So, this is the place where I won't be standing out, right?

[Katleya]

Hello,
I'll get one thing out of the way, first: I'm terrible at introductions, and talking about myself is one exercise I usually avoid. And as you will quickly see, once I do start, I tend to get carried away.
Anyway... I registered a few weeks ago, when I was up all night awaiting my diagnosis. After several years being pretty sure of my self-diagnosed Asperger's syndrom, I finally set the process in motion, and boy was that panic-inducing. For some reason (namely me picking up on a particular, meaningless word uttered by the doctor during our last session), I formed the idea that maybe I was wrong, would end up not on the spectrum, with a confirmation that nothing can account for my difference, and I'm just a mentally rigid asocial being.
Well, ASD is now officially confirmed, so I guess I can let go of that panic, now. I still get occasional "realizations" of my new tag that nearly bring me to tears, which I find very strange because even if the name is now set, it's not going to change me, my history or my challenges. If anything, it should help me find resources and hopefully some kind of accommodations at work, so I'm not sure why the overwhelming feeling. But I'm sure this will yield as things settle.

Overall, I was this very solitary kid, extremely quiet, just busy drawing or reading the dictionary. Apparently, adults found that I was a joy to babysit because you could literally put me in a corner with a volume from any encyclopedia and forget about me for hours. Other children pretty much kept me away or bullied me from kindergarten to high school, because they felt I was "a robot from another planet", and a know-it-all. Most teachers didn't like me because they thought my trouble with understanding instruction was an act that I put on on purpose, and because apparently adults don't like to be corrected in front of their class when they make mistakes, but as my mother would say every time they asked to meet her about my attitude: "Just avoid mis-stating things, because she will pick up on any mistake and won't let you get away with it."
I'm 33 now, and while I theoretically understand the inappropriateness of my behavior, I have a hard time understanding how letting something erroneous pass is more appropriate. Oh, well...

I tend to get fired from jobs a lot. And I always hear the same speech about how uneasy my other colleagues are around me, and how I have to be more social, make small talk with them, learn to multitask, stop being such a perfectionist, etc. You'd think I make entire companies come to a halt, yet I make efforts every single minute of every single day to try and fit in, to try to figure out what is socially expected of me, maybe the tiniest bit of chit-chat, and so on. It's draining. And it's just as disheartening knowing I try so hard, yet people insist I make no effort at all, but I'm at my maximum setting already.

I'm sorry this is getting so long, I still would like to keep it short, but we're already past that, aren't we?

On a more cheerful note, here are some of the things I like and centers of interest:
- Foreign languages
- Cats, especially mine (to the point I prefer have my cat sleep next to me than my boyfriend, oops)
- Airplanes, or flying in general, but for some reason I don't care about the laws of aerodynamics and such.

I like to read, but am very bad at understanding fiction or remembering it. I often joke that of all the books (fiction) I've read for school, college or my personal culture, I always remember so little that if I were to sum it up, it would go something like "So it's a story, and there's a man, and something happens but I can't recall what." I do like Kurt Vonnegut and Langston Hughes, but sadly I would need a notice to brush up on their work before discussing it.
I'm also the least well-versed person you can find in terms of movies. I don't recognize faces, so watching a movie is a total waste of time, because I will have no clue who is doing what. Occasionally I'll watch something to spend quality time with my boyfriend, who is a movie buff, and I tend to keep to myself that I haven't seen most of the landmarks in pop culture. I did understand and like Deadpool, though.

I think that's enough for now, and again I'm sorry I was so wordy. I'm really happy that this here seems to be an accepting space, at least from what I've read in other people's introduction and the subsequent welcome, so I'm really looking forward to that, and to maybe start feeling like I belong

 

[Mia]

Hi and welcome @Katleya to Aspie Central, you do and will belong here if you wish to, 's and people's pets are a favourite interest among many, many others.

 

[Nitro]

 

[WittyAspie]

Welcome to AC! I am not much into movies either. I am the guy who has no clue who acted in what because I couldn't care less.

How many cats do you have? What are their names?

What foreign languages do you speak?

 

[Lady Penelope]

Hi!
I too was the child babysitters loved due to being quiet and happy with a book and not pestering to interact with them.
I'm a voracious reader; used to be mainly fiction and, like you, once finished could not really tell you in any great detail what it was about despite enjoying it.
Now I read mainly non-fiction and biographies which would have been abhorrent to me in my younger years. However, I find my detail recall to be much better on these subjects.
I *LOVE* film and have no trouble recognising the bit actors from their various films and am full of movie trivia. LOVED Deadpool... hilarious.
Dogs over cats unless that cat is a lion.

You'll find a lot of similarities with others on this site, which is a comfort and somewhat enlightening. I get a giggle every now and then at things I thought were 'just me' turns out to be 'just about everyone on here'

 

[Katleya]

Thank you, Mia & Nitro, for welcoming me!

