I Think I Have Found the Right Planet

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Hello, Everyone.

*shakes head* I am trying to think of what to say here... Just really getting on board with this whole concept of online "social networking".

OK, my name is as good a place to start as any. I'm Chris, and I would like to say "hi" and "nice to meet everyone".

A Little - Which Will Likely Turn Into a Lot - About Me.

I was born in Oklahoma City in 1975. Shortly afterwards, my family moved out to Long Beach, California while my dad was in the Navy. When I was three my parents got divorced, and my mom moved back to Oklahoma City where we lived with my grandparents until I was 10. When I was 12, my mom began dating the fellow who would become - and is to this day - my stepdad. At 18, I graduated from Putnam City North High School and headed straight to the University of Oklahoma. At 21, I ended up dropping out before I flunked out.

I met my wife in 1998 (we got married in '99). In 2001, she got laid off from her job and we decided to move to El Paso, Texas after getting back in touch with an old friend of mine. He enlisted in the Army in 2000 and was stationed at Fort Bliss. The Mrs. qualified for NAFTA assistance due to the layoff and we had hit it off really well with some friends of my friend who were also into RPG's like us. In 2004, we decided to move closer to home after our military friends transferred and/or deployed and ended up in Dallas. In early 2006, my employer at the time, one of the big cellular companies, asked me to move to Tulsa as they were building out their wireless network up here. I started attending classes at the University of Phoenix that year and recently finished my coursework in the BSIT program. Near the end of '06 my wife and I ended up calling it quits, but I'll spare everyone the details as this is probably getting boring for some of you as it is.

What Brings Me To WrongPlanet?

This is something I believe each and every individual posting here can relate to: all my life I've been, shall we say, "different". I was been in and out of therapy from age 12 to 21 for a myriad of issues - many of which I deal with to this day. I have spent many of my teen and adult years wondering just what the hell was wrong with me because I didn't really fit any of the diagnosible conditions while I was in therapy. I haven't really been able to "put my finger" on what that "something" was that has plagued me all my life and has I think in many ways kept me from being the person I want to be. Until I watched the episode of "Boston Legal" with Jerry, the lawyer with Asperger's Syndrome.

This was what really got me thinking....because I saw so much of myself in him: he was good at what he did, and yet he was ridiculed rather than respected because of his "odd" behavior. He was isolated because he couldn't reach out to others and lacked so many of the social skills seemingly taken for granted by many (most?) people. Denied certain opportunities, like being made a partner, because he didn't "fit in". Granted, I saw that episode a couple of years ago, but I can still remember a lot of it like I watched it last night - that is how strongly I identified with it (and props to Alan Shore, as much of a sleaze as he could be sometimes, for going to bat for Jerry!)

As it has been rather slow at work lately, I have used some of the downtime to do some of my own research on AS, and in many ways, found myself in the words I was reading. I went down the list of common symptoms, and I do many of those things. I have always had a passion for games, and would often recruit family members to play. I even tried to make up board games as a kid, but never seemed to finish any of them. Social interaction has always been a problem for me and my mom has recently pointed out the fact I avoid eye contact. While I did learn some "people skills" during a five-year stint waiting tables I was often fidgety and doing things like finger-tapping and hand-wringing. If I actually THINK about it, I can make myself stop. I can get up and talk in front of a small group but tend to be long-winded (like now) and I talk about a billion miles a second. I also decided to take the AQ test, which may not be "perfect" but it was in my opinion as good a self-test as any to at least get an idea of whether or not I was on the right track. I ended up scoring a 36 (according to Wired, 80% of those on the spectrum score 32+).

All of these things have led me to the conclusion I may be one of those undiagnosed cases of AS. Once I get some things straightened out financially I will be seeking out a professional for further evaluation. Even if it turns out I am not an Aspie in the truest sense of the word, I can say for certain I am "Aspie-like". Before I decided to join, I spent a good deal of time looking through the forums, and I saw a group of intelligent, decent, and wonderful people who want nothing more than to be themselves without fear or shame. They want to be able to have conversations with like-minded people. They want a place they belong.

They are just like me.

Confucius once said, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step".

Well, in my efforts to reach out here to people I hope will understand and relate to me, I feel I have taken a long-overdue step.

I have hope now that I can walk those thousand miles, though I will likely need some help along the way.

If I can, I will pick others up who may have fallen along the path and help them walk their own journey. I have a feeling some of our paths may be heading in the same direction. By helping others who are heading the same general direction along THEIR thousand miles, I am in a very real sense completing MY OWN. Who knows? Some of us may decide to walk two, five, maybe even ten thousand miles together.

*scrolls back up and jaw hits the floor at the length of this post*

And with that.....I'm gonna shut up now For those of you who have made it to the end of this without your eyes bleeding, you have my heartfelt thanks for taking the time (and having the patience) to read this.

Chris

Welcome to Wrong Planet, Chris/LordKristov

very nicely written, despite the length. welcome to WP.

Thank you very much. 'Tis a pleasure.

*hands Kalima a towel to wipe blood from eyes if necessary...*

Length is not a problem. Relevance can be. I hope you enjoy hiking here.

*straps on hiking boots and grabs some spares for those who may need them*

Welcome LordKristov,

Great introduction.

If you want a more accurate answer to whether you're aspie or not, why not give the aspie quiz a go. It's better than the wired one.

http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php

Welcome to WP, Kristov

(hope you don't mind if I drop the "Lord", being a small d democrat and all)

Isn't it interesting how long winded we can get when (we don't need any 'wind') we get on a roll? The best of humanity has been written down, like a blueprint before a building or notes on a musical score before the symphony, we write out our minds and hearts here on WP and are healed in a way no speaking works.

anyway, being on WP healed me in a wonderful way, Kristov, I wish the same for you.

Merle

Thank you very much for the link, Gavin. I do appreciate it. Figured I'd go ahead and take it

Twas a little longer than I expected, but here are my results.



Your Aspie score: 128 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 82 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie

I have also downloaded the PDF for reference purposes

Thanks so much for the warm welcome, Merle. Just my humble few posts I have made here this evening have made me a bit more warm and fuzzy inside. I'll probably sleep a little bit better for it.

No big deal about dropping the "Lord" part. Just part of this nickname - which I've had since I started playing the Vikings on Civilization II. I would always put my name in as Kristov (twas more of a Slavic name I know, but the Russians weren't available in that game) My roomie at the time started calling me "Lord Kristov", and it stuck - since 1998.

Awwww...looky. I've become a Butterfly

Welcome, you found the right door.

I am likely to think that someone is Aspie if he can write in complete sentences and what he says makes sense.

Welcome to WrongPlanet LordKristov

Judging from some of the Friend Requests and Messages in my MySpace inbox, I agree with that statement, Remnant. What's REALLY sad is there are a couple of profiles I have looked at after being messaged and they indicated College Grad or above, and the quality of their written communications makes me want to ask them how (or who) they did in school.

"Hi," Chris, and welcome to the Wrong Planet neighborhood.

I could so go on about that.