Getting to know each other, Dino-style

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What is your first name? Sharon

Age: 55

Location: Indiana USA

Current perseverations: Aspie community and information, reading, landscaping, neuroscience

When did you discover AS? 10 years ago my Mother mentioned that she had me tested as a 2 year old. She said the evaluation concluded with this succinct description: "genius borderline autistic" She was told I would outgrow it and to ignore my anti social behaviors. She did but alas I did not outgrow it *sigh*

Do you have other psych diagnoses? Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar II, self diagnosed ADD

Do you have a degree? BS in Business Administration with minor in Finance

Kids? 3 NT's that are now successful young adults

Favorite music, other than NIN: Definitely NOT NIN ~ lol ...... James Taylor, Gregorian Chant, Celtic, Andrea Bocelli, Baroque Classical, Mozart, Bach, folk music of the late 60's early 70's

Job? No. Was a SAHM for over a decade and now have aged out of the job market in America

Relationship with significant other, past or present? 18 years with ex, 14 years with current husband.

Anything else you feel is pertinent: I also have a very rare neurological condition called Hyperacusis. I cannot tolerate normal levels of noise and some frequencies are especially painful. It has necessitated me becoming a recluse to prevent constant sensory meltdowns.

What is your first name? not ready to tell just yet

Age: 48

Location: MA

Current perseverations: restaurant reviews, art history, discussion forums, psychology, owning a farmette

When did you discover AS? About when I suspected my son was AS

Do you have other psych diagnoses? chronic depression, PTSD

Do you have a degree? Masters in Art Ed

Kids? 19 yr old daughter, NT; 16 yr old son, AS

Favorite music, other than NIN: mostly everything

Job? Art teacher

Relationship with significant other, past or present? married 22 years

Plans for the future? getting out of debt

My Name: Robert William

Age: 42

When did you discover AS? From early childhood to be confirmed in 2008

Location: The Cornfields of Indiana

Current perseverations; Writing, My Mac, Reading and Computer Gaming

Other Psych diagnoses: Depression

Do you have a degree? Working on B.A in History with a minor in Economics

Kids? 19 yr old son possibly AS, 17 yr old son autistic, bipolar, ADHD, Mildly challenged, and 15 year old daughter depression possibly AS

Favorite Music: Mostly everything

Job? Freelance journalist

Relationship wit significant other, past or present? Married 20 years

Plans for the future? Getting out of debt and stabilizing my situation.

Nicole
35
Dallas-Fort Worth area, Texas

Perseverations:
Actual (as in the dictionary definition)
Can you say OCD?
I also tend to re-read things like written letters (back in the day), emails, and blog/forum posts over and over and over again.
Re-reading 20 times is normal; re-reading 100 times means I'm moody.
I'm surprised my parents and sister never killed me for the number of times I would re-play a song on the piano over the course of a few hours.
Mrs. Pac-Man on Atari with the number of ghosts option set to 1 equals unlimited playability, which equals an unlimited number of times you can clear the board of all those pesky dots before more appear.
Minesweeper
15 Puzzle - I carry this around in my purse
A rubber band I can endlessly twist around my fingers, or a paper clip or writing utensil I can gnaw on.

Lifelong (the They Will Never Take Me Alive! category)
- movies and TV shows on DVD - I have to own them, not just Netflix or rent them
- PC games (I have over 400 on Steam, not including hard copy games I own)
- includes FPS, RPG, adventure/immersive, time management, hidden objects, puzzles
- board games - I would play them more often if others wanted to play as well
- puzzle games - jigsaw, sudoku, crossword, seek-&-find, kakuro, fill-it-in, nonogram/hanjie/griddler, Planarity
- buying playing cards
- buying kitchen stuff
- antique malls and estate sales
- child development, computers, robot behavior (I never thought of these as being related until creating my college degree - see below)

Old (you never know when they will creep back in)
- tennis
- piano playing (I miss this terribly)
- bowling
- playing solitaire with the playing cards (see above)
- drawing designs, or re-drawing the same couple of drawings over and over again

New/Current (I promise I'll eat dinner ... uh ... soon ... just a couple more minutes)
- woodworking and tools
- classic cars
- self-defense class (called Combatives)
- gadgets

When did you discover AS?
About 5 years ago, while doing my usual read through about autism. I have always had as much of a fascination with autism as I have had with analyzing robot behaviors.
I have not been professionally diagnosed.

