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Hello, I'm not Sia.

Sia

Hello everybody.

My name isn’t Sia. The singer Sia once helped me feel empowered, and it's kind of ironic and funny now that she's considered a controversial name in the autistic community. Anyway…

I’m not new to the online community. I'm a long-time lurker who was diagnosed as autistic in January this year. I also have ADHD. My ADHD and autism were diagnosed in 2024 and 2026 respectively - to the surprise of absolutely nobody who knows me. At the time of writing, I'm 34.

With that said, I'm trying to reach out into supportive spaces where I can. It turns out that knowing a lot about autism and identifying as autistic (and ADHD!) still doesn't fortify you against the "But you were fine yesterday / last week / last month / last year / in your last job / when you were at school" brigade.

Here are a few things about me:

I have a brother with profound autism.

I currently work in the social care sector.

I love all kinds of music, especially metal, electronic music, 80s pop, and some genres I can't even begin to explain.

I love a good cover song.

I love oversized clothes.

I enjoy video games. I'm currently playing through Baldur’s Gate III and Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, depending on the mood.

I love writing. It's incredibly therapeutic.

I play piano by ear.

I love learning. I recently completed a Level 3 mental health course just for the joy of it.

I’m either incredibly loud or incredibly quiet and "invisible". There's no middle ground.

I'm usually rubbish at remembering to check my messages, forums, and the like (thanks, ADHD), but I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's stories and maybe sharing some of my own. Or, maybe just have some lighthearted conversations about cover songs.

Parents

  • Hey Sia, lovely to talk to you! 

    Congrats I hope on the recieving both your diagnosis at last, I hope it is a positive thing for you! Fellow gamer here, though I don't always get to pick these days, (tonight my daughter was getting me to play capture the flag on Minecraft with her). That's incredibly cool you play piano by ear, you must have a good sense of music!

    I like wildlife a lot, hence my username. It is really satisfying to learn more about subjects that fascinate you!

    Hope to chat with you more, enjoy the forum!

  • in reply to Cinnabar_wing

    Thank you so much for your kind words. How beautiful are cinnabar moths? I have a soft spot for moth and butterfly friends. 

    It sounds like your daughter is learning some very important life lessons. Or, maybe she's teaching you?

    I'm looking forward to chatting more with everybody, and being more active in the community Slight smile

  • in reply to Sia

    I do love moths and butterflies, they have pretty amazing names, life cycles and such variety of wing to look at! 

    Sia said:
    It sounds like your daughter is learning some very important life lessons. Or, maybe she's teaching you?

    Yes indeed, it's a huge step that she's playing online, she's scared of real life games so it was lovely for her to teach me what she's gotten into, as its not my normal type of game! 

    I also saw you love Lion King, this was one of my super interests as a kid, I even had planned my own Lion-King-esque movie. I used to walk around the house singing the songs on my disc man (showing my age a bit there). And had a giant cuddly plush puppet.

    I look forward to more of your posts!

  • in reply to Cinnabar_wing

    I can't watch it without crying! I'm like the embarrassing "theatre kid" in the audience throughout the entire production. I've seen it four times, and I intend to see it as many times as practically and financially possible throughout my life. 

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