Hey WittyAspie,
That's pretty much the idea, yes. I fare slightly better with TV shows and actors, but it seems people care more about the fact that I've never seen Star Wars than about my views on the variations of the House of Cards musical score, but I digress.

I only have one cat living with me, now, whose name is Charlie. Charlie did get my parents' cat pregnant when I was visiting them, and I managed to convince them to keep one of the kitten, so I do feel like I also have another one, living at their place.
Do you have any?

As for the languages, I get to use 4 on a regular basis, namely English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. I do understand or read other languages, but without practice, the mere thought of trying to use them terrifies me, resulting in even less practice. But I've studied German, Italian, Dutch, Russian and Swedish with more or less success. And ancient Greek in school, that was cool. I have to find new ones to tackle, but I can't decide where to start...

 

[Katleya]

Hi Lady Penelope,
This thing about the "not just me" similarities, I think you just demonstrated it perfectly with what you said about reading, I could not have put it any better. And, yes, non-fiction is so much easier to memorize. I haven't tried biographies yet, aside from the occasional Wikipedia rabbithole on the most random persons. Not sure where I'll ever use my newfound knowledge on Carmen Miranda, but whatever.

I like dogs, too, but I couldn't go out to walk a dog, for fear that people would come to me, talk and try to pet the dog, so I would be so freaking unhappy, and I'd make the dog unhappy too if I never took it outside. I had one when I was very little, but then my very Aspie father brought a cat home, and we found they were the only ones capable of soothing everyone.

Thank you all for being so welcoming. It feels good, that's a new feeling I can get used to, I think.

 

[nowwhat]

You have found your people. As a child, I was one of those referred to as "The Absent Minded Professor". I used to read sets of encyclopaedia of my own volition, and could recite, verbatim long passages of information from many of the volumes. Our work histories are similar, as well.

Welcome. This is a great place for aspies.

 

[xudo]

Welcome

 

[StephF]

Hi Katleya,

Welcome to the forums

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

Thank you, Mia & Nitro, for welcoming me!

Hey WittyAspie,
That's pretty much the idea, yes. I fare slightly better with TV shows and actors, but it seems people care more about the fact that I've never seen Star Wars than about my views on the variations of the House of Cards musical score, but I digress.

I only have one cat living with me, now, whose name is Charlie. Charlie did get my parents' cat pregnant when I was visiting them, and I managed to convince them to keep one of the kitten, so I do feel like I also have another one, living at their place.
Do you have any?

As for the languages, I get to use 4 on a regular basis, namely English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. I do understand or read other languages, but without practice, the mere thought of trying to use them terrifies me, resulting in even less practice. But I've studied German, Italian, Dutch, Russian and Swedish with more or less success. And ancient Greek in school, that was cool. I have to find new ones to tackle, but I can't decide where to start...

Try hungarian. They have a saying for the worst place to be 'Up a frogs a**e, down a coalmine'

Read a book called 'under the frog' translated.

Star wars : The green cross code man is the father.
That's all you need to know.

 

[tree]

 

[Katleya]

You have found your people. As a child, I was one of those referred to as "The Absent Minded Professor".

Yes, it looks like I have. I don't think I've ever felt that mix of belonging somewhere and being safe to exist "as I am" to such an extent, so I'm really happy I found you all.
"The Absent Minded Professor" seems a little offensive than the "Dumbest Genius Ever" that I used to get, and I think I see your point. I like that.

@Fridgemagnetman: I'm terribly scared of frogs, but do tell me more about Hungarian, please. I've always heard it was particularly hard, but none of the people who made that statement ever cared to elaborate on what made the language so hard.

 

[toothless]

hi katleya!! welcome to AC!
good to see another crazy cat person around here,do you have any info and pics of your kitties?
i have a support moggy called mr shadow,and ive been furrbaby sitting an old maine coon cross with dementia for the past 14 days at my apartment.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

Yes, it looks like I have. I don't think I've ever felt that mix of belonging somewhere and being safe to exist "as I am" to such an extent, so I'm really happy I found you all.
"The Absent Minded Professor" seems a little offensive than the "Dumbest Genius Ever" that I used to get, and I think I see your point. I like that.

@Fridgemagnetman: I'm terribly scared of frogs, but do tell me more about Hungarian, please. I've always heard it was particularly hard, but none of the people who made that statement ever cared to elaborate on what made the language so hard.

Hungarian language - Wikipedia An interesting history, I know nothing about it.
The book isn't about frogs, just the phrase which represents the worst possible place to be.
Under the Frog - Wikipedia

 

[Judge]

I'm terribly scared of frogs, but do tell me more about Hungarian, please. I've always heard it was particularly hard, but none of the people who made that statement ever cared to elaborate on what made the language so hard.

A lot of people claim learning a non-Romance (Latin-based) language is more difficult. Though I find this to be a subjective assumption. I suppose some of it may well depend on one's native tongue and whether or not it has Romance origins itself.

