Hello from Grandpa Joe

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Greetings to all.

I am a 59-year-old, social-misfit brother, husband, father and grandfather who first heard about Asperger's Syndrome about five years ago, and I think I have it. I have taken some online tests I have found, and only one of my scores was even close to "normal". But, maybe there are other explanations for that?

My primary "identity", at least in my own mind, is as a recovered alcoholic. I had begun drinking at age 24, and the effect I felt at that time was like I had just been given some "bottled magic". I felt like I was "part of life at last", so to speak, and I could not imagine life ever being any better than that. But seven years later, I knew my drinking was killing me ... and now I have been sober in A.A. since 1982. I have no complaints about my life today even though I have many difficulties, challenges and struggles. So, why am I here at "Wrong Planet"?

Because I am a 59-year-old, social-misfit who still spends much of his time staring out into the rest of the world looking for others like myself in search of a sense of real belonging just like I consciously began doing at age 5.

Yep. Welcome home.

Hello leejosepho,

Welcome To




Never to late to accept, always to to early to stop.
Thanx for letting us be a part of your journey.
Hope you enjoy the fellowship here,
You're definitely not alone.

Welcome to WP, home to all of us ^_^

Hello leejosepho, welcome to Wrong Planet (the home planet?).

Nice to meet you, fellow-traveler leejosepho. Welcome to the Wrong Planet.

Welcome, I'm new here too, 61, and a fellow traveler who took a bit longer to realize some behaviors only seemed to address the symptoms but, in fact, deepened the distress. I hope you find comfort on this forum.

Welcome to WP!

I thank you all for the warm welcome!

Another Aspie had told me about this site, and she and I have been talking a bit.

I will take a look at some of your posts and see where I might join in ...

Joseph Lee or "Lee" for short

Today I called a local mental-health center to see about an evaluation, and the woman on the phone asked me, "About what?"
"Asperger's."
"For who?"
"For me."
"Why do you think you have Asperger's?", she asked.

I wanted to ask her why she thought I do not, or maybe I could have told her she would not understand if I had to explain, but I just told her I wanted an appointment ... and then she told me an evaluation could cost thousands of dollars and I would have to be referred by a family doctor since their doctors are very busy and blah, blah, blah ...

So, I did a web search after work and found this that fits me almost perfectly:

My social conduct is usually not terribly objectionable, and it has been quite a while since I had a really bad outburst of anger. Depression and anxiety definitely are troublesome, however, and with depression being the worst. All the other things fit me also, but "visual thinking" is my biggest trouble now. I have "retinal membranes" growing (membranes growing over my retinas) -- kind of like looking through a piece of ruffled plastic -- blurring my vision and making it a bit "squiggly", and that "poor focus" is identically duplicated within my brain.

Your thoughts or comments about my self-diagnosis would be greatly appreciated!

Joseph Lee

To WrongPlanet!! !

With such a beard, I would say you are
Welcome Joseph Lee

Nice.

Welcome from a self diagnosed social misfit aspie grandma.

Greetings to you, Mocha, and I brought your post over here because I did not know where else it might fit a little better.

Like you, I first came to WP hoping to find some answers ... and our overall stories are somewhat similar: Childhood symptoms seem to have diminished or even to have disappeared, yet social anxiety and friendships are still troublesome ... and now there is this new matter of trying to sort everything out.

My self-diagnosis began with a few e-mails and a couple hours on the phone with a man who has an Aspie son. He and I were not talking for the purpose of making a diagnosis, and he actually seemed to be trying to steer me away from doing so. Yet as we talked, many things finally began making sense in ways I find undeniable.

Shortly after my talking with that father of an adult Aspie, a mutual acquaintance told me about WrongPlanet. My "self-identification" that is still taking place here still amazes me. I know I am "home" in the sense that my feet fit this ground -- I am no longer that 5-year-old boy with his nose pressed to the window and looking out into the world while hoping to eventually find someone like me. That little boy and I are now smiling and waving at each other!

May you soon find the same, my fellow.