Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, I'm David, in my early 50s, living in Portugal for the last four years since we left the UK. I'm originally from the north east of England.
I'm flailing around a bit at the moment, trying to make sense of things and learn a lot about Autism quickly. Lots of things in my history that I haven't thought about for years are leaping back into my mind and suddenly making sense. On the plus side, it's not like I've changed into a different person, I just have a name for the difficulties I have and a lead on resources to help me figure things out. It also gives me a way to understand why I dread going out to see people, how I struggle in social situations and also how I manage to (mostly) get through them but am exhausted afterwards.
In between processing all of this, I'm renovating an old house while living in it, looking after five cats that adopted us and one dog who kept coming into our field until we figured he should come and join the family and take up his space on the sofa. We all live in a tiny village where we're the only people who speak English. Our Portuguese is coming along, we have lessons, but we're not fluent by any means.
Writing an introduction for yourself is a daunting thing - what should I say, how much is too much, should I add more 'fun' facts? On the one hand I could write an essay and on the other I want to delete it all and keep it to myself because why would anyone want to know any of this?
Hello!
Hi David and welcome to the community!
Your move to Portugal sounds amazing! Sadly, I am completely lacking in DIY skills, so could never even contemplate renovating a new home.
Your "flailing around" is an excellent description of how I felt during the run-up to my diagnosis, including making sense of randomly-remembered historical situations that now have a logical explanation.
It was a journey then, and still is now. But the more I learn, the more sense everything makes - which is all to the good.
I never summoned enough courage to write an introduction, so - short or long (and either way is perfect) - you've already done a 100% better job than me! :)