Do you have other psych diagnoses?
PTSD when I was 19 (because of something that happened when I was 7), but that has been gone since my mid-twenties, meaning where it was something I thought of every single day without fail, I don't think of it at all anymore unless I'm talking about it. I know exactly what caused me to have that A-HA! moment, but I don't recall the exact date. It's like my brain finally worked through and solved that algorithm (see below), and now it's no longer an issue.

Do you have a degree?
BS in Artificial Intelligence R&D
(this is an interdisciplinary degree that is the combination of neuroscience, neural networks, game theory, multivariate statistics, and cognitive psychology)
You know how a Systems Administrator is kind of like a translator between the Management and IT departments of a big company? Well, think of my degree as a translator between the computer programming and engineering departments and the cognitive psychology department. I like to analyze how the robot is behaving and "thinking" in order to come up with solutions to make it better.

Kids?
I have three wonderful nephews, does that count?

Favorite music, other than NIN Laughing
I honestly hate questions like this.
I like classic rock, industrial, trance, spa/mood music, oldies, classical (meaning piano, orchestrated, chamber music, etc.), alternative rock, and DEFINITELY 80's alternative rock

Job?
I am an office manager for a plumbing company. It is currently eating away at my soul.

Relationship with significant other, past or present?
No relationship right now, never married, as single as they come.

Plans for the future?
See that degree up there? Well, I have no real interest in paying for, and fighting through, a Masters and PhD program to find my niche towards putting my knowledge into practice (although both the MIT and Brown Univ. A.I. labs cause me to drool on quite a regular basis). So, that leaves me wandering around like a brainiac zombie hoping something will magically fall into my lap. If it weren't for the ten-million interests I've listed above, I'd spend quite a lot more time and effort self-learning programming and possibly creating games with some friends who actually do programming and game making for a living.

My ultimate goal is to be named the Mother of A.I. I don't think this is too lofty of a goal provided that I one day stop being lazy.

Anything else you feel is pertinent:
Something I find interesting to discuss is my thinking style. I am strong in spatial reasoning and I think in algorithms. Unfortunately, the algorithm is sometimes a repeat loop that I'm not sure how to break out of, or it's an incomplete algorithm which means I'm not sure how to proceed or respond. I like to specify the algorithmic thinking, because while I can easily memorize rote data, I don't tend to retain it very well. Trivia is only useful to me if it's being used to solve a problem. For that reason I'm very much not a walking encyclopedia or "little professor". I think of dealing with social situations as solving more and more complex algorithms.

I live in a 3-suite house with roommates (suite=bedroom with attached/dedicated bath, but nothing fancy). K&E are married, own the house, and have 3 indoor cats, 1 indoor/outdoor cat, and 1 indoor dog. T&J are engaged and have two cats sequestered in their part of the house. There is also a resident outdoor cat that I will claim as mine if/when I ever move out of the house. We have all been roommates for about 4 years now with absolutely no qualms. Despite my living arrangements, I have been successfully independent my entire adult life.

What is your first name? Tabby (short for Tabitha)

Age: 34

Location: Atlanta GA USA

Current perseverations: painting, walking, dancing on my bosu, studying and discussing semiotics

When did you discover AS? Discovered around a decade or so ago, dx last month

Do you have other psych diagnoses? ADD, PTSD

Do you have a degree? BFA painting and printmaking, (in other words a huge loan for training to ask if folks would like fries with that).

Kids? 2

Favorite music: hard danceable industrial, atonal music, experimental music, dubstep, “classical”, political punk, political rap, just about anything glitchy that is stable enough to be danceable.

Job? Freelance graphic design and freelance web design, sometimes artist, and sometimes performance artist.

Relationship with significant other, past or present? Have a partner/boyfriend? That I see on the weekends when my kids are with their dad, and txt with all week.

Plans for the future? This is the post future, it is likely a singularity, one cannot realistically “plan” anymore, things change too quickly for that now.

Anything else you feel is pertinent:
There is a wikipedia article about me… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabitha_Fringe_Chase

What is your first name? Daniel

Age: 23

Location: England

Current perseverations: drawing, writing, gaming, amateur musician, gym.

When did you discover AS? About 12

Do you have other psych diagnoses? nope.

Do you have a degree? will do :p

Kids? nope.

Favorite music, other than NIN: Instrumental.

