Hello

[Wireless]

Hello everyone.

I am a neurotypical-ish (I have dsylexia) 25 year old female. I am a baptized Christian ( don't worry, I'm not a homophobic, Bible bashing kind. Love for all people is what I believe in). I also suspect I have a Sluggish Cognitive Tempo/some form of ADD. I'm not good in extreme temperatures - hot makes me angry and cold can trigger an anxiety attack. I can't focus in noisy rooms when everyone is talking at once. It can me feel irritable.

I have a strong interest in ASDs and the best way to learn about them is to learn from the experts - people who actually have it. I'll hope you don't mind me asking lots of questions. For a while I was on Wrongplanet, but there is quite a lot of NT bashing, which made me uncomfortable.

As well as wanting to learn about autism, I want to learn from people with autism on how to better myself. I have great respect for your logic, focus, honesty and passion. I also want to be able to connect with people who share my interests. I have too many at the moment and is an expert on none of them, so please go easy me Maybe you could give me some tips on how to be more focused?
I often feel frustrated because as an NT and as a dyslexic it is really quite difficult for me to place facts into my long term memory. Hardly anything sticks. So, like I said, I'm not an expert on any of my interests. Ask me something and I'd have to look it up.

Anyway, my interests:
A) ASDs. I own 11 books about autism. I have no system for choosing which books I buy, just whatever is available and I can afford.
They are:
1.The Autistic Spectrum by Lorna Wing
2. Autism with Severe Learning Difficulties by Dr Rita Jordan
3. Pretending to be Normal by Liane Holliday Willey
4. Safety Skill for Asperger Women also by LHW
5. Aspergirls by Rudy Simone
6. 22 Things a Woman Must Know...also by RS
7. 22 Things a Woman with AS....also by RS
8. Asperger's On The Job...also by RS
9. Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin
10. Autism - A Very Short Introduction by Uta Frith
11. The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome by Tony Attwood

B) The history of Radar. I'm trying to create a timeline for myself, but it's slow work with my short attention span. And it's tricky trying to decide which are the key facts that should go on the timeline and whether I should I focus only on the British Radar systems or expand. For now it's probably best I stick to the English. Also, I really don't know that much yet.

C) The History of Britain. There is a timeline in the Oxford Book of British History. I've copied it out and had tried to memorize it and did okay for a while, but work got in the way and now all the dates I'd learnt are gone.

D)Gems and minerals. Very much a beginner.

E) My other light interests are Monster High (I own five dolls: Spectra, Twyla, Rochelle, Neighthan and Jinafire), Christianity, psychology philosophy and attempting to teach myself German and Spanish - both are going badly!

Thank you for reading my essay! I'm very happy to meet everyone

 

[Harrison]

Welcome to AC Wireless, you'll find a comfortable environment here for NT and ND alike plus a whole raft of help from folk. Your book collection is impressive, check out our resource section for other things that may catch your interest.

Look forward to hearing more about your journey.

Have fun!

 

[wyverary]

Welcome! I hope you find this forum a good learning experience. We have a few NT members and don't tolerate NT-bashing in any form, so I hope you can make yourself comfortable. Good to have you in our ranks!

wyv

 

[Guendolen]

I am new here too but very happy to meet you!

As well as wanting to learn about autism, I want to learn from people with autism on how to better myself. I have great respect for your logic, focus, honesty and passion.

If more people shared your mentality the world would be a much happier and better place. Welcome on board and if i can help with any questions or positive interaction don't hesitate at all!

 

[Vanilla]

Welcome Wireless

Thanks for taking an interest in our little community. I hope you find our members to be rather friendly, and helpful.

As for having issues with long-term memory, I can sometimes have trouble with that. There are different tricks you can try. Hopefully one of them will work for you. Some things I like to use, include the following:

• You might be familiar with this first one. You can sometimes remember something, much more easily, when you attach a memory with this thought. For example, if you are told a fact, and during the time, that you were told this, you experience an emotion, or one of your senses, this can help to reinforce that memory, as we tend to recall thoughts better, when paired with an emotional response. For example; I chose my name, Vanilla, as it makes me think of the smell/ taste, of vanilla.
• Some things are easier to recall, in parts, as opposed to large segments. For example, learning the lyrics to a song might seem daunting, if your memory is not the best, but if you remember one line at a time, it will help you to better process this. You can even attach a number, or letter, to the line, so that eventually, you can recal that line C, will consist of these lyrics. Learning it piece by piece, makes it easier. Sometimes, breaking it down in to separate syllables, can help too. It's why phone numbers are broken up in to groups, rather than spoken in one long string of numbers.
• If it's hard to commit things to young long-term memory, commit them to your short term first. You can do this by thinking of what you want to remember, then thinking of something else entirely. Recall the memory a minute later, then think of something else again. Then recall it two minutes later, and switch to the other thought again. Keep doing this, for several tries, then stop (for the rest of the day), and try it again tomorrow. It should eventually stick. I learned this trick, from a series of launguage, audio-books, I purchased, which were written by a doctor of psychology, who has an interest in languages, and the way in which the brain can learn to remember new ones. If you're interested, they are called "Pimsleur" audio books. You can buy them on Amazon, or The Book Depository, online.

 

[Wireless]

Thank you for the warm welcome.
Vanilla, thank you for all the great suggestions.I will definitely give them a try.

 

[tree]

Wireless

 

[Wireless]

Wireless

Thank you, Tree!