Extracurriculars

[raiimonarch10]

Did anyone do extracurriculars in school, ie, clubs, band, sports, volunteering. Did you have better or worse experiences there compared to school, socially or in general?

Sorry if this is different where you're at, in U.S. there are lots of these things.

I enjoyed them overall because there was a common interest with everyone, could talk about it without sounding odd. And there was a routine to things. I knew what I was supposed to do and felt comfortable. I did things like cub scouts and boy scouts(only a year though), and a few recreation sports, a year or two, and band. I also was in a few academic and service clubs in middle/high school. I'm in an anime club in my current university, but mostly I work with a program here called conversation partners. It's a program where foreign students who come to the university to learn english are paired with a student from the university that helps them out with practicing conversation skills and learning about american/english culture. I guess you could call it instant friend or something like that, but for me it takes out some of that initial anxiety of making friends. Also I don't feel like the playing field is level because they don't know the social rules either, for different reasons. And being in the teaching role, I felt I knew what I had to do in the conversation.

 

[Chris]

I didn't do any extra-curriculars related to school, but when i was growing up i took music lessons outside school, aswell as regular swimming training.

 

[Emor]

I went to a rounders(posh snobby English version of baseball) team thing for one lesson and I hated it(I was really good at rounders though), so I just quit.
In Primary School me and my friend Steph were in the football team but we got kicked out 'cause the new PE teacher was a male chauvinist prick D:. We got put in the netball one and I hated it 'cause everyone there hated me. So I quit after the first lesson again xD.
I was in a Squash club for a couple of weeks, but socially I didn't get along with people that well and people were also lying to me about the rules(I knew the rules but didn't want to get in an argument with them), so I just quit and went back to playing on my own(legally, Squash games require two participants, but you get what I mean, practiced on my own or w.e xD).
I went to Scouts(LOL) and I actually got along with the girls there, which was _awesome_, but I quit after a while because this girl kept on giving me crap and I didn't like being told what to do in my free time.
I go to a social skills group for people with Autism every Wednesday lunch time, but I don't really enjoy because of some personal things that happened between me and someone else who attends, but I have to go so yeah :/. LOL.
EMZ=]

 

[Chris]

I used to play rounders at primary school. I was kickass, loved it. It's cool that you were good at it, a lot of people that have AS seem to be crappy at that kind of thing - i assume you aren't dyspraxic then, Emor?

 

[Emor]

I am, I think, I randomly fall down while walking all the time, trip up on random things all the time, and just tend to have terrible co-ordination. But I don't know if I do or don't have an official dx.
It's just that I have very good hand-eye co-ordination, mainly in games which involve a bat of some sort, because it's just a repetitive movement which doesn't require any learning. In dance I'm a pain to be in the same group with seeing as it takes me around 5 minutes to learn one movement, and there's usually like 80 or w.e, and I also tend to forget them all by the end of the lesson. But anything repetitive is a lot easier. With the computer keyboard I've got so used to it I actually have a really fast typing speed(peak speed=93 WPM).
I'm terrible at running though(which effects most games which involve a bat) and I always come last, but I'm practicing in the mornings now to try and improve that(it's more a fitness thing really because I don't go out much and I just sit around and do nothing in PE[most subjects you can get away with that]).
EMZ=]

 

[Chris]

Hmm. I'm not sure how to advise with that one, since hand-eye coordination is very precise - fingers being your extremeties, which means it'd be the most affected by dyspraxia.. i think?

I'm a bit of a nerdy typer myself, peak being 124 WPM.

 

[Emor]

Damn xD. My friend Toneo has some crazy speed too xD.
I don't know really. I think once I actually have the mind-map sorted out I'm good, but it's actually the development of it which I suck at.
I'm terrible at things like unlocking doors and what-not, but things I do frequently and are repetitive single movements I'm good with.
I might not have Dyspraxia but I have some diagnosis regarding co-ordination problems(I get physiotherapy provided by the NHS for co-ordination difficulties[well, did a couple of years ago]).
EMZ=]

 

[Chris]

Ah right, i understand. I stand by the theory that if you do something enough times, you'll retain it. That's what i've been telling Willow whilst she's been learning to drive anyway. I understand it's harder for her due to dyspraxia, and a lot of dyspraxics can't drive because of it, but she's doing really well, considering.

