Hey everyone, I'm a 19 year old male university student from the USA. During my life, I've been usually successful at my endeavors. My grades are good enough to eventually get my diploma, I have a really good job that pays well, and I've had some really great experiences in my lifetime.
However, it seems that I have always had social issues. I never really fit in to any social group whatsoever, and I always was just by myself in high school, even though I had mutual respect from many of the cliques in my school. I never really had long-lasting friendships, the friends I ended up hanging out with outside of school usually didn't last long.
My freshman year of college (which I just completed) was the biggie though, I had many social difficulties. I wasn't isolated, I was actually quite social. But it seemed like sometimes I would turn people off in conversation. I also ended developing an obsession with what others thought about me, which ended up with me doing some things I would end up regretting. I later found out about just how my quirks were affecting others when one of my roommates sent me an e-mail shortly after we all moved out. He said him and the other roommates wanted to tell me that I needed some work on my social skills, but they didn't have the heart to out of fear of hurting my feelings.
I tried my best to take the e-mail well, as a method of reaching out rather than criticizing, but there was still a stinging feeling from that message. I ended up going into a state of depression, and started the intake process for therapy through my university's health center. I was paired with a Senior Therapist who has over 20 years experience working with social issues. After three sessions, he felt that I exhibited the signs of Asperger's, and basically diagnosed me. Due to the health center's policy, the diagnosis cannot be recorded in a formal medical record, but I met the diagnosis criteria. I've been in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy to help with my social issues, and it seems to be working. I no longer feel depressed and have taken a different attitude towards life. I still have my social quirks, but at least I have a resource now that is helping me.
For work, I currently am a Web and Mobile Developer for a university lab which has been internationally renowned. My previous job was at one of the nation's largest fairs, where I started at 16 during the main season as a grunt and quickly moved up to year-round management at the age of 18 until my departure earlier this year. I'm telling you about this for anyone out there who thought that they wouldn't get anywhere in life because of a social condition. I had these negative thoughts for a while, but with hard work, and a stroke of luck, I have learned not to let my social difficulties get in the way of life. My message for anyone reading this is that you can do nearly anything if you apply yourself to it, no matter who you are.
I look forward to connecting with you all! Feel free to reach out to me, I love talking to people.
AJ
10 Aug 2013, 6:35 pm
