Hello, just joined

Hi, welcome! =)

I play it on Xbox One =( What other PC games do you play? I have many multiplayer games installed on my PC. I have ESO, WoW, Runescape, etc. 

Feel free to join other threads. See you around! =)

Hey there! I'm new too!
I was just wondering what playform you play Fallout 76 on? If you play on PC we could play together.

Ditto - see there’s always positives even to something as difficult as ASD. I grant it’s not always easy but I like to think it’s not all bad. I spend too much of my life researching - I’m a history geek! 

 I've just thought of something! I like researching and finding out about things.

=)

Yeah I think it would be easier. You will need to message me as your account has the default settings which doesn’t allow me to message you. My settings have been set to allow anyone to message me :) once you’ve initiated the conversation it will however let me reply I believe :) 

I think for me I love my analytical mindset and even done of my black and white thinking I find quite comforting. I think my least favourite traits relate to my social skills. 

I look forward to your message :) 

Okay, I don't mind chatting in private. It would probably be much easier =) 

I can't really think of any traits that I like, at the moment. It's difficult to know what is a trait and what isn't. I would probably get rid of the sensory difficulties. I can see when food looks delicious, but I wouldn't be able to eat them due to the smell or texture. The concentration issues would probably be my first choice, though. Imagine all of the things I'd be able to do then! Although, maybe a lot of my inability to concentrate stem from the sensory side (like unignorable sounds and textures). 

I look forward to being med-free! I think I have around 2 months left before I start being weaned off. I'll make sure that I'll use the time wisely and be productive.

=)

Fortunately my parents only ever text, my brother stays in touch via WhatsApp - so I’ve a system that works :) I may end up returning to social media sometime, but not for now. 

What your teachers said about you subs me up - but I guess I am what I am, I know my abilities and that’s what matters I guess.

By the way if it’s easier than using thus thread, feel free to send me a private message instead.   My account settings have been changed so anyone can message me :) just figured that may be slightly easier.

Heres a question... which of your traits do you like and which would you get rid of tomorrow if you had the chance?

Going med free is great but obviously only do it when it’s right for you :)  I won’t lie, it’s initially tough but once your body and head has adapted it feels good because you know you are back in control. 

That is great to hear that you're managing really well without medication =) I don't have the best willpower, but I will try to get my head together and follow my aspirations (without being too hard on myself). 

A quote that was used to describe me by various teachers throughout secondary school was: "You've got plenty in your head - the knowledge is all there. You just need to make the effort and apply yourself". Looking up other people on the spectrum's experiences, I found that a lot of other people had the same thing told to them.

Yes, that's true! The past is in the past, there's no changing it. What you can change is the now and the future. 

Social media is not healthy at all to people's mental wellbeing, no. My dad used to message us on Facebook, even though I kept saying that I don't go on it anymore. He now understands that if he wants to connect with me, he can do so through text. I use discord to chat with my friends as it's geared more towards gaming. 

=)

Hi, thank you =)

I love the The Sims. I have all of the packs for The Sims 4, which my bank account isn't really happy about. Fallout 4 is a great game and I hope you enjoy playing it. 

Unfortunately, I've never any of those books =( I'm currently reading the Gone series by Michael Grant, which I'm told is quite Stephen King-esque. The IT Crowd was really enjoyable to watch: I might start watching it again, too =P I enjoyed watching Doctor Who when David Tenant and Matt Smith were the Doctor, but the one with Jodie Whittaker looks interesting. I don't particularly like watching long episodes. A few months ago, I watched Manifest on Now TV as I really wanted to watch it. You can watch the trailer on YouTube. I don't know if it's scientific or supernatural, but it certainly captured my interest and attention. 

