Hello, new here

Hi everyone,

I joined a few weeks ago but - as is my habit - I had to read a hundred or so threads to scope the place out and decide whether you were friendly or not before I could think abut introducing myself! 

I don't yet have a formal A/S diagnosis. People have suggested to me on a number of occasions before that I may be on the A/S, but I've never really thought anything of this, assuming that I am both too social and too disorganised and lacking in routine to be autistic (misinformation and stereotyping having done its job effectively).

However, I have now been referred by my GP for assessment following a... let's call it a mental break, but knowing more now it looks to me very much like autistic burnout.
To be honest, I would be very surprised if I didn't end up with a diagnosis - I've built up quite an evidence file against the DSM-IV criteria these last few weeks.

I love researching random subjects, and have been doing a lot of reading and reflecting on A/S following this recent turn of events.

There are lots of things that I do which I had previously just naively assumed everyone else in the world also did, but which I now read are quite unusual amongst neurotypicals (e.g. scripting most conversations I have in advance; choosing the words when I speak based on a preference for how the shape they make "feels" in my mouth; inability to remember things I have been told even seconds earlier balanced out by an inability to forget almost anything I have ever seen or read even decades later).

There are a lot of other things I do that I had always just put down as quirks or never really thought about before, but which seem quite autistic on reflection. Hundreds of these, but A few gems, such as:

• If your name is something that has a dual purpose as a "thing word" as well as a "name word" then I will find it difficult to call you by that name, or even hear someone else do so without feeling uncomfortable ('Ruby', 'Rose', 'Hope', 'Sky' etc - it tends to be an issue with female names as male names don't often double up.
• Crisp packets, chocolate bar wrappers, the cellophane windows from envelopes - it is a real wrench to me to just throw any of these things away without first spending a couple of minutes with them pressed over my mouth, rubbing my lips through them. I will keep hold of them for days just for that purpose. The printing eventually starts to rub off and I have to swap it out for a new one! Miscellaneous small things with a smooth surface and a contrasting hard edge which are not intended to be put in the mouth somehow always mysteriously end up in my mouth: hairclips, keys, credit cards, wedding rings, paperclips, key fobs,... casino chips .
• If I am forced to talk to people from two different categories at the same time (e.g. family and friends, or work and family, or even from 2 different social groupings or 2 different branches of the family) I find it extremely difficult to work out how to progress the interaction and I will generally end up withdrawing or reverting to monosyllabism . I realise that this is because I work through most of my interactions on the basis of a "persona" or "programme" that I have for that particular relationship and I can't work out what to do when there is a conflict as to what "programme" I should be running.

In retrospect, I'm not quite sure how I managed to go so long without considering A/S as a possibility...

Anyway, that's enough of me justifying my right to be here for now! 

I am a lawyer by training, but I work in the public sector currently.
I am in my thirties, married with two children.
I live in the South West, and would be interested in connecting with anyone local.
I am interested in lots of things and there are too many to list, but particular non-work and non-political loves (in order of less weird to more weird) include:

• The gym (repetitive movements, obsessive record keeping, unbending routine all in an environment where it is good manners not to make eye contact and to wear earphones and completely acceptable to stare blankly into space - great!)
• music (no particular genre - if I like something I will listen to it repeatedly. Ranges from classical and opera right through to current charts. I sadly have no musical talent.)
• fantasy / science fantasy (book or film and high-fantasy, low-fantasy or parody all acceptable although internal consistency of the metaphysics is very important to me!)
• RPG & turn-based strategy games (if it has a tech tree, I will study it for hours!)
• tattoos and graffiti (I produce neither but have the former and like looking at all quality examples of both)
• drawing and digital media
• 1980s and new era cartoons (the bits prior to that or in between, not so much)
• trainers (as in the shoes - I just love looking at them and comparing them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )
• the sea (if I am near it, even in December or January I need to swim in it. If that's not practical, we at least need to stop so that I can stare at it for a while)
• trees (I find it difficult not to climb them although I usually manage to refrain and just enjoy looking at them instead)
• Victoriana, steam technology and anything clockwork
• 1920s/30s art deco
• random flowcharts, blueprints and maps (I could look at them for days)
• crests icons, symbols, typefaces and alphabets (particularly image series showing how they have developed and changed over time); 
• Stained glass windows
• Hierarchies and organisational structures (aristocratic and military ranks, social classes, political titles, layers of government, orders of angels, circles of hell. All the structures. Of everything. I need to know it)

My current ruling obsession, which I share with my children, is anime, specifically Naruto.

You may have already noticed, but I sometimes have a slight tendency to overshare 

I'm looking forward to being part of this community, getting to know people here and hopefully learning a bit more about myself at the same time.