Are there any MENSA members here? I have a question for you

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Do you know if MENSA meetings are "aspie-friendly"? Do you think the average aspie would feel comfortable attending a MENSA meeting?

I know it's hard to answer without generalizing, so if you want to limit your answer to your own personal experience, that's fine with me.

I was lucky enough to join Mensa at 14. Had a much richer social life because of it than I would have if I'd been dependent on school.

Aspie heaven, I'm thinking.

I am as curious as the OP and am interested in what you said julie.

Is it as elitist as I fear it is? I don't want to be a part of that, if so.

Hell no. Smart people who like to party. At least that's what my chapter was like.

Yeah, but, we aspies don't exactly "look" and "behave" smart. What if the other members don't like us? Just because they are smart doesn't mean they have to like us...

What chapter was that? From what I hear, YOU WERE LUCKY!

Kind of hard to control or predict.



Seems it would make it more likely, but you're right.

Oh, in Eastern Canada somewheres

I wouldn't know, because I've never attended any meetings. I enjoy reading the magazine though. My mom wants me to look into local meetings because she wants me to find a social group here.

Yeah. I believe so.

I am a dummy in most areas so definitely not mensa level, however my step dad is in Mensa and he has AS (suspected). He doesn't go to the meetings but he does get the magazine. I hate to say it but a lot of the non Aspie Mensa members appear to be bigoted and arrogent so I am not sure whether it would be a good environment.

I dropped out. Maybe it's where I am, but the ones in it just wanted to show each other up with their intelliegence and I didn't feel like I fit in at all.

Heh. So are a lot of Aspies.

I just recently tested and was accepted into Mensa. I've only been to a few get together, but I think at least one other member I've met is definitely an Aspie. I haven't noticed any bigoted or arrogant people, but I think people in Mensa come in all flavors, just like the regular population. Some people are just jerks.

You're right about that! But I DO cut people slack if they are good enough to WARRANT the arrogant attitude. That is true even if they are arrogant towards ME! Some people are just arrogant for arrogance sake. THOSE people might as well be blithering idiots for what I care. If someone is VERY good with physics, and only physics, and acts arrogant there, FINE! If they start acting arrogant towards me about electronics, or computers, that is another thing. Likewise, I will defer to them on various things dealing with physics.

I've joined and quit Mensa twice. The first time I didn't go to any meetings, because they looked too lively for me, but I did read the newsletter and was put off by a column by two people arguing with each other for the sake of arguing. So I quit the first year. That was when I was 26.

When I was 34 I rejoined for a couple of years and went to a few things. Most people were very nice, but there were a few obnoxious people who went to everything, and I had a hard time avoiding having to talk to them, which I found stressful. That was one reason I quit the second time. Another was cost (I was back on welfare by this point and found having to pay both a membership and the cost of lunch out too much). The third reason I requit was because I was having issues around giftedness as a curse and no one seemed really interested in talking about that, so I joined Triple Nine Society instead and got some good information and support there (for a while).

What Mensa would have been really good for (and the reason I rejoined) was job hunting. If you want to find a job in a geek-friendly company, you can ask around Mensa. I found a company where three of the lunch regulars worked, and they were expanding (it was a very small new company that would have been hard to find otherwise). I didn't apply for work there because my instincts told me not to, but I did have a very good interview with someone there who gave me some perspective on what employers are looking for.

Mensa is probably pretty good for meeting people and networking. If you're lucky you'll make some friends, too. You just have to enjoy doing the things other people do (e.g. going for lunch).