I listen to Blondie every now and again, but I find it difficult to listen to songs I've never heard before. I always have to be in the right headspace, as the anticipation and the uncertainty of what to expect takes a lot out of me. I have found a lot of songs I really enjoy listening to this way. I do tend to lean towards hard rock/heavy metal, but enjoy a lot of the other sub-genres too. Sometimes, I have weird days where I listen to random songs like Barbie Girl by Aqua, or the Ebay Song by "Weird Al" Yankovic =D

Thanks, I will try to make the most of this platform =)

I totally get what you mean about customers feeling uncomfortable with a lack of eye contact. I used to work in retail but I usually tried to get into non-customer facing roles as it is where I was most comfortable. I didn’t know it was ASD then of course, I just knew what felt right and what didn’t. 

What you said about the glass half empty/ full analogy makes sense. I think we are fairly alike in this - I see myself as a realist - sometimes the realism is positive, sometimes negative but always very real, I think it’s a good way to be. I think I’m often viewed as a pessimist by others but I don’t think that’s the case - too many people are stuck in idealism and thus I think lose touch with reality.

I‘m actually off all medication now so it is possible to turn things right around. I still have spells where I’m not so good, but I’m so much better than I was - the fact I don’t need meds is testimony to that. I used to be I various meds so I think it’s quite an achievement. So I have full confidence that when the time is right you’ll manage too - it’s 90% willpower to be honest. 

I got a C in maths too (I was in higher tier) - when you consider how little I did in year 10 and 11 it’s not terrible, but I should have done better. My grades rarely reflect my ability which is frustrating as I’m naturally smart but don’t have grades that paint a fair picture of me but I try not to get too hung up on it... it’s in the past right? The future is what matters. 

I don’t use Facebook either. I use WhatsApp and that’s it. Like you I wasted too much of my life on social media and I don’t think it’s conducive to good mental wellbeing. I’m happy for people to email me, text or use WhatsApp. I don’t feel I need anything more - it works and I’m relatively laid back about people having my details - so yeah, don’t need Facebook! 

Hello and welcome to the forum

I'm an older female Aspie, who has some interests which are "strange" for a woman of my age (to the "normal" people anyway) I like science fiction, fantasy and computer games. My long time favourite game is The Sims 4, but I've just started playing Fallout 4.

I've always enjoyed reading and in the last couple of years the novels I have read include: The Martian by Andy Weir, 11-22-63 by Stephen king, The Humans by Matt Haig, Divergent by Veronica Roth, Who Sent Clement? By Keith Pearson, Identity Crisis by Ben Elton, and Eve of Man by Giovanna & Tom Fletcher.

I'm enjoying watching Lucifer and Community on Netflix at the moment and I'm also re-watching some old favourites such as The IT crowd, Come Fly With Me and Fawlty Towers. In the past I've enjoyed Star Trek, Dr Who and Farscape, but there are currently no sci-fi tv programmes that capture my imagination. I also used to like vampire stories and the True Blood series, but I think I've moved on from that now.

I was interested to hear you have an interest in punk music. I was a teenager in the 70s and enjoyed listening to The Sex Pistols, The Stranglers, The Clash, The Jam, Blondie and Iggy Pop. I don't tend to listen to that type of music now, preferring ambient and classical, but I still think a lot of their songs are great.

Anyway, hope you enjoy posting on here and reading about other people's experiences.

Sometimes eye contact comes easy to me, other times I have to force myself to do it - customers find it uncomfortable when I don't look at them when I'm talking to them =P I think I'm a bit better at reading people because I grew up in a household that could be toxic at times. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the way I was raised because it allowed me to be more independent and deal with situations myself, rather than being babied all the time. However, growing up with 3 other hormonal girls/women and a very masculine man, there were a lot of times I had to figure out the best way to react to others' moods.