Job? Part time gopher.

Relationship with significant other, past or present? *snickers* yeah sure.

Plans for the future? Get a career.

Anything else you feel is pertinent: nah.

What is your first name: rather not say

Age: 22

Location: Greater London, UK (i.e. just outside of the main London bit, but within the M25)

Current perseverations: pharmacology (university work), working out at the gym, learning train maps

When did you discover AS? : When I was 14 I was sure I was on the spectrum, and then got diagnosed at 16.

Do you have other psych diagnoses? : schizophrenia and suggested mild OCD

Do you have a degree? : am in the process of doing a BSc in Pharmacology

Kids? : no!

Favorite music: The Prodigy

Job? : never had one due to being deemed unable to work (I get benefits), but one day I will get a job and I am looking forward to it!

Relationship with significant other, past or present? : never had a relationship, never will.

Plans for the future? : get a PhD and do drug research.

Anything else you feel is pertinent: I am very good at maths too.

What is your first name? Allie

Age:17

Location:USA

Current perseverations: Trying to study genetics and keep up a 4.0 GPA in high school.

When did you discover AS? I was dx'd at age two but I was old about it by my parents at age 9.

Do you have other psych diagnoses? Nope

Do you have a degree? Hopefully in the future

Kids? Nope

Favorite music, other than NIN Laughing A bit of everything.

Job? Yep. I'm a rink attendant.

Relationship with significant other, past or present? Never

Plans for the future? Hope to get a PhD and become a geneticist.

Anything else you feel is pertinent: N/A

What is your first name? Amy

Age: 35

Location: On the border of TN/Ky

Current perseverations: music, computer games

When did you discover AS? When we were asked by a teacher if I thought my son might have it

Do you have other psych diagnoses? I'm not officially diagnosed, but it hasn't been ruled out. He thinks that past abuse contributes to how I am.

Do you have a degree? No

Kids? my 11 year old boy is on the spectrum (AS), also have a 7 year old girl

Favorite music? Avenged Sevenfold, Jackyl, any "glam" metal (Poison, Motley Crue, etc.), country music...pretty much anything but hardcore rap

Job? none

Relationship with significant other, past or present? currently married to an NT

Plans for the future? Hoping to get into veterinary work


Anything else you feel is pertinent:

My name is Holly, and I am 60 years old. I suppose it is a perseveration that I am almost always feeling for rough skin on my hands, and frequently listen to Harry Potter audiobooks in order to fall asleep. I discovered Asperger’s Syndrome perhaps 30 years ago, listening to an NPR interview of Oliver Sacks talking about Temple Grandin. I related instantly.

Psych Dx – a fascinating area. I’ve been working at recovery as a codependent/ACOA for 34 years. For those confused medical doctors who have not yet learned that Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) and Fibromyalgia are actual physical illnesses, I’m listing them here. Anyway, some depression and anxiety are part of the painful package.

I have a B.A. consisting of a double major in Drug & Alcohol Counseling and Administration, and Criminal Justice. I made it a point to never produce any human children. However, I currently have a male Siamese cat, a female American shorthair (calico) cat, and 19 birds (4 parrots, 4 parakeets, and 11 finches.) Folk music, 60’s British Invasion rock, and 70’s folk rock are my favorite styles of muisic. I used to be a singer-songwriter-guitarist. What is NIN music?? I am an addictions therapist in private practice, but due to the messed up economy and my health issues, I have no clients at the moment.

My husband died 12 years ago, which saved me from needing to divorce the turkey. He was a compulsive liar, and I tend to speak too much truth (I only recently put together that this is a symptom of A.S., which I have long believed that I have. Duh – very bright but occasionally incredibly dense. <sigh> Anyway, for the most part, I don’t believe any more that dating is worth the hassle or heartache.

Future plans are primarily to attempt to keep my rural home, and if that continues to demolish me, to sell it and purchase a large 5th wheeler trailer and resume touring the country, but this time with my animal family.

I’ve become addicted to free-range knitting. Because I find this to be therapeutic, it’s not listed under perseverations. But the on-going compulsive purchasing of huge amounts of fine quality yarn is definitely dysfunctional. And I love my Mac computer, iPod, and iPad.

