6 months at the WP

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I have been here a little over 6 months. I joined at the beginning of my new journey in life---with knowing who I am---an Aspie. The diagnosis made me happy. It was a diagnosis I could live with happily. The diagnosis does not change how we are constructed. Yes...it is a label according to some...but it is also a name for who I am (and who you are if you have AS). I always knew I was different...so it was no real big surprise to learn I was autistic. But yet it was still hard to grasp at first. So I have spent 6 months researching my difference and how it relates to me...and others. Yes, it is clear for me...autism is me. And autism will remain with me throughout the rest of my journey in life. It is my friend. It has defined me. And with autism, I will walk more journeys in this journey. I have met many here who I feel close to. I made it my heartfelt mission to encourage others with AS to find happiness in themselves through their positives. My journey has just begun...it began last November with a diagnosis...and a membership to the WrongPlanet. I don't know what else I can do here now. I have made over 1000 posts (not many compared to some). But, many of those posts have been on my philosophies with the gift of autism. I hope I have made a difference in some of your lives. You have definitely made a difference in mine.

I don't know what my future here at the WrongPlanet is now. I don't know what it is supposed to be. I have felt the need to move on now in this journey. But yet something about the WrongPlanet will always be a part of me. And at the same time, I feel I should go. I have mixed feelings on my future here. I believe my posts have made some of you more positive about your autism, but I feel I have also made some here feel angry about the positive nature I have with autism---and perhaps feel worse about themselves. I have joined another message board/forum (nothing to do with autism---but rather an interest area) And I am in the process of getting accepted into another online community (again---in an interest area). As for the WrongPlanet...I don't know what to do. When I think I should type the words I should move on I feel sad . But to remain and keep up the heavy posting that I have done before (avg. of over 5 posts a day was heavy for me) seems very tiring right now. I don't know what else to talk about. I feel I have run the positive/gift thing in the ground. I have talked time travel, alternate states of reality, etc. I have played word games. I have had a lot of fun. But I don't know what to talk about now. This is one of my AS traits---I find it difficult to communicate in areas I find...well...difficult to communicate in. I can talk roller coasters, music, time travel, caves, comets, etc., and of course the positives/gifts of autism, but in other areas---it is difficult.

I don't think I can leave altogether...but maybe I will check for messages/posts on the weekends and make a post or two from time to time. School is almost out for the summer where I teach. I have a lot of goals for this summer. I want to get the house looking neater. I want to get the yard looking better. I want to work on my music ministry. I want to work on my model amusement park/train layout. I want to make major progress on my novel. And I want to be the father and husband I need to be for my family, etc. My youngest son is going for his diagnosis this coming August. I feel quite anxious about this. Anxiety is something I have felt a little more of recently. According to Temple Grandin, anxiety can get worse in some of us with AS as we get older. Whenever I have posted something that I feel very strongly about in the WP, I have felt anxiety before reading posts in response to my post(s). So...I don't think I will leave altogether, but I may not be posting as much as I was. I care about everyone here. I wish all of you the best. And I sincerely feel everyone here, no matter how terrible you feel, can find your happiness if you look deep enough.

Sincerely,
glider18 (Tim)

I'm glad you're not leaving altogether. I like your positive attitude.

yeah, it's really just the same topics being recycled by new members, so there's not nearly as much reason to contribute after you've been here a while.

hope all the projects go well, do stop by sometime.

I love your positive attitude and I'm happy that you'll still be checking in. I'm in the same place that you are, as far as WP is concerned.

Oh I'd enjoy reading posts from you in the future too! There's no problem with posting only little, you know. I don't really understand your approach often-times and it's fascinating and confusing to read about how others perceive the world. I would miss my thinking about your posts if you just totally left WP.

Your point of view is uplifting. I think it rooted in just being yourself and getting through, long before ever hearing of AS.

It is the way all of us older folk got through life, self support, and making it.

The AS knowledge is useful, but as seen, AS is many things to many people, and an overview does wear thin.

We still go back to making it as one of a kind. Everyone does, even though they are more common kinds.

For some it leads to a study of psychology, for others it becomes an excuse, and for still others, it adds to the enjoyment of their special interests.

Viewing self from the views of others, some think of changing to fit in, others think of where they are strong, and what they really do not care about.

Where the main issue for a teen might be social, university age might be getting the quite room, extra time on tests, typing instead of writing, that will allow them to get the grades, degrees, jobs.

For an adult, having less social need, having become a person, a full enjoyment of who they are, how to relate to those close to you, a limited but important world.

Self is much larger than AS, more to explore, and AS might be more important than eye color, but not a lot when when we do most things that all people do, have a personal small range of problem areas, and some things we are exceptional at.

Self is our path, which does lead through Wrong Planet, another home, but not the whole of life.

Learning of AS was of value to you, but you brought a perception of your own.

It was a trade, you learning, but more important, as it was to many, teaching about how you lived a good life not knowing, and a better life after knowing.

Wrong Planet may have less to offer you now, but you have an important point of view to offer WP.

with the kinds of brutalities that can be a feature of online forums, (and this is my one and only...) i have always found your attitude and presence sincere and uplifting.
I've had a lifetime in the gutter. I gravitate there like it is a second skin. That has been a problem.
BUt i have learned and continue to learn that the key to me functioning to any degree that is meaningful to me,- to SELF - as INventor says - is to absorb myself in my special interests, duck out into the real world only when necessary, and seek out productivity and positivity wherever I can. For me, that means seeking out the idiosyncratic "doers" here on WP and elsewhere.

You have been a delight here on WP, GLider18. I have enjoyed every single post of your's that i have ever read. and i have felt moved by your positivity and inspired to learn from you.
I consider you an unknown friend.