Australian Aspies

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Hi,
Are there any Aspies on this site from Perth Australia or from Australia in general. How is life going for you? How has your experience of living in Australia as an Aspie? Do you tell people you are an Aspie?

Cheers.

I spent most of my life in Perth.


Married with an HFA child


I hated Perth so I moved to Melbourne.


Nope, I'm undiagnosed

Yup. I live in Sydney.

My experience, it hasn't been great. I suffered a lot of anxiety my first days of living away from home. I have built up on my skills but my mental health has suffered more. But I do love the music scene in this country.

I don't tell everyone I meet that I have autism, but I like close friends and family to know. I write about my own experiences with it a lot so people on Facebook know I have autism.

Hi, I'm a Sydney-sider.
I've been to Perth a few times but I don't live there.

Life is ok. My problems this year certainly aren't Asperger's related.
Most of the time life is good enough.

Australia has good support and understanding of Asperger's syndrome. The people down here are reasonably tolerant.

and yes, I do tell people that I have Asperger's syndrome. I don't run around telling everyone for the sake of it but it's no secret either.

Yes, Sydney south-west here.



I am doing OK, married and live in a house, but struggle financially due to not earning enough (which is because I work part time with very irregular hours). In any case, my life is definitely going much better than it has in the past... It is like it has sort of advanced to a new level in every decade. That is socially, executive function wise, maturity wise and life quality wise, but not career wise.




Better than Scandinavia where I come from. Australia is very diverse compared to where I grew up - ethnically, culturally, in many ways, and I feel that the tolerance for differences is higher here.

I think it is partly because it is easier to be a foreigner when you don't fit in anyway... it provides a socially acceptable excuse for not getting the subtleties and not mingling much. "Maybe some Scandinavians don't like to party"... or something like that;-) Although I look like any white person, as soon as people hear my accent then it seems that they switch on their "be tolerant to foreigner"- mode.





Not usually, but I have recently disclosed it to my brother, mother and father (via Skype/phone - they are not in Australia).

To tell my family was quite like overcoming a barrier, but it actually went really easy... It turned out my brother was already familiar with Aspergers (I had a suspicion). He had been speculating whether he has it himself and had done an online test a while ago and emailed me the result;-) ... it had him 50-50 Aspergers/NT. My dad just said "Yes, OK" in an accepting tone, and said that I didn't need to explain anything, he said that he already knows what Aspergers is (I sent him some links anyway). My mother said that "she had never thought of it that way", whatever that means. None of them really sounded surprised, they just listened and accepted the explanation.

That is the first time I have told it to anyone I know offline, apart from my husband. I have a blog and a Twitter account and Google+ account where I sometimes share autism-related posts and articles et.c. However, that is all under a pen name and not shared with my offline contacts. So far I have kept my pen name and ASD-related stuff totally separate from my facebook profile. where I am connected to my offline network such as family, old classmates, Church people and so on.

I would actually like people to know it about me, especially because it would explain a lot in regard to my very heavy history and maybe clarify some present miscommunication, but I don't know how to go about it. I am wary of the stereotypes, especially because I am a woman.

I don't know any aspies offline, except from a kid in Church and I don't think he knows that he has aspergers. I am not even sure if I would like to meet other aspies. I enjoy communicating with other aspies online, but maybe communicating offline would be totally different? I know I am not at my best face2face... I may make a good impression at first (depending on the circumstances) but I tend to find it extremely draining, and if people are difficult then my "spoons" quickly run out. I can't work out if other aspies would be more or less difficult than "normal" people face to face... I guess that depends on who it is of course. I generally find extravert people very stressing, and I imagine aspie extraverts would be even worse than the average extravert person.

Also, I know what difficulties I have "getting" others, their personalities and boundaries - although I try hard all the time, and if in doubt - just keep my mouth shut (that works quite well). I have family members on both sides of my family who I have always found extremely stressing because of their combination of extraversion + social motivation + entitlement + insensitive (relentlessly starring) eye contact + very aspie-like poor social timing & poor sense of boundaries.... these people include my mother, her older sister and my maternal grandfather:-(

I am pretty sure my dad is an Aspie too (whether he knows it or not), but he is not stressing, probably because he is not intrusive. Same with my brother - quite aspie-like (but better socially than me), not really stressing because his social needs are low.