Well I thought I'd introduced myself here and I apparently had not. I pop in from time to time and read more often than I post, which is rather like me. I mostly listen/read and don't talk/write much. Hence I've been on this site since the early 2000's and I'm still an Emu Egg! lol

My name is Rozanne, and I'll be 40 this year. I was (in?)formally diagnosed with HFA in grade school. I was diagnosed by an evaluator the school brought in, mainstreamed, and when my parents got divorced it was never brought up and never put in any of my medical records after that. It was not a discussed topic, which is probably just as well. I try to remember back then it was just a theory. After a lot of things changed I did better socially as long as I got a lot of quiet time every day.
I was (re)diagnosed with Asperger's in my sophmore year of college, educated, and I had a lot of therapy for that (mostly dealing with ToM, dealing with polite touching) and PTSD. I did fine with that for years until I had a head/neck injury in Oct'05 that made it a little harder to cope with. Then in March'11 I had a fall on the stairs. We are still medically working out the details of what triggered the severe pain that caused the spectrum swing, but my days of stable asperger's are over. We knew I was kind of a neurological mess to begin with.

I am in San Diego County, CA.
I am happily married to NT, no kids, 2 dogs. I love cats but my tijuana rescue/service dog would just eat them.
Not fond of the word perseveration. I have recently found handweaving to be very theraputic these past several months, and 2 galleries have my work now. I'm a degreed artist so that's a good thing. Better yet that both galleries beg me for my work, and I didn't have to beg them to take it!
I have also worked as a nurse and with dogs/training/showing.

Do I have other psych diagnoses? PTSD, anxiety disorder (argueably social). I am really fussy about people touching me without permission. It's absolutely overwhelming sensory information for me. NT People just do not get that. Multiple neurological problems.
Favorite music? very eclectic music tastes, hate rap, hate dubstep, everything else is tolerable as long as I'm not in sensory overwhelm. Long list of favorites depending on mood.
Job? housewife, artist/weaver, work with non-profits as art-educator and fundraiser.
Plans for the future? Keep weaving. Start painting and doing calligraphy again. Current plan is to follow through the the medical game plan...get pain under control...build on current migraine/sz success.

Hey everyone.. Here it goes:

What is your first name? Jeffrey

Age: 39

Location: Austin, TX

Current perseverations: Music (performance), Sound mixing, Building Things, Reading

When did you discover AS? Diagnosed on Valentine's Day 2012 at school

Do you have other psych diagnoses? Many depression and anxiety episodes

Do you have a degree? Currently a BS in Engineering, getting a MS in Computer Science

Kids? That would involve me ever getting in a relationship, to which I've had no success at. So no. And the prospects for this to get better is getting to be less and less every day.

Favorite music, other than NIN? I like almost anything EXCEPT rap and hiphop.

Job? I do contract IT and Engineering work while I'm at school....

Relationship with significant other, past or present? See the kids comment.

Plans for the future? I'd like to fix the relationship/kid issue, but I'm about to give up hope. Lose weight and get in shape.

I currently live alone. I have no brothers or sisters and both of my parents have passed away (I was their caregiver). I hated work so much that I quit to go back to school and entrench myself further in an Aspie education, even though I wasn't aware that I had Asperger's at the time. I'm a pretty laidback guy. My psychologist said that I'm highly functional, but that high level of functionality comes at a emotional, physical, and mental strain. I love nature (and especially nature photography). I have my wonderful chocolate lab to keep me company. That's it for now. Time to sleep.

Age: 41

Location: Ohio

When did you discover AS? About 5 years ago. I'm not sure if I have AS or not though.

Do you have other psych diagnoses? No. But I seem to have some symptoms of schizoid/avoidant/bipolar disorders.

Do you have a degree? No.

Kids? One teenager.

Favorite music: The Cure, The Smiths, New Order, Little Dragon, The xx, Bombay Bicycle Club, Yuck.

Job? Yes.

Relationship with significant other, past or present? Divorced 16 months ago after 15 years of marriage.

Plans for the future? I'm planning to move to London within 3 years.

Anything else you feel is pertinent: English is not my first language, so bear with me if I make any grammar or spelling mistakes.

What is your first name? Andrew

Age: 51

Location: Missoula, Montana

Current perseverations: Chinese language, Philip Glass, counterpoint

When did you discover AS? I'm a psychotherapist and I've known about the diagnosis for awhile. I've worked with Aspie teens and adults for awhile and always enjoyed it - I just always felt a good connection there. But even so it wasn't until a few years back, reading Tim Page's "Parallel Play" that it finally hit me that the diagnosis applied to me too. Duh!

