A reluctant introduction

I like all three of those things yeah.  Red Dwarf series 4 is particularly good.

  Star Wars i like the original trilogy only and the odd book.  And i collected loads of toys as a little kid.

Alien is epic.  What did you think to the recent prequels?

hello

I've just looked it up too! How interesting! 

I figure at some point I will post about some of my own behaviours, or just search previous topics of discussion for similar. It would obviously be nice to find some common ground with others here on particular issues or behaviours.

Certainly some aspects of your memory sound familiar. I guess it must be frustrating for it to affect things like remembering to take meds. Thinking about it, I do sometimes have that issue too. The very important stuff I do still tend to remember, but only the very important. If I think it's a good idea to start on something like a non-essential vitamin pill it's probably not going to happen. For what it's worth I'm glad you've worked out a system to help yourself (if my experience of memory issues is anything, I imagine its still difficult no matter the system).

Do you find smoking weed helps with other aspects of your life? I dont do it, but often wonder if it would help with various stress and anxiety symptoms.

My own "phantom cause" of my memory issues was Obstructive Sleep Apnoea. When I was diagnosed with that I secretly hoped my CPAP machine would usher in some new life for me, where I would start to remember all the things I ever wanted to

For sure; good advice after a diagnosis. Defining things, labelling them, can make them and ourselves easier to understand, but they are tools, and not ideals.

Thank you for the welcome. As for your question: all of the above, for sure. Red Dwarf is a wonderful comfort watch- great sci-fi concepts wrapped in humour, with a hefty chunk of nostalgia too.

I get periodically hyperfixated on Alien, which was especially true just before the pandemic when the Alien TTRPG was released, meaning it sat at an intersection of interests.I proceeded to buy novelisations of the movies, and various technical and design materials associated with it, and for a couple of months it was the only thing for me

Star Wars is more of a constant companion. I'm rarely obsessed, but I do love it (actually, it is also a TTRPG so I have my eyes on that .. rather predictably). I recently realised I have started to associate the intro theme to The Mandalorian with christmas, due to when I last binge watched it.

Are these some of your favourites then?

Thanks both; I actually did just start watching some autistic YouTube and was finding exactly this. I guess when you start reading up about it you understand objectively there is a great spectrum of people and ways of being, but you don't really know it until you read or see autistic individuals, and their individual experiences and behaviours. A great kaleidoscope.

I think this is part of why I sought out a place like this, both to be helped but also to help. I am new to this place, but if there are things I can do to help, even if just being an ear to listen, let me know. Though I feel like supportive ears and voices are not in short supply here.

I had to look up your profile name. What a wicked trick of a word but who doesn't like a little word play. Thank you for the welcome, and I look forward to discussions here in this community, whether on others' interests or my own.

Thank you Desmond79. What a choice of words; 'home'. A nice way to put it, and appreciated.

Welcome.
As others have said the "S" in ASC is for spectrum, and don't forget you can be autistic AND have other conditions too.

Bellerophon said:

in other instances I seem very atypical

If you post some of these atypical behaviours etc. on this forum you may (probably?) get some "me too" replies or examples of similar behaviours.

I struggle with memory in a few ways...

I really struggle to picture myself and remember details of events where I know I was present. The memory of my life is like a brief series of bullet points that I've learned. The timeline is also pretty jumbled... I need to kind of work it out from a small selection of very significant starting points (leaving school, moving to UK, getting married etc.). I suspect this is also affects my ability to remember what people look like, their names etc.

The other memory issue is related to mono-focus... if I am working on a task I get hyper-focused and I feel like my brain flushes out random unrelated details. I have all sorts of systems in place to help me remember important stuff like taking meds, going for a walk, drinking water.

My memory & decision making ability significantly diminishes in proportion to how close to meltdown I am.

Before my self-diagnosis I blamed all this on decades of weed smoking, but I don't think that is the root cause now (although I'm sure it doesn't help).

I think this is very true and im glad you have said this. While I've identified with many things different autistic people have said, there has never been one who I've thought "that's 100% like me". 

Try not to smash yourself into boxes for the sake of other people, also we all need help from time to time.

Welcome to the forum.  Wondering if you're a Red Dwarf, Star Wars or Alien quadrology fan? Because you mention Scifi.  I am Autistic and we love to talk about our interests,

Don't worry, not all autistic people fit the archetype. It's a good idea to talk to different people on the spectrum, like on this forum. And watch some autistic youtubers. You might only identify with one or two other autistic people, because the characteristics are very varied. (btw you're welcome on this forum even if you're not 100% sure you accept the diagnosis.)

Welcome. I too feel like I'm sometimes not "autistic enough" but if you have help offered to you, you should take this. The reason I say this is that I would like some help myself but don't know how to access it. I have imposter syndrome sometimes too.

Well all of your hobbies sound interesting to me, and your job sounds like a great one. For autism it's a spectrum, so you might fit some things and not others, and that's fine. Welcome to the forum. 

Welcome home!

We don't bite. We're, generally, understanding.