Personally I found the grammar and pronunciation of Spanish to be easier than German. Tempo? Not so much! Then again hearing a Castilian dialect my father could speak gave me a headache when it came to him helping me with my homework.

 

[NeoPhile]

Welcome to Aspies Central!
It sounds like it's likely you have Aspergers, but only a diagnosis from a psychiatrist and neurologist can say for sure. You're sure welcome here before you get the results.

 

[WittyAspie]

Thank you, Mia & Nitro, for welcoming me!

Hey WittyAspie,
That's pretty much the idea, yes. I fare slightly better with TV shows and actors, but it seems people care more about the fact that I've never seen Star Wars than about my views on the variations of the House of Cards musical score, but I digress.

I only have one cat living with me, now, whose name is Charlie. Charlie did get my parents' cat pregnant when I was visiting them, and I managed to convince them to keep one of the kitten, so I do feel like I also have another one, living at their place.
Do you have any?

As for the languages, I get to use 4 on a regular basis, namely English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. I do understand or read other languages, but without practice, the mere thought of trying to use them terrifies me, resulting in even less practice. But I've studied German, Italian, Dutch, Russian and Swedish with more or less success. And ancient Greek in school, that was cool. I have to find new ones to tackle, but I can't decide where to start...

I have one cat named L'hiver. She is super sweet with humans, but will kill anything not larger than her. We got her during the first snow storm of my first winter in upstate New York. She is in California now with my family. (I am in NC for a few months.) I studied Latin and Spanish in school but have forgotten them. I remember quite a bit of French from my time in the Army, but I am getting rusty. Right now I am learning ASL. Next I want to learn Hebrew and Greek in order to read the Bible in the original languages. I used to hate the thought of trying to learn a foreign language; now I find it exciting.

 

[Katleya]

I'm not sure about the quoting etiquette, so feel free to advise how you all typically proceed when replying to several people at the same time.

Hi @toothless,
I don't have pictures with me at the moment, but I'll try to take some soon. Charlie is a typical tuxedo cat, about to turn 3 in a few weeks, and super shy. He is super sweet, though, and he plays fetch, or bring toys when he wants to play fetch. He's also learned to open doors, although that's a bit annoying, especially at night because I hate sleeping with my bedroom door open (all the noise, etc.). But he's the closest thing I'll have to a child, so I won't complain that he's a smart cat.
What about mr shadow? What is he like? Do you have pictures?

@Fridgemagnetman,
I'm relieved and can confirm this would indeed be the worst place to be in
I've bookmarked the wiki page for my weekend reads.

@NeoPhile,
Yes, the results from the psychiatrist do confirm that. But I'm happy that you would have been welcoming even before the results

@WittyAspie,
What does L'hiver look like? Not too hard being away from her? That's something I have a terrible time with.
The fact that you studied French in the Army piqued my curiosity, I didn't know they offered that. I mean, I had figured there was no longer any use after they shut down the US Army bases in France, but I may be completely wrong. If you ever wanna dust up on your French, I'll be happy to help!
I liked Greek a lot. We had to choose from Latin or Greek when I was in school, and I went for Greek out of laziness, because I thought once I was done with the alphabet, I wouldn't have to bother learning the extra case they use in Latin (forgot what it's called).
Hey, Hebrew is on my list as well. I got an awesome book to study, and I was so happy when it came in the mail, but it's been sitting next to my bed for a month now: I've been so stressed out with all the tests for the diagnosis that I couldn't begin. Maybe this summer; I'd like to start Arabic at the same time, so that I can compare similarities between both languages. I'm just afraid that's aiming a tad bit too high.

A lot of people claim learning a non-Romance (Latin-based) language is more difficult. Though I find this to be a subjective assumption. I suppose some of it may well depend on one's native tongue and whether or not it has Romance origins itself.

Personally I found the grammar and pronunciation of Spanish to be easier than German. Tempo? Not so much! Then again hearing a Castilian dialect my father could speak gave me a headache when it came to him helping me with my homework.

I agree with you, I think it is definitely a subjective thing.
What is your native tongue? I do prefer Spanish over German, but I think both have their pros & cons in terms of grammar. I'd say too many verb forms and modes in Romance languages, but at the same time, all those Ns you add or don't add in German... it bothers me a little. I'm curious about that dialect you mentioned, also.

 

[Judge]

I agree with you, I think it is definitely a subjective thing.
What is your native tongue? I do prefer Spanish over German, but I think both have their pros & cons in terms of grammar. I'd say too many verb forms and modes in Romance languages, but at the same time, all those Ns you add or don't add in German... it bothers me a little. I'm curious about that dialect you mentioned, also.

English is my first language...with a minor Tidewater (East Virginia) accent.

LOL...the dialect of Spanish my father learned at the Naval Academy was Castilian Spanish. Spoken with a distinct, but deliberate lisp. Which completely threw me off when he tried to help me with my homework in high school. In college I chose to learn German...but never really used either to any extent.