 

[Willow]

Hmm. I can type fast but I hit the wrong keys a LOT so my typing speed is poor. And I also type things in the wrong order/miss things out/spell things wrong quite frequently.

As for extracurriculars, I used to go to a recorder club and a guitar club when I was young, but I couldn't play the gutiar (at the time I didn't know why I couldn't, but I think it's due to my dyspraxia. I imagine I'd get better with practice). Other than that, I just used to go to art club in secondary school at lunchtime. I tried a drama club outside of school a couple of times but I got bullied and had to leave. I'm also useless at learning scripts so that didn't help!

 

[Emor]

LOL. I remember going to an outside of school drama club. In all honesty, the people freaked me out, they were _really_ eccentric. Also, way too sociable for me xD.
I kind of regret quitting looking back because the people there seemed really cool .
I also went to the school one, but quit when all the popular people started to go(at first it was fun because it was just cool people, but then the egotistical people started to join and it just sucked).
Do you use your computer a lot Willow? In Year 8 I was like that, but now I naturally correct my self when I make in-corrections. Typing takes a couple of years to master, imo(when you have bad coordination to start off with esp.).
EMZ=]

 

[Willow]

Yeah I correct myself straight away and without looking, it just still takes longer, obviously. I've always used a computer a lot, from quite a young age. And my Uncle was/is very interested in computers and I used to talk to him a lot. Oh and my Mum can touch type (she learnt in school) so it's always been like...something I've been able to do.

 

[Emor]

Oh, right, cool ^_^.
I think relative to most people my age and on here I've not had that much experience(unless we're talking hours a day, rofl). I'm still not really satisfied with my typing speed, but meh xD, it'll improve .
EMZ=]

 

[Willow]

Why does it matter lol? I mean, you can type way faster than me, the only thing that annoys me is how many mistakes I make and I can't really help that all that much.

 

[Emor]

Makes me feel better about myself. LOL.
There's not that many reasons, other than the obvious, the faster, the more practical and convenient using a computer and typing is ^_^. Obviously I'll never be satisfied and aspire to type faster, but it's not like I'm disappointed with the typing speed I have, as such xD.
EMZ=]

 

[142857]

I can type 80+ wpm. My hand-eye coordination is good, I can catch a ball better than most people and I'm good at stuff like ping pong (I'm tall enough that I don't really need to move my feet) or hitting a baseball. At school I was good at stuff that only involved stamina or strength, but completely useless at things that involved agility or whole-body coordination like tennis or basketball.

I remember the last couple of years of school I was down at the sports field every day, running laps and doing flat-out sprints, and running up and down steep hills. People were telling me that my running technique was perfect. And my legs were really strong, my pants were baggy around the waist but I was splitting the seams with my thighs. I remember the last "sports day" at high school, I was thinking that I was finally going to be able to hold my head up because of all the training that I had been doing. But I still ran dead last in all the races, behind the bookworms and the fat kids. But over a few miles there weren't many who could keep up with me.

 

[Chris]

Makes me feel better about myself. LOL.
There's not that many reasons, other than the obvious, the faster, the more practical and convenient using a computer and typing is ^_^. Obviously I'll never be satisfied and aspire to type faster, but it's not like I'm disappointed with the typing speed I have, as such xD.
EMZ=]

I used to use chat rooms a lot, from about the age of 7, until about 11 when MSN shutdown their chat network, so I had a lightning fast speed from very early on. That ontop of all the extra practise till now means I can get pretty good speeds. Also makes me feel better about myself. Which I guess is kind of sad.

Sad to hear about your final sports day 142857, I was always more of a stamina over strength kind of person - I swam competitively for 10 years or so when i was younger, got to 6th best in the country in my age group when i was 11.

 

[x.AutisticSarah.x]

I go to this special/boarding school, I want to be independent and hang out with 'norms' so I am currently at a drama club outside of school. I have gained some friends as well but I do tend to be bullied. Simply I try to ignore it and carry on and then when I am in my dorm room I just sit there pretty peeved because of it.