Sophie Rose Kirkman Report post Posted March 9, 2012 Hey! I'm new to this forum and have been diagonsed with AS since I was very young. My parents told me 2 years ago that I had and I was greatful to have an explanation as to why I wasn't 'normal'. At the same I was like, I hate being labled because AS is so wide and everyone seems to focus on aspies not having emotions and they're so focused and nerdy. We not all like that! I'm the complete oposite. I often pick up other peoples emotions and I know when people are feeling down etc. I'm not a nerd and I hate that word anyway because it's a word used to label people in cliches and often is used to bully someone. I find it hard to concentrate on my work at home because of distractions and so my parents force me to get the work done. :L I get fed up with people giving me werid looks and stuff at school. I haven't been brave enough to admit I have AS to my freinds yet because I think it would just be weird. I came on this forum to see if there is anyone out there who wants to know about AS or to talk to people who feel the same as me xoxo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tally Report post Posted March 10, 2012 Hi Sophie, and welcome to the forum. I split your post off to give you your own topic so that you won't go unnoticed I am 30 now, and I was only diagnosed with AS about 5 years ago. So I didn't know I had it when I was in school, but I certainly had a lot of difficulties getting on with people, and have done in adult life as well. I would say that it does get better because you learn new social skills, and once you start work you are more likely to be surrounded by people you have something in common with, whereas at school you are forced to mix with people simply because they are the same age as you. I've found the workplace to be (mostly) a much nicer environment. I think if ever you do decide to tell your friends about your AS, you should think carefully about how you tell them. They might not know much about it, and it's your opportunity to get across how it is for you, rather than let them go off and research it themselves and maybe come across all the stereotypes that don't apply to you. If they are genuine friends, they will know you and like you as you are, and knowing about your diagnosis shouldn't change that - it might explain some of your differences to them and help them be more understanding when you find things hard. I see you're interested in pets. I especially like cats and I have a very naughty cat. What pets do you have? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tanya52 Report post Posted March 11, 2012 Hi Sophie, Welcome aboard! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robert7111a Report post Posted March 11, 2012 Hello I am new to this forum and would like to introduce myself. My name is Robert and I only discovered recently that I had Asperger's and a form of dyslexia. I grew up knowing there was something wrong with me but nobody told me what or why and I had to struggle through school, life etc on my own. I never got good grades and left school at 15 to take up work. Fortunately I have always been lucky on the work front. But I seriously lack social skills; people look at me funny, whisper about me, think I'm wierd which makes me very self-concious. I had very few friends. I wanted to research autism and aspergers as I see children in clinical practice and this has helped me to identify and relate to such children I was taunted and teased during some of my working life - working in areas well outside my comfort zone. It drove me to serious clinical depression, OCD and parasuicide. Again, I nearly ended my life after a breakup with a girlfriend. Recently, I attended a course for work attended by young, M.Sc students who didn't know each other at first, but soon got chatting and socialising with one another. Yet nobody talked to me throughout the whole 2 days. Yes, they said "hi" but that was it. Then we were asked (without prior warning) to get into small groups to discuss and give views on a topic just lectured on. I went into meltdown, panicked, twitched, stressed, broke into a sweat and just wanted the floor to swallow me up. This really brought home my difficulties. In addition, I have bad reading comprehension. I never understood why until recently. I got rubbish grades at school, am totally dyslexic when it comes to maths/arithmetic and just cannot get the plot of a story or film. Somebody will ask me what a film/book is about and, again I would go into meltdown and not have a clue. This is why I don't read fictional books/watch films etc. I am fine with factual books if the topic is of interest but I still have to read the same thing zillions of time before it registers. I used to think the two halves of my brain weren't connected until I discovered I had AS. It's too late for me now. I never had the support I needed because AS was virtually unheard of during the 1970s when I was growing up. But I want to do something about it (and in particular try and find ways to improve my reading comprehension). And of course, I am not ashamed now to admit I have AS and am looking forward to participating and sharing on this forum Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pancakemaker Report post Posted March 11, 2012 Welcome Robert,hope you like it here we're all friendly,and people who don't talk to you are no loss,are they?xx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robert7111a Report post Posted March 11, 2012 Thanks Pancakemaker. I'm hoping to learn lots from this forum...x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trekster Report post Posted March 14, 2012 Welcome to the new people posting on here. I'm Alexis and sometimes my ASD really gets me down and im supposed to be mildly affected as well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted March 17, 2012 Hello Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
