Hello, just introducing myself

Hi, I’m new here. Sort of. 

I’ve been dipping in and out of this forum for the last 5/6years, usually only reading what others have written rather than actually participating myself. I find socialising, even online, very difficult, but I’m trying to overcome that by introducing myself and participating a bit more. 

For the sake of introductions...

Im a 31 year old female on the spectrum, I was diagnosed by my local Health and Social Care Trust in 2016. I have no partner or children, live alone (apart from my dog), and have dedicated most of my time to studying. I am in the process of completing a PhD and also teach within the university I attend, but am currently on a leave of absence due to burning out... once again. A lot of people mention their passions or special interests in their introductions, I’m not sure this counts as either, but I’ve been preoccupied by notions of justice for as long as I can remember. I also love animals and enjoy reading, listening to music, organising things, running, playing the PlayStation and a number of other pretty typical activities.

By participating more in this forum I hope to build some confidence, learn new things, hear about other people’s experiences of living with autism, share my own experiences, and maybe even make a friend or two (even if they are only online friends). This is already longer than intended so I’ll wrap up here and just say thanks to everyone who was brave enough to share their thoughts and experiences here on this forum, you’ve helped me a lot without even realising it, so thank you, I hope I can do the same for someone someday.