New here: blessings/greetings/wha gwarn!

You don't need to mask here.

Nearly everyone is friendly and supportive ^^

You might have entered on a turbulent day. But like the weather,  this forum changes. I've been here a long time and pretty much seen it all. Stick around,  it's a worthwhile place to be. Engage in what interests you, ignore what doesn't! 

wow its lovely to have so much in common with someone! i too am working on the masking - being more of my authentic self, without the judgement/worry. lol the yapping gosh...thats the beginning of fear. never thought about it being sensory torture, so insightful, but you're spot on, making me wince typing! 

yes i do and funny enough its an old 5 series. i fell in love with the engineering and functioning as much as the drive. obv having an old car = repairs, and as stressful as it is without a car, i adore the diagnosing and fixing etc, unfortunately my physical health means i cant actually fix them, but a strong pair of hands and we're rocking! a hyper fixation topic for years...i can go on and on about the M57 engine and updates etc. i love driving and with my mobility, struggle to find comfortable cars (seat position, seat bolster, seat belt...list goes on)...the xj nearly 'took' me though, but the seats felt too 'slack'. uve got excellent taste in my opinion!

hahaha i agreed: really if i get to know the small dog, theyre fine - i adore animals and get along better with them than humans, always have. 

im not going to worry about the intro (i cant lie, i felt crushed)...BUT the support has been so encouraging and see i fell down the trap/hole. this is why i dont do socials! practice here i guess - i dont need the poison of socials seeping in though, that i doubt will ever change. but this site is mind blowing for me...so im not going anywhere!

thank you i appreciate and heed the advice. im drawn to debate bc i genuinely am interested in peoples opinions and lived experiences. we can all learn from each other, which is the point of this forum in some degree. unfortunately i dont take well to people telling me how i think or feel, nor inaccurate narratives presented as facts. lesson learnt and thanks for the kind advice/words.

cheers! appreciate the welcome!

Welcome!. This community is normally very welcoming and I hope you won't be put off by your early experiences here.

I enjoy lots of the same things as you, museums and galleries, country houses, holidays, getting out walking in the great outdoors etc. 

I'm also socially isolated and don't do any social media whatsoever. This place is as social as I get. I try not to mask these days.

I share your fear of small dogs. Their bark is much worse than their bite. That incessant yapping noise is the worst form of sensory torture 

communism fails because people think its one thing but its actually another.
there is no welfare in it, there is everyone having to pull their own weight, if not they get sent to labour camps along with their entire family, even if the rest of their family did comply and work hard they all get condemned to a labour camp if so much as one of their family refuses to comply with contributing to the work culture.... communism isnt really a good thing for the people who seem to idolise it in the west. its not as virtuous and good as they assume. they are confusing it with our idealistic current mix of socialism on a capitalist platform. good socialist ideas funded and bankrolled by capitalist funding ideas to allow it to function.... that is funny enough how marx actually lived his life too, off the donations and bankrolling of a capitalist while trying to fund and do his socialist ideas through his capitalist mate funding him.

we see socialism only works in conjunction with capitalism. capitalism is often required to fund anything and allow a thing to work. even if we get rid of money, and go back to item trade, its still capitalism, the exchange of labour time for things you need or want of value, which in turn you can trade to others for other things.

What I would like to ask is do you actually drive a Bimmer?

I had a series of 5 series Beemers back in the nineties, and they served me very well indeed until I re-discovered Jaguar Xj's in the early 2000's...  

If there is one thing I've learned about autists as a group, is they (oops, I meant we) are capable of, it's raising an argument or holding a strong opinion... 

I don't often strongly disagree with you Caelus, but on this occasion, I do.

A lot of these guys can do stuff easily it seems that give me very great trouble indeed. It's a mistake we often fall into, assuming that the other guy essentially thinks like, and is like, me.

"Communist types" just make that mistake into their actual way of life. That's why it always fails when actually tried on a large scale. (Sadly, I like the idea of everyone just getting along with a common purpose, happily for the greater good, but in practice teh communist ideal always needs firing squads to make it "work")

Hi there - welcome :) 

My theory is the bigger the dog, the better the dog. Although I can't say I have ever met a dog I don't like, regardless of their stature! 

Sorry you've had some frankly weird comments in this thread, I hope they don't get you down. Generally, this is a nice place to be with with nice friendly people who just want to have conversations about different topics but you do get the the odd aggro poster...sigh.

Hello Bimmer Lady, based on what I've seen of your rather turbulent introduction to this forum I feel like I know you in my off forum life! 

I managed to get in a few posts before I upset someone on this forum, but it's surprisingly easy for a topic to blow up in our faces I found, and presentation skills are really important here, just as much as out in normie land. 

There are two sides to every argument, but that is not the purpose of this forum to debate them. I've found it ridiculously easy to accidentally damage people here and in the real world, by laughing at their stupidity, be careful of that. 

and do you think a person who genuinely has autism could present and deliver such a social subject?
no? and also what type of place are we in? a place for autistic people? so yeah this would happen, what makes me question though is if there are people here who can present this socially and deliver it im questioning should they be here and are they really autistic then?

as i said in another comment i now believe 90% of people in this site are not even autistic now lol

its not JUST the subject matter that counts, its how that subject matter is delivered and presented.

I'm tapping out.  Had enough. Bye.

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope things will improve for you :) 

It's a really lovely community I've found being here a great experience so far ^^

people do pile in, they pick a social side based on social image not on what the argument is and whether they are for it.

this is how people can jump in and side with a racist against a person speaking out against their racism, because the person being racist seems more social acceptable and calm... this is why i doubt 90% of people on this site are actually autistic at all because everyone just does the same social judgement thing rather than judging words and arguments on their merit.

When I joined here - and what I have found.....

I lurked around without getting a profile for a good few months, observing and trawling through the archive to seek answers and opinions on some of my burning questions at the time - without needing to bother people with my (undoubtedly) odd presence and energy.  This place is so dangerously close to being social media (in my opinion) that I was deeply fearful of what might come from actually joining here.

I didn't see an "explosion" of wordy opinion, aimed at anyone at all, for a good few months after "properly" joining, but have seen a couple of such events since.  They have always blown over in the past.  People don't "pile-in" on one side NOR the other...........and I REALLY like that.

I like to understand what people believe and think - honestly - ESPECIALLY if I don't understand or align with those opinions.  I like to debate and become more knowledgeable on subjects.  The fun part of this place, is that the "subjects" are (generally) my type of nonsensical, irrelevant, random and "as they spring up" type stuff.

This place suits my temperament - it ain't perfect - but it does seem to be the best that "my oddness" can hope for in the modern world.

wha gwarn is jamaican right? but ok.
and no, i didnt vote momentum or jeremy corbyn, i stood against his anti-semetic party and saw it for what it was. kier starmer is ok though.

thank you, rough start, but hopefull will get there!