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Hi. Er.......hi, again. I am new here, and I don't know what to say, really. I'm Karen. I'm 30, and I'm confused. I'm a university student, and a few weeks ago I started to see a psychologist at school because my lack of social skills (along with shouting at other students in the middle of classes) started to worry me. I am being passed over for scholarships due to inactivity in groups on campus, and no one in my classes wants to be on my team for projects because everyone hates the weird girl who yells at them sometimes. I never cared about not having any friends when I was a kid because it did not affect my life at all, but now I need to be able to work on a team in order to keep my GPA and get the jobs I want in order to use my degree, so my behavior is affecting my goals now. My psychologist is leaning extremely heavily toward Asperger's and treating me as such with social training, but I am unsure if I am interested in getting an actual diagnosis. I am very overwhelmed and feel like I am so far behind in treatment because I didn't know this was a problem when I was a kid. I am just now, at 30, finding out all sorts of things about the world that are different than what I thought they were.

Uh...I like romantic dinners and long walks on the beach......No, really, my interests are school, school and more school. I love going to school. Campus is my favorite place to be, and after I graduate, I want to work at my university for the rest of my life doing research. I love research. And all things Italian. VIVA L'ITALIA! I think I am done typing this novel now. I love online forums, and I type a novel almost every time I post

Welcome to WrongPlanet.

Never mind, it's not too late for a happy life! I was 43 when I was diagnosed and I think what freaked me out the most (besides the label) was that I knew that some things I had been trying so hard to change would probably never change.

A year down the line, I am as happy as I can possibly be knowing that I am an aspie -- and this in spite of the fact that I am still being treated with a half-dozen neurochemicals because of my hitherto untreated ADHD, which morphed into some kind of anxiety disorder, which is decidedly unpleasant. At least the treatment I'm getting is specific to this type of condition in people with my neurotype, instead of some one-size-fits-all solution that would work fo the general popolation. Knowing that I am an aspie means I can now easily find friends to whom I can relate -- other aspies -- and I can search Google (and this forum) for answers to my problems, such as what to do about distressing and noisy environments, meltdowns, and a whole lot of other stuff.

But mostly, I just find things to celebrate, like becoming engrossed in wonderful detail, talking to systems thinkers, having friends who share my passions. Diagnosed or undiagnosed, if you find people who 'get' you, it's really such a worthwhile discovery. And you always have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of some other great aspies such as Albert Einstein...

Oh, and resist the temptation to think over and over and over and over and over about the business of being so far behind (that kind of unhelpful rumination is a typical aspie thing too). I certainly don't speak for many of the others at this forum whose lives were far worse than mine, but in some ways I am glad I never knew this when I was a child. OK, so I was miserable and lonely and socially obtuse for long periods of time, but if I'd been 'diagnosed' back then, they might have made me think there was something wrong with me and that would probably have dented my ego and my confidence. Before 2009, I thought I was the one who was thinking straight, and everyone else out there was strangely illogical.

Welcome to the right planet.

PS: As you can see, a lot of other aspies also find it difficult to be brief...

Welcome to WP!

Again? I guess that's why they call it The Chronic...



Snootchies.








Uhm, wait...am I to understand your name is...Car Bomb?

I must have left my "gh" somewhere.......

LOL @Car Bomb. Yes. It's a mash-up of my real name. When I had to sign up for my university e-mail account, they automatically give you a mash-up of your real name @university.edu, and that was the mash-up they came up with. I thought it was hilarious. I have others in my classes that have funny ones, too, like Tom Witts has "twits@university.edu", etc.

Greetings, KarBaum, and welcome to the Wrong Planet forums.

To WrongPlanet KarBaum! (or is that Kaboom!?)

Hi KarBaum, welcome to WP! I loved going to school, too. And one of my favorite things to do was go over all the course requirements in ridiculous detail. But really, the environment is very nice with a good rhythm etc.

I have to second Alphabetania, I am 35 and am just figuring this out. Maybe it would have been handy to have had some counseling for figuring out emotions and social skills earlier, but things just happen when they happen. I can learn now and move forward from here. It's good that you have someone to talk to who can help now, while you're still at school. 30 is young and by the looks of it, you don't even look your age, so in a way, you're even younger. Anyway, welcome to WP, maybe you'll find some helpful info - there are a lot of people here who found out about their AS in adulthood. I'm sure you can find lots of support about that here.

Welcometo Wrong Planet!

Hello Karen, welcome,

Research is cool

Enjoy your stay on the Wrong Planet!

For many of us, one of the (documented) advantages of being an aspie (unless, of course, you're 21 and they won't let you into bars because they think you're 12). I am nearly 45 and people still take me for 29-35. It probably helps that I don't act very grown-up most of the time!

Hello Karen,

I'm Taupey and was born in Indiana. I'm trying to figure this all out myself. I love this website and I'm learning all sorts of things. Yes, it's true, we sometimes write novels instead of comments and we also appear younger that we really are. See ya later.

Taupey