A lot of ways I engage with other people is behaviour I've learned, to help my life be more bearable. I see my self as both a pessimist and an optimist. Using the "glass half full/empty" analogy, I think in a way that's more like "it's not completely full, but it's not empty either. We don't know what it contains: it could be tea, tap water, or it could be pee". I am extremely lucky for the level of support I've had over the last couple of years, and it's heartbreaking to read that other users in this forum are not so lucky =(

It's good to hear that you're doing better recently =) I'm also doing much better now as I have been prescribed medicine for my depression, am talking to my therapist on a regular basis, and am taking sleeping tablets to temporarily help with my insomnia. I know that these aren't a permanent fix and that I need to find more practical solutions, but they're currently helping me. 

I don't like it when artists change their sound to fit in with the "in-crowd". The whole point of listening to them is the fact that they don't follow trends. I'll give 'Nothing Personal' a listen, thanks =)

The one thing I never got my head around was algebra and trigonometry. Why are there so many equations? I was meant to do my GCSE maths in higher tier, but the school was worried that my low scores (E/F) would bring the average scores down, so I was told to do foundation tier along with a dozen other people from the class. Foundation tier was much easier, and I managed to get a "C" =)

I'd be terrible at surviving in the wilderness, too! I am definitely much too reliant on technology. I have to play video games and listen to music to help me wind down. A couple of years ago, my phone just stopped working. I was used to going on Facebook constantly, so the inability to do so was anguishing. I needed to listen to music, so my mother lent me one of her old phones so that I could play music on that. After a few weeks, I felt no need to go on FB and haven't installed it on my new phone. I realised how toxic and anti-social it was. I watched a "social experiment" documentary on Channel 4 a year or two ago, and it was about it normally takes at least three weeks to go "cold turkey" of something. I think the programme was called '21 Days', but I'm not entirely sure. 

Thank you =) I'll try to get back into writing as soon as I'm finished with the things I'm doing currently. Doing too much at once tends to overwhelm me, and I end up not doing anything for quite a while. 

I agree: the most recent episodes of HIGNFY feel extremely strange without the audience. You can almost hear the crickets chirping when someone tells a joke. I sometimes get jokes, I sometimes don't. My main difficulty is actually figuring out what they're saying. Everything I watch has to have subtitles. I feel like I can't hear/understand them otherwise. It just sounds they're speaking in a different language. 

I will definitely give Taskmaster a go, thanks =) 

I too am terrible with eye contact - people who are used to me accept it but those who don’t know me well I get mixed responses from, some don’t care but others think I’m being rude. Sometimes I try to force the eye contact but it’s like hitting a button marked “instant anxiety” - so it doesn’t happen much. It’s nice chatting to someone who understands this 

I think if I am being fair to myself I’ve improved a bit at understanding others but most of it is based on logical assumptions rather than picking up on cues. For example if someone has had a bad day I’ve learned to give them space but that’s not so much out of empathy, rather learned behaviour. Though I must say it’s great the progress you’ve made and you should be really proud of that. I think the fact your manager noticed it and gave it to you as feedback speaks volumes. It’s also really good you have such a supportive workplace. I’m not currently working but people I’ve been around have been generally supportive though I don’t tell everyone for obvious reasons. 

I too have gone through some majorly depressive episodes so I appreciate how tough they are. I’ve been doing a lot better in the last couple of years so that Is a positive. How are you finding things now?

All Time Low are good - their more recent stuff isn’t great in my opinion - it’s starting to sound a bit commercial pop rather than pop-punk. ‘Nothing Personal’ is the album I’d recommend. It’s nice to have someone to chat music with - my brother has similar tastes but I don’t speak to him that much because he is crazily busy. Like you the people I know generally have different tastes so often music isn’t a topic of conversation. 

I was the opposite with maths - until year 9 I was great then in year 10 and 11 we had a teacher I hated - so I switched off and didn’t engage. That’s a real problem with me, if I don’t feel comfortable I basically shut down, or do the barest of minimums to get by. I’m less bad at this now but it’s a lot of work and effort sometimes to not shut down, having the insight into my condition helps. Understanding Is half the battle.

