome.