Hi guys!
To quickly introduce myself, I'm Ethan, a 25-year-old male from Stockport, and have only just joined the society having been very hesitant to join for a while (there are various reasons for this but won't go into them now!). I'd describe myself as being a very enthusiastic, energetic & jokey character, but one that is ambitious. My background is in Physiotherapy, but I'm currently looking for work in Manchester city centre having just finished an internship at a church in Salford (mainly involving working with university students that go to the church).
My main interests include football, playing video games, dancing (in any capacity but my main genre is breakdancing), watching high speed trains (get me at either a level crossing or train station with trains passing at 120mph and I'm there all day!), running, and meeting / hanging out with people a similar age to me, to name a few!
My main reason for being part of the society is to further embrace my likelihood of being autistic (having not received an official diagnosis - I'm on a 6-8 month waiting list!), to get better at not masking it (which I now believe is the healthiest thing to do), and to journey alongside other similar aged males & females with autism, as well as to support & encourage my younger brother (who is now officially diagnosed) in our similar but unique journeys. Despite the fact I have often found myself masking to fit into previously friendship circles / communities, I have learnt to embrace my autism gradually, and I'm learning to be myself as often as I can without worrying about how non-autistic people might see me, an obvious challenge I'm sure a lot of us. Though saying this, me & my brother are part of a couple of incredibly loving & accepting church communities around the centre of Manchester, who have encouraged us to be ourselves, and this for me has been the start of the process of fully accepting and embracing my autistic traits.
If anyone has any suggestions of forums or communities I can join to do with any of my hobbies above, please let me know as I'm keen to get myself stuck in and meet people with similar interests!
A pre-warning that I most likely won't be very responsive (as I've never used this system before), but will try and engage as much as I can with the community, but I'm excited about the upcoming journey I am inviting you to walk alongside me on, as I learn to embrace and thrive in a world that doesn't easily accept people with autism.
