Hi everyone

Post Reply New Topic

Hi! I just found your site and think it's soooo great! I don't know if I have Asperger's or not, but I see lots of things that seem to hit home with me when I read about it. Numbers are special - they seem to say something about people or situations - license plates, phone numbers, acct numbers, etc. I don't really have friends and really like spending time by myself. I also can't stand being touched and it was that particular forum that brought me to this site. Anyway, i could go on listing all the similarities, but I guess that's what the forums are for. um.... let me see...I was diagnosed a few years ago with ADHD, OCD, and...ugh... dissociative states. I also have APD, which causes the brain to scramble sound when people talk. Listing all these kinda turns my stomach as I don't want to be a collector of disorders - but alas! Anyway, I enjoy painting, music and meditation. I also love silly goofy humor and animals. I am a Buddhist and I play the violin and piano. I get overstimulated very easily and my mind is most comfortable when there aren't words in there gumming up the works. I felt empathy for the first time when I was about 27 and it was sooo weird! I see the value, but it rarely comes up spontaneously. I do try to cultivate compassion, though, and that's really rewarding. Oh, and I have a seriously intense dreamlife - like at night, when I sleep. I chose the nickname happymusic because I was listening to Mozart today and I love it because it's so clean - it made me happy. But at the same time I don't listen to much music or watch movies because they're so demanding. Anyway, hi everybody!

Welcome to the WP community, happymusic!
I think you'll find it very rewarding.

Is APD auditory processing disorder? I think a lot of people on the autism spectrum might have it and not know about it. I've never been tested for it, since it doesn't interfere with my life, but I have all the symptoms. For instance, I can only hear one conversation at once.

If you want to share more info about it, it might be useful for some of us.

Anyway, enjoy WP!

Welcome to WP!

Welcome to WrongPlanet.

Hello happymusic, welcome,

I like your username, because I like music.
I like numbers too.

Enjoy your stay on the Wrong Planet!

Hi, welcome to WP

I love music too, glad to see another music lover!

Hello and welcome to WrongPlanet. I hope you like it here and that you find what you are looking for.

To WrongPlanet!! !

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! Ms. Triste, Thanks for your input about APD - I will start a new discussion about it. It will be interesting to get people's feedback about their own experiences. Also, I see that you are in Honolulu - He Hawai'i au! but I live in Virginia. My family is from Maui and the Big Island. Aloha no!

Hi Happy!

I am new here too but I want to welcome you anyway because you seem to have so many similar interests with me. Painting, music, meditation, silly goofy humor & animals - all a check! And I played the same instruments as you do until several years ago when I switched the violin for the guitar.

What do you mean you felt "empathy" for the first time at 27? Literally? Or maybe I do not understand the meaning of empathy?

Anyway welcome again and looking forward to your future posts!

Hi DGirl!

I like the name Happy Thanks for the welcome and I guess I should say the same to you! Thanks for sharing your similarities - it made me smile. It's nice to know that there are like minds out there - especially when one isn't social.

Your msg prompted me to go look up empathy to make sure I hadn't misunderstood its meaning, but from what I gathered, it seems to mean what I meant to say, but honestly, all of those subtle emotional words kind of leave me a little unsure. What happened was that I saw someone suffering and I had this emotion well up and my mind's attention went to it because it was something I'd never felt before. I thought it felt weird and I looked back at the person (I don't even remember what it was - a news story on tv) and I realized that THAT was what people meant when they said you actually feel something for the suffering of others. I think it's empathy (maybe there's a better word?). Until then I'd only understood the concept as an intellectual idea. Later, with my spiritual practice I learned about the benefits of compassion (which seems to me to be the same as empathy...) and so I practice, it just like an instrument. Because really, I think I was starting from zero...or even a deficit.

Considering I just took the Emotional Intelligence test and got a score that the site described as "barely acceptable", I might need to look into this empathy thing I bit further! lol. And I thought I was acing that test, too.

Funny, you switched from the violin to guitar - I did the opposite. My dad spent years trying to teach me (pop/rock) guitar but I just didn't have it in me - i tried...it was just like a flat tire when I played, devoid of soul. I have to have the music written and if it's not classical I just mangle it! I really admire people who can just pick it up and play a song, maybe sing and all the while give it life.

Thanks for the warm welcome!