Published on 12, July, 2020
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.
Hello, welcome to the forum! I also used to browse before creating my own profile. I found it quite daunting to register as a user, because I get very troubled by social media and previously made myself ill obsessing over replies. I didn't even post much. I never seemed able to figure out whether a post I made was going to generate a warm or hostile response (even whether a response meant something other than it implied) and whether it was my fault. I'm not a deliberately provocative person but I am sometimes a bit hyper when I'm excited.
Anyway, I am determined to get better at it or get over my obsessive anxiety.
I have ventured in now, and finding people to be incredibly friendly, warm and thoughtful. And funny.
Hi Plectrum, Thank you for your reply and making me feel welcome. I understand what you mean about excessive worrying over social media and posting to forums - really wish I’d seen your reply sooner because as soon as I introduced myself I panicked about over-sharing, the response I’d get, how I came across...etc...etc. Everything in my brain just started yelling “retreat retreat retreat’ - which I did, but found myself back here anyway! This is the only form of online socialising I participate in, I cut Facebook and other social media out of my life years ago, I don’t really miss it, and my mental health is easier to maintain without it, but not using it has sort of contributed to feelings of isolation and loneliness, maybe it’s about finding a balance.