Hello all... not sure where to start or what to expect here. I have never been officially diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum, but it has become clearer and clearer to me, since childhood, that if a label was to be applied, then I would be Aspergers - or something like it. I am a 41-year-old man, who works with autistic children, some of whom I have the greatest empathy for.
Generally, since my painfully shy and socially awkward childhood, I have learned how to live with/deal with my condition, but sometimes there are things that come up which bring it to the fore - and make me wish I was 'normal'! For example, change, of any type, is always a difficult one for me - I resist going on holiday or doing anything to break my regular home routine - which, as you can imagine, causes problems with my family. Speaking of which, I have a large term partner and a young child - parenthood, in particular, is something which has brought my issues to the fore; on the better days, I am able to empathise with the autistic tendencies I see within my child, but the chaos of parenthood provides many mental triggers, if not necessarily directly impacting on my behaviour (well not always... thank God!).
Well anyway, I have decided it's time to seek the support of folk with 'like mind,' because some issues have come up recently with my partner, related to my 'condition,' which could potentially put my relationship and hence my family at risk. I want to start talking about this stuff, but I don't really know where to start! I apologise, then, if I have babbled on a bit too much in the 'Introduce Yourself' section. So...
Here I am!