Hello from a fellow "alien"

Post Reply New Topic

Hello everyone ! My name is Isabelle, but I would rather be called by my username, Arion. Fun fact, Arion is the name of a genus of slugs, which is a quite intriguing choice for me, considering I am not particularly fascinated by slugs. I am much more interested in cetaceans, and in spiders since the beginning of the year. I began researching informations about spiders as a way to fight against my arachnophobia, and it has been working pretty well.

I am from France, a country quite known for its infamous "50-years delay" when it comes to diagnosing autism and supporting autistic people. Therefore it is not surprising that I was not diagnosed with ASD until I was 23 years old in 2022, despite my mom's suspicions that started 20 years ago, when I was only 3. Professionals did notice my intolerance of change, my poor eye contact, my tendency to isolate, my speech delay, my echolalia and my hypersensitivity to sounds. I went to a speech therapist for 3 years, but still no diagnosis. I have always been an outcast, and rejected countless times for being different. Because of the bullying I went through, I ended up thinking there was something wrong with me, that I was some sort of alien lost on planet Earth.

So I started to conceal my real self. I began observing how humans interacted with each other, in order to mimick them. Studying psychology was a way to better understand humans. I wanted to become completely imperceptible. I also started doing my make-up, because people also made fun of the way I look. I tried my best to be the most normal possible, but in the end it cost my energy. As I was facing a long-lasting depression, my former psychiatrist suggested, at our first appointment, that I may be autistic, based of my life story. She redirected to a public structure specialized in the diagnosis of ASD and other neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD, with confirmed that I was, in fact, autistic. My diagnosis, as well as meeting up with other autistic people helped me embrace myself more and realise I do not need to change myself. My diagnosis also gave me access to accomodations that are useful to me (but I still had to go through a lengthy process to get them ).

My hobbies are video games, watching anime, reading mangas and books related to cetaceans and spiders, collecting anything related to cetaceans, studying sociology and psychology, listening to music and writing.

It is a pleasure to meet all of you !

Welcome to WP!

Your english is excellent.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

I appreciate the compliment, but to be completely honest, I still had to verify from time to time if what I was saying was correct by using a translation app .

Thank you !

Last edited by Arion on 25 Oct 2023, 3:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Thank you !

I tried Google to translate a few languages so I could say things to people from other countries on an online racing car game, though some members who joined my racing car club decided to leave as they wrote in letters that I don't know how I can make them write on my keyboard, so I didn't even know how to translate. Can't copy and paste as the game is on the Nintendo Switch and I translate on another device.
Some Google translate went wrong as the other people were laughing, as the words I had translated into their language went wrong!

Is interesting! (I am hopeless at French and other languages. My english (The language I speak) vocabulary is limited to simple words as my mind works best in pictures. My Mum is the opposite. She thinks in words. My Mum could reead and write when she was 2 1/2 years old, and when she was 6 she had read most of the adults books in her local library. She also finds it easy to learn other european languages. I find other languages very difficult. When I was in school I was in a high class but got put down to a class near the bottom because they didn't have to do French lessons. The work was far too easy and I came top in every subject, and came second in Welsh (And I was hopeless at Welsh! The person who came first in Welsh spoke Welsh in his home. (I live in Wales)).

Sorry. Am writing too much. Hope you can translate!

Ahoy-hoy and bienvenue.

Arion is an old brand of guitar pedals.

Welcome to WP!

And I would like to mention we sometimes have slugs on our front walk. We call them "speedies" and urge each other to be careful about their slipstream. I've also warned my bride to not make sudden movements near them because if she startles them they might charge! (This "seriousness" is in character for us.)

Hello Arion and welcome to Wrong Planet - I hope that you will enjoy it here!!

Very glad you've joined our planet. Welcome! In the local Xhosa language, Wamkelekile!

Hope you enjoy what WP has to offer.

Welcome welcome!

What kind of anime and video games do you like?

Welcome to WP!

Welcome to Wrong Planet. It sounds like you have found the right place.

I also went through 3 years of bullying when I was within grades 6-8. The boys created a small group and would attack me both mentally and physically every day for 3 years. They almost succeeded in killing me. I could hear my bones crack and my face is slightly cracked.

But they were wrong. At the end of 8th grade, I was voted least likely to succeed. But by the end of high school I was voted the class genius. I have been moving at light speed ever since.

At the age of 75, I now understand why I am different. I have a slightly different brain structure. The human brain is very complex. It has two sides, one on the left and one on the right. Most people have left dominant brains. Their right brain lives in their sleep state, during REM and deep NREM sleep. But my brains flipped position around the age of 3 or 4, when I died. I experienced what is referred to a near death experience. I was attacked by a large bull. For a 3 or 4 year old it was like being attacked by a dinosaur. I died. I woke up next to my dead body and my parents were standing next to me in utter fear. A voice spoke to me and said "Live or Die, Choose". I couldn't stand their utter horror and I said Live. The rest is history.

As a result of this condition, I never grew up. I always remained a child deep down inside me.

Life is an interesting experience. Live it to the fullest. Believe in yourself.

Hi, welcome Arion.


<>



I understand what you mean about being behind on autism assessments.

France has many Lacanian theories that bring enormous disadvantages to an entire nation.

I am writing to you from Italy.

With us, diagnoses are easily made for minors.

Then for adults it's hell.

We don't exist.

I have two DSM diagnoses of autism, the 4th and the 5th.

The problem is neither France nor Italy.

But who relegated us to non-existent people.

Then we were sort of liberated by Lorna Wing and various others.
We end up with DSMs that contradict each other.

And they are the last 2.

Bleuler outlined autism in 1911.

We are in 2023, 112 years have passed since then.

In Italy there are three roads:
1) As an adult if you want a diagnosis you have to hope to find special people, and pay them.

2) As an adult you end up in a mental health center because in Italy it is considered "a child's illness" and you are classified in the wrong way, sorry for the words and it is not the translation that is wrong, the words are from many doctors of psychiatry.

3) Returning to a scientific research and spending about a year of suffering despite immediately being recognized by scientists as "Asperger" now HFA level at will according to the new directives that make us non-existent or almost like Asperger.

But it's easier for them to "label" us with 1, 2, and 3.

They gave me a 2.

The diagnosis basically didn't help me at all, because afterwards in Italy there is absolutely nothing at all.

Here, however: we have scientific research and collaboration, especially with the USA, which is exceptional.

Even with other nations (Australia, Canada and others that I won't mention, including Sweden).

<>
I also suffered 3 years of bullying,

I had half the male class against and the other half in favor.

Sorry about the translation but I wrote quickly, because something wasn't said to have a good translation you need to reread what was written and if it doesn't go well change the sentences entirely because a translator translates according to the words and by changing the sentence the translation changes.

There is also Lexicool.

Try to translate into both English and US English because it changes.

I also think in images: not if you wrote it.

So already in one of the Italian languages ​​I have to translate my writings up to 10 times.

Your post is written 5 times better than mine.