.. so I am afraid to meet other aspies and find they have traits like mine just less in check, or that they are extraverts-with-little-sense-of-boundaries like those family members who I find/found hugely invasive. Does anyone else have concerns like these? Does anyone have aspie friends they meet with face to face, and how does these friendships work out?

On the other hand, I am curious to see if there is anyone else a bit like me somewhere out there. I presume that I'm atypical even for an aspie if there is such a thing as a typical aspie. Just because I can't imagine anyone being like me.

I should maybe also mention that I found out about Aspergers relatively late, in the last few years - at 40+. So it is still a fairly new awareness.

Ps. When I say Aspergers or Aspie I officially mean ASD-Level 1, as it is now called.

Hi,

I live in a suburb about 30 mins away from Perth though I am currently overseas for holiday. I am an immigrant.

My life isn't going great in general.

It's true that Australians are rather tolerant of differences because they are used to people from many different cultures. In my country people are pressured to be the same as others and I suffered a lot when I lived there. So Australia is more comfortable in that sense. However, as someone with autism, I always eventually get singled out and ostracized in most places even in Australia. I feel a wall between "normal" people and me. I have met many bullies in Australia, too.

I never tell anyone about my autism. I cannot trust most people. I realize most people pretend to care but unless you are their family they only think of your problems as good topics for their gossip.

I was wondering if there was anyone from WA or Perth. Most Australian WP members are from eastern states. If you are from Perth, do you know Miss Maud in Murray Street near the mall? I sometimes go there for afternoon tea.

Thanks for your replies.

In reply to AWD: I am very reluctant to share my ideas on Autism with my family as they think I am crazy enough already But I can definitely see many similiarities between myself and my father and one of my brothers. I don't think it would make much difference for the moment anyways. My brother is getting on great and my father is doing ok as well. But say if I could see some autistic characteristics in my nieces and nephews I would point it out subtlely. I am also from overseas and moved here because people back home are pretty intolerant of people being a bit different. For example - say if you told someone you were going to travel to France on a holiday on your own, they would think you were weird for not going with someone.

I am from Perth and would be interested in meeting other people with HFA close by. The reason I would like to meet other people with HFA is because I think I may have HFA. A physchologist thinks I have mild HFA. The real experts are people with HFA and by meeting other people with HFA I may be able to discuss things. At least any WP member should be tolerant of people being different and have a very open mind. I think many HFA people I have seen on youtube are really interesting people. So I think I may enjoy meeting other people with HFA. Maybe it is a good idea for minorities to get together??

I'm from Victoria. My life's ok for the most part except not having a job and feel guilty about it. As for living in Australia as a Aspie it has its good and bad days. I just wish employers could see my strengths and hire me, if you can bend over backwards for other minorities and employ them why not me? Unlike some I don't get offended at every little thing. As for telling people that I'm on the spectrum it's on a needs to know basis.

Hi gonzo I live in Melbourne in the suburbs,
I live on my own yes I have my good and bad days,
I don't feel the need to tell people as I usually keep things to myself.

Seems I'm the only one who's from Perth here? Yeah I used to go with my parents for breakfast at Mis Mauds on Murray Street back in the late 1970s. I remember the old Jingle...You've really got a taste for life...We'd like to thank you Miss Mauds

There's some really good Asian (Malaysian) restaurants just opposite Miss Mauds which have fantastic food. If you are feeling adventurous then ditch the drab Swedish fare and try something a little spicier like Nasi Lemak or beef rendang.

Gold coast here. My life is going well. I only discuss it when it's necessary or with people I trust. Most of the time I can blend in well enough to get by.

I didn't know you were from Perth. I cannot remember what was opposite Miss Maud there. You are talking about the corner of Murray and Pier Streets, right? Perth has changed a lot and I don't go to the city as often as I used to. There's a Pakistani restaurant a bit closer to the mall and there's an Indonesian one on the other side. They are pretty good.

Actually you are correct, it's an Indonesian restaurant. The Malaysian place is further down Murray street. I actually have mixed feelings about leaving Despite the narrow minded small town mentality I actually had very good friends I left behind. Since moving to Melbourne I have not been able to make any new friends.