New here, already got some answers

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I won't go into details about it, but recently a friend found an attorney to help me out of a situation in which a business did something to me that was deceptive and illegal... anyhow, this attorney has worked with many people with ASDs, and she could tell right away during our first meeting that I'm definitely on the spectrum.

Far from feeling sorry for myself, I felt as if I'd suddenly been given the key to a library! I haven't been evaluated by a mental health professional yet, but the attorney is working on finding a resource for that, and I've picked out a number of my traits that stand out:

Body language is incomprehensible to me, unless it's pretty overt.

Specifically, I have a problem with anything formal---formality is an utterly purposeless concept to me, and I totally don't get why some NTs have to have fuss & feathers.

I do have a number of narrowly focused, highly technical and aesthetic interests.

I am a stickler for good spelling and grammar... no Cookie Monster English spoken here!

Humor is a touchy subject for me. I revel in irreverent humor, but many NTs do not, and they consider it to be in bad taste. Conversely, many NTs enjoy hurtful humor (someone gets injured or breaks some prized possession), but I do not.

Sarcasm doesn't exist for me---if you ask NTs who've known me for a long time, they'll tell you I'm the most sarcastic person they know. For years I merely chalked it up to the idea that NTs would rather hear a pretty lie than the ugly truth. So, if you don't like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk! OTOH I totally get rhetorical humor, and have purposely used it in ways others have found even more amusing than I did.

I've always felt frustrated that there were these "auras" others were picking up, which I could not---for years I just shrugged it off to the idea that everyone else has ESP, and I don't.

I've found most NTs to be unimaginative and rather tunnel-visioned, but it turns out it's me who's the hyper-perceptive one.

I can be over-emotional and feel very strongly about certain things, and I'm baffled as to why others don't seem to show similar levels of emotional investment---this explains why I've never gotten along with people who have sociopathic traits.

There are a few other things I've picked out about myself, but those are a different can of worms and will find their way into the love & dating section soon.

Anyhow... I hope to find a supportive communty in the WP forums, and maybe a few lifehacks I've picked up along the way can help others out as well.

Welcome!

At your age, a diagnosis is optional in that it may be blindingly obvious that you are on the spectrum. The actual benefits, other than a professional confirmation, may be rather small. For instance, around here, mental health services are geared to those younger than 18. Older than 18, there is only interest in helping you get a job and off the welfare rolls.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Hi, I'm new here too and some of your traits are similar to my own. In particular the attitude to humour. I work in an open plan office that is full to the brim with NTs. My humour often get disapproving looks. I, however, have to put up with their constant eating, coughing, sneezing, sniffing and endless discussions about last nights 'I'm a strictly celebrity pop factor on ice'. When I rule the world open plan will be banned. (The woman opposite me has coughed every 28 seconds for the last three days. My body has a need to constantly shake or fidget ....... leg, foot, fingers, hand, almost anything really (not all at once I might add). After three days of this, an observer would assume I had Parkinson's disease.

Hello Zed.

Hi, Zed!

Basically everything you said is an autobiographical explanation of me. Welcome to Wrongplanet! I'm glad to have someone here so similar to me!