A long-winded introduction...

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I just joined today, after reading about Asperger's for the first time. Oddly enough, I was not doing any research regarding my own condition, but was on one of my other forums (AppleNova) and ran into a posting from someone who mentioned it. From there I went to Wikipedia to look up a little more. It was a little frightening to see my situation layed out accurately and completely, though there are a few symptoms that I do not fully present, namely social awkwardness (though I aggresively avoid meeting new people and being in crowds because I am distinctly uncomfortable). I also have a difficult time reading people until I have known them for a long period of time, typically more than a year, though sometimes longer.

A little about me: I was diagnosed with OCD and Major Depressive Disorder a little over 3 years ago, and it cost me my then career path (I was a Nuclear Reactor Operator on a Los Angeles Class submarine). I succesfully learned how to deal with the anger and depression effects, but the obsessions are, as far as I am concerned, normal. I've never known anything else, to be honest. I never took any medication for the conditions, so was able to continue my career in the Navy, albeit in a different specialty, with no black marks.

I have lately, however, been wondering if OCD truly was the answer to what was going on, much less the Depression diagnosis. After reading some of the discussions on this site, and looking around a little, I was shocked to find that I fit the profile very well. I hope that through discussion with other's on this site, that I may find a better understanding of what is going on up in my gray matter, and how to apply it to the rest of the world.

I apologize for the rambling introduction. What it all boils down to is this: I am happy to find that there are people out there that experience the same problems that I do, and I look forward to joining in this communities discussions, hopefully for the betterment of all.

Thomas

Welcome to WP!

Tim

Hello Thomas!

Hi Thomas, welcome to WP.

I understand what you mean about your feelings when you first read the description of AS. I too felt relieved yet also a little frightened that I was actually reading my life story!

It also made me wonder why it hadn't been picked up earlier as I fit the symptoms very clearly.

I have also been diagnosed with other mental health issues, but eventually, my psych conceeded that it was AS.

I'm sorry your AS interfered with your career plans (as someone who is very much into disability equality, I'm actually a little annoyed - your employers should make adjustments to accommodate your health issues - as long as you can still do the job, that should be all that matters). But that's just my rant.

My AS affected my career ideas too, but I have fortunately managed to 're-route' things a little, after a few years in the career-wilderness, and I have learned a lot, so hopefully I can still achieve what I want to in life...

Military butt heads. You doing the VA route? I am. It can get frustrating. That was no ramble. Lol, just don't get me ranting at the VA, but there are good people at the ground level. It's a system and it can be beat, they work for us, don't forget it. We paid the dues already, time to collect on the promises.

Was that a rant? Humm maybe. Oh well, howdy

Huge gulp of freah air, when the past seems to fall into place. Welcome home, Thomas.

Hi, and welcome!

I'm not really upset about the decision, it was honestly the best one they could have made. With my differences, working in that specialty was hit or miss. I could have transfered to a surface Nuclear Plant, but elected to get out of the program altogether. I'm still in the Navy right now, Currently a PO2, might make PO1 this cycle (for those who know what that all means). I saw no wrongdoing on thier part, and they offered me the chance to get back into the job, which I declined (hours are MUCH better in my new specialty, and the pay is the same).

Thank you all for your welcomes, I look forward to getting to know you all a little better.

nice to meet you, and dont worry about rambling i have a bad habit of doing that too. i get uncomfortable in public places as well so dont worry about it too much.

You are very welcome!

I'm sorry you lost one path on your career, but you sound ok with where you are now. You sound like a truly reasonable person. I'm glad you're here.
My husband was in the AirForce for 15 years. We left sooner than we wanted because of many issues, including our autistic daughter, but we loved our time in the military. We are so proud of our beautiful baby boy who is in the SERE program in the AirForce now.

Thank you for the compliment lelia. I like to think of myself as a reasonable person, but it does take a lot of hard work. Quite often it requires that I step away from a situation in which I am getting incresingly frustrated and angry at not being able to understand why people act a certain way or do certain things, or even make certain rules. I truly do try, however, and it has made a large difference in my quality of life since I started pursuing a sense of perspective.

I kind of do have a reputation as a talker (I go on about things I like sometimes), but also as a rather private person who tends towards outbursts at unpredictable times. I guess it's just who I am, but I work on it.

On a side note, has anyone noticed that in Japan it is far more common to have Aspie traits than in the western world. Perhaps Asia in general has more of a trend that way. Anyhow, it is something that someone else brought to my attention actually. Perhaps that is why I get along so well with my fiancee (she was born and raised in Japan). Just a theory, really, and perhaps has more to do with culture than genetics.

We lived in Japan for 4 years and absolutely loved living there. We love the Japanese and their culture(while also noting the parts that aren't, um, wonderful. hmm, same as here). Therefore we pay extra attention to news pertaining to Japan. There is no seem. They do, or did, have a higher incidence of autism. Their culture accommodates obsessive behaviour better than ours.
Marrying across cultures is always tough, tough, tough. But you live in the right place to accomplish it. I hope you have already figured out the places you must bend at and will do it or you will destroy one another. Aw, listen to me. You're in the military and have seen as much as I have. Where did you meet her?
And where all have you been stationed? We didn't go near as many places as we wanted to, and never did make it to Europe. We lived in Yokota AFB, five miles from Tokyo, and San Antonio, TX (bleh, sorry all you texophiles) and North Pole, Alaska. I'm close to back home now in Vancouver, WA. My dad served briefly in the Navy, and he has never forgiven Truman or the government or the military for it. And all he was was a radio operator on a ship. I'm amazed at how long my dad can hold a grudge (until death apparently). Before my son joined, I reminded him that the military is a huge machine with lots of cogs, and to not take it personally if he gets chewed up somewhere.

Welcome to WrongPlanet

Hi welcome!

Thanks again for all the welcomes!

lelia: We met in Hawaii when I was stationed in Pearl Harbor, she was (and still is) attending college at UH. We have been together for 3.5 years this month, and I couldn't live without her. As for the accomidations, I found being with her to be much easier than any of my relationships with American women. Neither of us had to do much adjusting, and it helped that we were both new to the area and very busy when we met. As we reformed our lives (both of us had moved to Hawaii barely 3 months previously and were on our own), we naturally reformed them together. I think we are pretty inseperable now. It's actually kind of creepy, because we mesh like some of those older couples you see where they don't even have to ask each other things anymore, and we never get bored of each other.

As for my military career, I will hit my 6 year mark in the Navy on May 29th. I have been stationed in: Charleston, SC; Pearl harbor, HI; Pensacola, FL; Lemoore, CA; and now in Iwakuni, Japan. Not as many places as I would like, but that will probably be it as I will be getting out in about 2.5 years, and have to finish up my tour in Lemoore. During those tours I have performed as a Nuclear Reactor operator, an Information Technologies Technician, a school instructor for Electronics (going to school to change jobs after 5 years working on electronics automatically makes you a teacher in the navy, especially when you correct the instructor constantly...), and now an Aircraft Electronics Technician.

Sorry for the ramble there. I hope that answers your questions. I guess I kind of threw my life story out there.

Welcome, nice to see you here, hope you find all the answers you seek.
Interesting career by the way. Submarines fascinate me.