hi everyone! <3

Hi! I'll introduce myself as "Aarlla" for now. I'm 19, female and living in Lancashire. I got my diagnosis of autism in November 2022, however during that time the Lancashire autism support team had disbanded, so since recieving my diagnosis I've had no real help! I thought I'd introduce myself here in hopes of meeting fellow autistic friends and maybe I can learn more about myself through you guys.

I currently work part time at Tesco as an "off-till manager" until I can find a more permanent job that I know I'll enjoy. I completed high school with all my GCSEs and only really began to struggle once I reached college. I achieved nowhere near my predicted grades and I was feeling so down for so long, not understanding why I was struggling so much. I began university after college, but dropped out not long into the first term as I wasn't getting the support that I needed.

I have no friends in my personal life at all, aside from my boyfriend. I speak to a few colleagues at work for example, but they don't consider me to be a friend of theirs due to my "shy" and "awkward" nature. I've always been parts of larger communities online, hoping to fill that lonely feeling inside. I play on lots of big Minecraft servers and talk to a lot of people I met through those on discord. I'm actually about to launch my own Minecraft SMP which is something I'm really excited about!! Minecraft is one of my special interests.

When I'm not working or playing Minecraft, I like to go out for long walks or shopping trips with my boyfriend. I'd love to have friends to do this with too some day! Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and find some people on here.

My main special interest (aside from Minecraft) is actually plushies! I love to collect them and I love how they feel in my hands. I cannot sleep at night unless at least half of my bed is taken up by plushies. Some of my favourites are a frog named Alfie, a bear named Charlie, a tiny triceratops named Fluffasaur and a bunny called Boots! I think I have somewhere around 50 plushies in my collection right now.

I also love to play video games as long as I have someone to play them with. Some of my favourite genres are horror and survival! I'm not really a fan of shooter games so it can be hard to find someone with similar taste. 

I currently live at home with my parents and my younger brother, as I do not yet have the money (or the independence in my opinion) to move out on my own just yet. I do hope to live on my own soon. 

I absolutely love music, especially artists such as twenty one pilots, ajr and lovejoy. If I'm not listening to any of those, I'm probably listening to the Hamilton soundtrack on repeat! I'm not ashamed to admit that I have all 2 hours and 45 minutes memorised, lol!

I think that's all there is to know about me! Feel free to introduce yourself in the replies and I look forward to hopefully getting to know some of you. I hope whoever is reading this is having a wonderful day, and if nobody has reminded you yet, don't forget to eat and drink today <3