Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi new to site and would like to connect with others in NI. Sat accidently beside another person with autism at a works "do" today, and it took a lot to get myself there..... what a difference, what a positive experience and I would appreciate meeting others if anyone feels the same it would be good to hear from you.
Hi I live the lights at Christmas myself. I'm a bigger fan of Halloween tho! I'm 53 and I like ....Bill Burr Karl pilkington podcasts... interested in psychology
Hi Zoe agree its bit of a clunky forum it is a shame the group stopped. Nice to be chatty online at least. In time as @shardovan says who knows?...
Hi Shardovan good to meet you here, hope your day has gotten better. Its great ti see so many replies and the group idea you mentioned would maybe get a lot of interest. I am 53 so you're not the oldest to reply
That sounds like a nice group. It’s a shame it stopped. I also have social anxiety so I don’t see people very often but I’m very chatty online. I’m still trying to figure out this forum though. It seems confusing compared to Facebook/Reddit etc.
Those vintage carriage lights sound lovely . My tree will be going up next month. Usually around the 18th November. I have a load of books about Christmas that I’ll start reading again soon. I love the history of it and reading about the origins of all the Christmas traditions.
On a related note, I joined a Social Anxiety meet-up group in 2018 that I think in hindsight had a few people (myself included) who were autistic but just not yet fully sure about that. Or maybe knew but didn’t say. We sometimes met for tea/coffee or a group walk as well as the regular monthly meeting. The wee group sputtered out just as Covid hit and now it’s like it never existed. We’d all been too shy to exchange contact details - that figures! - so once the online platform (just a Twitter thing to advertise meeting) vanished, it was back to the void for each of us. It was sad to lose the tentative trust and mutually supportive connections between us all that had just gently started to flourish there. So I really appreciate you starting a thread like this one. Even if chat remains ‘only’ online (though who knows?), just that sense of local connection and solidarity is a helpful and special thing.
Christmas is the best. I just took delivery there of a modified string of lightbulbs (from EBay) that will let me re-string my vintage carriage lights for the tree. The old wiring gave out on me last year and they don’t fit most modern ones. Tree and lights both are about as old as I am! I’m not putting them up in October, don’t worry!
I’m in Belfast but my crippling social anxiety limits who I meet and how often. That ‘it took a lot to get me there’ of yours I understand very well, Janet. But it’s nice to know there are a few NI ones on here. Feeling very anomalous today (some days are worse than others) for complicated reasons and came on here for a bit of reassurance that I’m not completely so. This thread was a nice one to see on a day when my anxiety is very high and my sense of disconnect from NT thinking quite pronounced.
Anyway, you all seem very nice. I’m a 45 year old bloke by the way, so maybe the oldest to respond so far? Just diagnosed this year and it was a huge relief to know, even if it’s no magic bullet for life’s challenges
Could you tell me a bit about yourself? I’ll go first. I’m 41. I love animals and Christmas and I’m a bit obsessed with the Victorian era. I like walks in the forest and going to museums but I don’t get to do that much because I live in the middle of nowhere.
Desmond 79 I thought they were _ ? Born in England grew up in Yorkshire . Their father was born (Brunty) in Down. The bronte homeland is named after him...think one of the sisters came to Ireland once...to offaly? ...
Ah nice one,, im from Belfast.
I’m in that area . The Brontë homeland.
Me neither. I only read about it in the email today. What part of NI are you in?
I meant that I'm from Northern Ireland, too.
Hi desmond79 when you replied "ditto" does that mean you've just joined this site yourself?
There's an office for NAS at Carryduff.
I wonder if it's still going?
Hi Zoe never knew this existed. Hope you getting on okay
Mid Ulster.
The Brontes grew up between Loughbrickland and Rathfriland.
Lol, where’s that? I’m from south down.
Peter Rabbit.