Do you have other psych diagnoses? I've struggled with anxiety and depression my whole life, and have some trauma in my history.

Do you have a degree? EdD, in counseling.

Kids? Two awesome sons

Favorite music, other than NIN Laughing Philip Glass, Mozart, They Might Be Giants, Bill Evans

Job? Psychotherapist. Also, a writer (see below)

Relationship with significant other, past or present? I've been married, to a lovely NT woman, for almost 20 years. After a lot of struggles (of the usual sorts) we decided to have an open marriage, which has been a very good decision for us.

Plans for the future? Trying to get healthy (see the next question)

Anything else you feel is pertinent: For the past 3-4 years I've been dealing with chronic health issues, most importantly Chronic Lyme Disease. Lyme seems to heighten my AS traits.

Also, I've written a book! It's called "The Next Ten Minutes: 51 Absurdly Simple Ways to Seize the Moment." It's about using mindfulness meditation in everyday life, and if you read it you'll find that it's also a sneaky way to get out all my Aspie obsessions!

What is your first name? rob

Age: 25

Location: jordan ny

Current perseverations:

When did you discover AS? yesterday....most of the things to look for i do constantly

Do you have other psych diagnoses? no

Do you have a degree? no

Kids? no

Favorite music? dubstep, rap, 60's 70's rock

Job? unemployed

Relationship with significant other, past or present? had maybe 3 girlfriends my entire life. longest relation s**t was about 2 weeks in high school.

Plans for the future? get my life tougheter

Anything else you feel is pertinent: i plan on making a post

What is your first name? Not important.

Age: lower 40's

Location: Southwest US

Current perseverations: What is a perseveration? I am aging but not decaying. Unusual question.

When did you discover AS? I was diagnosed 6 years ago. My close friends and coworkers know.

Do you have other psych diagnoses? No although I do have a hint of OCD regarding food related hygiene

Do you have a degree? I have multiple advanced degrees.

Kids? Yes

Favorite music, other than NIN: LOL. Yes, I enjoy NIN too ("head like a hole, black as your soul"), though my range in eclectic. I enjoy country music, christian music, 80's pop, 80's alternative (mostly industrial such as Front 242, etc.) and rock ranging from Rob Zombie to Kid Rock to Metallica. At the same time I can still relax to Vivaldi, Mozart, or even Celtic music such as the Chieftains.

Job? Yes. I first consulted the government and then later have worked in various capacities in corporate america for my entire adult life. I advise large firms (1B to Fortune 100 firms) on technology strategy, selection and implementation for materials distribution automation and financial control systems. I also have specific expertise in business intelligence and mathematical modeling systems and techniques.

Relationship with significant other, past or present? I have had various girlfriends and finally married 10 years ago to a woman with Aspie traits. We share a common vision for our family and common expectations so it works. Not perfectly yet it works.

Plans for the future? Raise my family, do what I love for a living, retire with my pension, complete my PhD in cognitive modeling, and then teach at a university (or continue consulting to companies). I intend to die contributing to society and adding value instead of fulfilling some old childhood or socially mandated goals that hold no meaning for my life any longer. That and I suck at golf.

Anything else you feel is pertinent: First, I am Christian and I am not ashamed of that. Isaac Newton was a Christian as was Galileo so my faith is not divorced from my intellect, therefore judge away if you so choose.

Next, I am a principled (radical) pragmatist which means that I don't let others or situations frame problems for me in a way that limit viable solutions. I am ok with reframing the question and definitions to generate alternative, viable and untested solutions for evaluation to generate positive results.

Also, I know that Aspies don't like change. I used to hate change. But then I realized that 1.) change is the only rule in this world and 2.) as autistics we have perfect neurological plasticity which means that mental or intellectual adaptation through learning is our natural advantage over NTs so I maximize that fact and use it daily. If I consider change as THE constant and the static as the exception, I can expand and adapt my comfort zone.

I find ways to emulate NT behavior to succeed in their world so I can have opportunities to make a difference and shape others thought. Call me a sell out if you will, as it doesn't matter to me. I have been successful in this strategy, and NTs that know me think of AS in a different, positive light because of it. Finally, I am here because I want to understand if my experience is distinct or common as I travel this life. And I wish you all very best regards.