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Cairns, Queensland... New discovery

A

arithmetic

Member
Hi :)
I'm good at math, so someone asked me to teach his autistic daughter. "Autism?" I said - " I don't know anything about it."
Still, he needs the help, so I got into studying what her experience of life is.
Then I began to recognise a bit more than I had expected, and took an online test for autism. It came out positive to my surprise. I tried again using a different government sponsored test and got the same result.
So I'm autistic. I'll be 69 in a few weeks, and looking back it's been hell. Now I know why.
As for what I hope to find here, I don't know whether support groups exist around Cairns, nor whether a support group would help.
 
Welcome!

Uh, yeah.

I was 62, found out, and discovered why life had been hell.

For me, that was the first part of learning to deal with it.

The second part was discovering that it wasn't just me, and I wasn't alone.

Now I talk to other people who, in some sense, are like me. That's been the third part.

I don't know of support groups, though. Although Queensland is very close when I type, it's physically a very long way away :) .
 
I didn't begin to figure out who- and what I am neurologically speaking until I was 55.

I guess some of us are "late-bloomers". But better to know than go through life without understanding ourselves and all the social challenges that come with it.

Cairns....they have the most incredible armor museum. Best on the planet looking at their videos. :cool:
 
My main coping methods have evolved, over the years, from losing myself in fiction, to becoming very involved wth maths, to becoming very involved in mysticism.

I like mysticism because I have had satori experiences, but I'm lonely, too
I found that coming down from the mountain in such a state that people I didn't know started kissing me didn't make me like-minded friends.

Real World problems.
 
Welcome to the forum. I was in my 50s and long grassing it about 170 Ks out of Darwin when I found out about autism, what a revelation that was. Caused me to reevaluate my entire life.

Absolutely zero in the way of services up in Darwin though, they actually do have services but you have to apply through Centrelink and the right wing demigorgans that work in there refuse help to anyone. So I jumped on a plane down to Adelaide, got a diagnosis, ASD2, got a housing trust home and got a full pension.

I looked for support groups in Australia and there's basically nothing unless you want to post on Facebook, and even then everything is aimed at parents of autistic children and there's almost nothing for the people that actually are autistic.

This forum is the best I've found.
 
Hi @arithmetic, I’m in Brisbane. Also discovered I’m autistic in my sixties. There is a monthly Zoom meeting for Autistic Elders that was set up through Reframing Autism - I’ll see if I can dig out the information for you. I also meet others IRL through the Brisbane Autism Spectrum group on Meetup.com - I had a look but it didn’t look like there was anything happening in FNQ.
 
Hi and Welcome @arithmetic
There are quite a number of us here we were diagnosed (or discovered) later in life, so you are not alone.

Finding an in person group can be hard, but this is a good point of contact.
DO hang out a while and get to know us.


AuAL said:
it didn’t look like there was anything happening in FNQ.
Click to expand...
One of the things I apppreciate about this forum is the vernacular of different parts of the world.
What is FNQ short for?
 
Alexej said:
Hi and Welcome @arithmetic
There are quite a number of us here we were diagnosed (or discovered) later in life, so you are not alone.

Finding an in person group can be hard, but this is a good point of contact.
DO hang out a while and get to know us.



One of the things I apppreciate about this forum is the vernacular of different parts of the world.
What is FNQ short for?
Click to expand...
It's Far North Queensland, a vast area made of deserts, deadly snakes... the seas are the feeding grounds of huge crocodiles.
 
well I'm having fun imagining what your long grass friends would have said about these city dwellers
the land around here does not show much respect for prayers to Jesus
 
arithmetic said:
well I'm having fun imagining what your long grass friends would have said about these city dwellers
the land around here does not show much respect for prayers to Jesus
Click to expand...
Many years ago a couple of young German girls asked me about camping sites around Kunnanurra. I described a spot to them almost in the town on the banks of the Ord River, a beautiful spot, but I warned them not to swim there because of the crocs. One of the girls said "Don't be silly, they just put those signs up for the tourists.".

"Oh, alright then. Enjoy your trip.". There's no point trying to explain anything to some people.
 
Crocodiles...
Someone consulted me on the bus one day... "Ask the old fellah"
So this beautiful young European woman explains to me that if a crocodile comes she will just "poke it in the eye"... question mark.
Comments, anyone?

I said to her that I have an ambition - I never want to meet a crocodile in the wild.
I explained that these 3 or 4 meter creatures weigh perhaps half a ton.
I explained that they get up on their hind legs and run at you with their half meter jaws open, making as much as 40km/hour.

I think she might almost have wet herself.
Good.
Job done.
Life saved!
 
Welcome @arithmetic. I hope you find the same peace and understanding in knowing about autism that many of us here have experienced. It can be quite freeing to understand your life differently after learning about autism.
 
arithmetic said:
Crocodiles...
Click to expand...
This is a picture of Brutus, a large croc popular with tourists on the Adelaide River in the top end. If he grabbed a human around the middle I don't fancy their chances.

f6384db1c1d3577821f1243d2851dc55.webp
 
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