You are very right about us being domesticated -  I reckon at least 9 out of 10 people wouldn’t last a week if dumped into the wilderness. I know I wouldn’t! I’d miss my iPhone too much for starters! Animals however adjust much quicker and cope with change (something I’m terrible with!)

Writing novels sounds epic - even from just chatting to you in here I can tell you have a great creative mind, so I reckon you should keep writing :) I think it’s good for wellbeing to write and be creative so I think that’s something really positive you have going on. 

QI and other panel shows are something I watch a lot of too and like you I’m not an avid fan of dramas, I liked ,The Durrells’ when it was on, I also watched ‘The Morning Show’ on Apple TV+ which was okay. I’ve not liked the latest ‘Have I Got News For You’ done from home - the lack of audience for me has made it hard to pick up on some of the humour - especially subtle humour (I’m no good at picking up on subtle humour or sarcasm). I would definitely recommend Taskmaster - it’s such a simple concept - a panel of comedians set simple tasks - it’s lighthearted fun and very funny. 

Thank you =)

That's awful! I hate when that happens - all of the effort that you've put into something and then it's just gone, and you have to start over =(

I've gotten better at being aware of other people in conversations; what they might think/feel and how I could come across to them. Conversing with more than one person at the same time is still difficult for me. It's hard to know which direction to look when I'm talking to them because I want everyone to feel included, and I don't really do much eye contact. I found that I've gotten much better at talking to people face-to-face since I started working a few years ago. My manager has told my mother and me a few times that where I am now is completely different to where I was when I started. I work in a small retail store: I serve and help customers. I can be left on the shop floor on my own for a couple of hours, and my colleagues have faith that I'll be able to cope. They always remind me to give them a shout if I need assistance. 

When I started working, I wasn't diagnosed with ASC yet (but was on the waiting list). I notified my manager about my diagnosis around a year later. She tried to say in her own way that it was just a label, and that it didn't define me and what I can do, but I think I misunderstood her. She and my co-workers have, in the last year, understood me more. The most recent breakthrough was a few months ago when I had a severe depressive episode. They've tried to help with easing my stress, which is really nice of them =)

I've heard of All Time Low, but have never listened to them. I'll try to give all of those artists a listen. Don't worry, you're not boring me. I have siblings that tend to listen to more "modern" and popular song, and aren't particularly interested in my music taste, so it's nice to be able to talk about music with someone. 

It definitely feels like technology is progressing slowly nowadays. I think that there were a lot more inventions that were commonly used, but they became obsolete and weren't mentioned in any documents. I feel like we might be ~50 years away from a technological revolution (space travel, maybe?). It definitely feels stagnant now, everything's just a copy of other things.

I used to try to write novels, but realised that being a writer was difficult. I couldn't even keep a diary for more than 2 days. My least favourite thing was when we had to analyse authors' writings. The whole having to explain what they mean was difficult. I remember I had a huge mental block when I had to answer questions about a book, and it was stressing me out because I couldn't do the homework and was falling behind. This led to me intentionally missing lessons (hiding in the toilets), and even playing truant, as I couldn't face the embarrassment of having not completed the assignments. I was lucky to get assistance from one of the SEND staff as at some point it was only her helping me. I can see how  not understanding emotions and the like can be a struggle. 

My view is that something that you can't to at this moment in time might eventually be something you can do later in life. In year 4, we had to do weekly times tables. I always scored terribly. Then, one day, it clicked. I ended up being the best mathematician in my school year - I even got an commemorative award in year 6. In secondary school, I could never get my head around percentages. Now, in work, we use percentages all the time. I can actually figure some out in my head (like a 30% discount). The same goes for my thinking about and acknowledging other people's feelings. That was something I couldn't do a few years ago. I love learning about things and trying to figure things out. I managed to learn how to solve a Rubik's cube, it just took me a few years of practising and taking breaks to not overload my brain.

I don't think that the human race is intelligent at all. We're just the ones that are more domesticated. I feel like I actually have a few things in common with my pet dog. He doesn't like loud noises - especially the hoover! Sometimes he likes to be alone and regain energy, and sometimes he seeks other people's company. There are other similarities that I can't think of at the top of my head. 

I can watch different kind of shows. Documentaries are really interesting. Drama's a bit of a hit and miss. I like comedy, but not juvenile. I also like panel shows such as Have I Got News For You and QI. Taskmaster is something I haven't seen, but have seen advertisements and it looks interesting. 

=)

It’s always nice to speak to people on the same level, that’s why I feel comfortable on here. Glad you’re finding it therapeutic. 

I just wrote a really long reply Just disappeared from my phone screen! So I’m going to try and remember everything I said...

I think you are one step ahead of me for feeling bad when it cones to talking about yourself, often I don’t notice I’m doing it until I’m told, then I feel like an idiot! I am glad to have found others who have the same communication issues I do - makes me feel a little less isolated by it all. 

Music wise I would recommend you trying out a gig sometime. Give yourself plenty of tine to mentally adjust to the idea of it and you should be fine so king as it’s a band you enjoy, as the show becomes a sufficient distraction to the traits I find. There is something words can’t explain about a live show, it’s not just the music, the show or atmosphere - there is something more which you just don’t get from a recorded song. 

From your list I really like MCR. The other bands are cool too. In terms of what I like, it includes the likes of: Green Day, Frank Turner, Senses Fail, Alkaline Trio, Allister, All Time Low, Deaf Havana and loads more - I could keep writing for days! I don’t want to bore you more than I have probably done so already! 

You are dead right about science, it’s odd that we look back even 50 or 100 years and think how primitive science and technology was, it’s odd to think in 50 - 100 years people will look back at 2020 in the same way. It kind of makes you wonder how we will be seen - I sometimes think we have stagnated. Take passenger flight - we used to have supersonic travel in Concorde, we don’t have that now. Smartphones haven’t radically changed for years in terms of what they can do, televisions, laptops etc have only seen limited advances. Go back 50 years or more and progress seemed much faster. 

You mentioned your writings? Do you write a lot? Is it full novels or short stories? I wish I was creative. I am good at writing but only on factual topics - it’s that lack of imagination problem I mentioned earlier. The logical mindset I have is good at times but there is a ton of things I  life where logic doesn’t apply - emotions, morals, ethics etc so it can be a struggle at times.

I love The Secret Life of the Zoo - I always feel that the real intelligent life on earth is the animal kingdom, I’m not sure is humans are as smart as we think we are! When it cones to TV I watch more documentaries and things like that than drama... I do watch a lot of comedy shows too, I live Taskmaster for example.

It's been quite therapeutic being on here. I will definitely continue to be present in the forum and try to be a part of the community. 

Sometimes I misunderstand what people say on the phone, and it normally takes at least 10 seconds for me to process what's being said. There's normally a lot of silence, too, since I don't know what to say. I've always nodded or shook my head instead of replying verbally. My mother always told me "they can't see you! You need to say yes or no". My grandmother used to always send us voicemails on our birthdays. There where a few times when I replied to what she said and my mother said "she's not there, it's just her voice". Also, my mother just told me that I used to say "look at that" when I was on the phone and point towards something. It's quite funny to look back on. 

=)

That’s right, I find it much easier to chat online. It’s the same with my friends for example, I would much rather them text me rather than actually call me. I just get flustered on the phone, and end up saying stupid things. I’m not confident on the phone at all. I’ve read your posts on this thread, and I can relate to the stuff you’re saying. I really hope it’s helpful for you being on here 

Thank you =) 

Yes, reading other people's thoughts and experiences have been very helpful because I can see that other people have had similar experiences, or might be experiencing things in a different way. It is much easier to chat online, as I can think about what I want to say over a longer period of time, and even edit it before it is posted. 

=)