So, since we all have AS and the problems that come with it, I was wondering were everyone is at? Is anyone having success with socialising? Does anyone have a partner? A job? Has anyone not got a friend? Did anyone fail education?
Where abouts is everyone in life? Are things going good? Maybe things are falling apart?
Yes, i'm bored.
Actually, I have had some success in socializing--it's hard for me to make same-age friends, but I'm very good at making friends who are significantly older or younger than me. Because of this and because I kept a very rigid schedule when I was in middle school, I was an ideal babysitter when I was young. This really set me up for better social skills later in life. Also, I'm studying speech-language pathology, and I have had some classes that have broken down communication processes and helped me understand how to expand my communicative repertoire (like using indirect language, humor and lying). I'm going to graduate with an undergraduate degree in May, and I've done well enough to have already been accepted in grad school (i.e., I started grad school LAST fall, before I graduated from undergrad). I suppose that my success in school has something to do with the fact that what I am studying relates to my obsessions. I have trouble getting along with my roommates, and I think my classmates think I'm odd (they kind of avoid me, except the ones who are significantly older--no surprise here; my social life tends to follow that trend). Many of my friends are freshmen this year, so they're three years younger than me. I have a few friends who are my age, and a few a year younger, but I don't spend that much time with them.
I have a job, too--ironically, I do therapy with a child who has autism. It's a fairly concrete process to learn to do the type of therapy I do (they hire people who have just completed high school), and I have to watch the other therapists to know what kind of interactive play to do, or what to do in situations that aren't a part of training and may have a different solution each time(dealing with tantrums and attention seeking behavior that arises because she has no words).
I have successfully held jobs before--my previous job at the museum was good for me because there was a daily list of tasks to complete, and I'm very list-oriented. My managers liked that I would independently complete my tasks without being told to do so, when many of my coworkers had to be told over and over.
I don't have a romantic partner right now, but I have had them. I really struggle here, because I don't form attachments very well. I'm either overly attached and clingy or not attached enough to sustain a romantic relationship. That's what happened in my last relationship--I was so unnattached that it just wasn't a good relationship for either of us. I also think I have trouble in the "pre-relationship" stage because I tend to either not be myself enough (to hide my stims, obsessions, and oddities), such that I seem stiff and aloof, or I show to many of my oddities and that wierds people out early on.
I'm a little nervous about some major transitions coming up (moving out of the apartment I've lived in for two years back home for two weeks, then moving into a new apartment, graduating during that time of living at home, and transitioning to all-grad classes), but overall I'm in a pretty good place right now.
h34r:
