Hey! I'm new not only to forums on this website, but to the world of online forums so bear with with me. My name is Greg, I'm 25 years old and I only found out I am on the spectrum last year. I was assessed by a psychotherapist I was seeing at the time, and although I am yet to be properly assessed at an autism centre (on the list), based on what research I've done and my life experiences it would be weird if I didn't have AS. Does that make sense? Anyway, what lead to me seeing this therapist in the first place was several years post-graduation of feeling deeply depressed and anxious. I did not have too much trouble socially in school, although in retrospect I spent a lot of time avoiding people and keeping to the few friends I did make. I unknowingly used my quirkiness to attract a few people who I am still friends with today. I did still find myself in situations where I would say or do the wrong thing and not know why I was getting such negative reactions from the people around me, and this ultimately helped push me further into isolating myself and avoiding people as best I could. By the time I graduated I hadn't put any thought into what I was going to do with my life, and once I realized my life was not just a simple routine anymore (go to school, get decent grades, rinse, repeat), it sent me into a bit of a panic. I worked minimum wage jobs until deciding on a whim to take graphic design at a community college with one of my best friends, but the combination of lack of interest in the course and more social woes caused me to spiral out until I quit the course entirely and went back to live at my parents. That was 4 years ago, and since then I've been working full time at McDonald's and going back and forth between living at my parents and on my own. I am currently living with my friend who I went to school with and I want more than anything to work my way out of this funk. I do have some support from my parents, although they are both kind of shut-ins and aren't the best example of how to make progress socially, but more so I am getting some help from people they go to church with. One of the Pastors at the church is aware of my situation and suggested I try to find help from forums after I mentioned this website. I am a huge chicken when it comes to any human interaction, even online, but I need to do this because life has been getting pretty dark as of late. Sorry for being terribly long winded and wordy (maybe that takes away any doubt that I'm on the spectrum?), I just figured it was best to introduce myself to the community. I look forward to interacting with people who understand what I am going through, and also helping out others where I can. My main issues lately are with anxiety, particularly in public and interacting with strangers, and depression. Before you ask how I deal with disgruntled McDonald's customers all day, I work in the kitchen so I rarely actually interact with them.
So, yeah, I guess that's it. I appreciate any help I can get!
01 Oct 2014, 6:49 pm
welcome to the club 
