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Hello AC community

Naturalist

Naturalist

Well-Known Member
Greetings everyone,

This is my second forum, am learning my way around this one. Apologies for no avatar, I will try to post one soon.

I am the manager of a natural history collection. Which is like an Aspie dream job, I get paid to hoard, sort, identify, and arrange all manner of esoteric items. :) I also do a lot of archaeology, at several local sites.

I marked myself as self-diagnosed; although I have not paid for a formal diagnosis I have had cognitive tests and two psychiatrists assessing me felt pretty strongly that I have Aspergers syndrome... so I might have marked "informal diagnosis" rather than "self-diagnosed" if it were an option, it seems more accurate. Because I am in the US diagnostics are quite expensive so I only paid for the cognitive testing, as I was still in college at the time and it helped me to obtain accommodations for testing etc.

I read Tony Attwood's manual on Asperger syndrome and decided to highlight everything to which I could relate, and so now most of my copy is blue and green! Same with Aspergirls by Rudy Simone. I cried when I read them, because I have felt so "weird" my whole life and I thought no one could possibly "get" me, and it seems that many people actually do! I am glad to find this forum.

I am married and have one son, aged 7. I don't always enjoy having to share a house, sometimes I wish I had my own "retreat" in the backyard because my need for quiet, routine and predictability is impossible to meet at home. I enjoy writing and drawing, and hiking. Also spend a lot of time in archives, doing historical research.
 
NlGHTgirl said:
Kids are awesome! Does he love nature as much as you do? : )
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Yes, especially animals. Although he once regarded me quite incredulously when I showed him a beetle. It was crawling around my hand and he frowned and said, "You know, most Mommies don't LIKE bugs..." He was about 3 then!
 
Naturalist said:
Yes, especially animals. Although he once regarded me quite incredulously when I showed him a beetle. It was crawling around my hand and he frowned and said, "You know, most Mommies don't LIKE bugs..." He was about 3 then!
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There are family kids in my life! We LOVE bugs! Plants, animals, everything! There is this giant bug box with three tiers (food and water),& have two other bug boxes. nets.......giant happy hippie garden with tons of flowers! never understood much about why people hate stink bugs. When we play; They never stink us. They love us.
 
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Welcome :)

Sounds like an amazing job indeed. I don't think we've had an archaeologist introduce themselves yet. I also loved reading Rudy Simone's Aspergirls. I couldn't believe how much of it was so accurate to my own circumstance. My books on AS are also mostly highlighted, on just about every page.

Feel free to browse our resources section. Members are allowed to add to this as well: Autism & Asperger's Resources | AspiesCentral.com
 
Vanilla said:
I don't think we've had an archaeologist introduce themselves yet.
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That's funny, because I know a lot of archaeologists who are probably closet Aspies! We adore obscure facts and details and can read a site like Holmes reads a crime scene :) and will happily spend all day telling you about the relevance of phytolith analysis or the subtle points of butcher and burn marks on faunal remains. Because who could not find all that fascinating? ;)

Thanks for the resource links, I will check them out. Winter break is coming, meaning a whole month of unemployment and time to catch up on reading!
 
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