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Hello, nice to meet you all.

CoffeeCat88

CoffeeCat88

Member
I am CoffeeCat 88.

I am 29 years old, and a couple of months ago I had a therapist meeting. During that meeting, I explained my situation and some of the things about the "me" that lives today, and the "me of the past." The "me of the past" used to line up cars quite often. The thing was that I never thought of this too much and my parents asserted there was nothing wrong with lining up cars. So, I never thought I would be on the autism spectrum.

The therapist mentioned that, though I was high functioning and articulate, that I could still be on the spectrum. He said the phrase Asperger's Syndrome. These things came as a surprise to me because I never thought the way I was had an actual title.

Later, I looked up the attributes of people with Asperger's, and almost every point mentioned applied to me. Though I am surprised about the therapist telling me that, I find solace in the fact that there is a reason for the way I am and that there are others who have the same struggles that I do.

Also, I like biology, video games, and I recently started martial arts wich I also enjoy.

Again, nice to meet you all!
 
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CoffeeCat88 said:
I am CoffeeCat 88.

I am 29 years old, and a couple of months ago I had a therapist meeting. During that meeting, I explained my situation and some of the things about the "me" that lives today, and the "me of the past." The "me of the past" used to line up cars quite often. The thing was that I never thought of this too much and my parents asserted there was nothing wrong with lining up cars. So, I never thought I would be on the autism spectrum.

The therapist mentioned that, though I was high functioning and articulate, that I could still be on the spectrum. He said the phrase Asperger's Syndrome. These things came as a surprise to me because I never thought the way I was had an actual title.

Later, I looked up the attributes of people with Asperger's, and almost every point mentioned applied to me. Though I am surprised about the therapist telling me that, I find solace in the fact that there is a reason for the way I am and that there are others who have the same struggles that I do.

Also, I like biology, video games, and I recently started martial arts wich I also enjoy.

Again, nice to meet you all!
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Hello. Welcome to this forum. Both of our young children loved lining up things, too, like toy cars, coins, and magnet letters, prior to age three. Both no longer do this. They are seven and five now. They also liked inspecting the parts of objects, more so than using the object in traditional ways. Our oldest son was formally diagnosed with Autism at age three, and our youngest at age four, but we as parents knew at age two he had that condition as well.

For us, it was a relief to know what they had. We were putting tons of daily efforts in, and did not think it was possible parenting could be that hard to get the children to eat, sleep, talk, not have meltdowns, and to deviate from routine. So when we heard the diagnose we had the attitude, "Ok," but worried just what this could mean for their future, and any daily impact on them. Not once did we feel sorry for ourselves, and wish things were different for us.

It is great you find solace too in the diagnosis. Indeed sometimes a diagnosis is needed to explain things, to know how to proceed, and to accept certain things.
 
Welcome to AC Coffee! I'm really happy you've joined. I'm learning more and more each and every day by being on here.

I'm 29 too and have started seeing a therapist pretty recently. I'm frustrated with the fact that it took me years, because I could and should have done it much sooner. I finally did it because I've been struggling and I wasn't able to put an end to the struggles, neither on my own nor with anyone else's attempts. I keep thinking about the "me of the past" (during college) a lot and it just makes me drown with regrets because that is when my symptoms have peaked. I tried so hard to fit in and make friends but ended up behaving in a very obnoxious manner only to realize it later with people finally revealing it to me. Did they actually expect me to "read between the lines"?? They didn't understand me, most of them thought I was some sort of jerk. I myself didn't know about Asperger's yet.

After understanding what I've done and how I've pushed everyone away from me, I regressed back into my "lone wolf" self and concentrated on work; pretty much left my college life behind. Being at work did improve my social behavior slightly but I still very much lack social skills. Miraculously I also managed to make a few decent friends and I constantly worry about pushing them away and making history repeat itself. So far so good though; I've been clinging to them like a moth to a flame, until my therapist advised that I better not, so that they don't end up actually leaving me.

I've been struggling with severe OCD/general anxiety, low self-esteem as well as behavioral issues (inability to control my emotions to be more precise). It kind of put a strain on my relationship with my parents because it led up to accumulated frustration and desperation. My parents love me very much and most people are capable of treating me in a civil manner, but I've only encountered a very small number of people who would never lose their cool with me. I can't blame them, I can be very difficult to get along with. I also have trouble expressing sympathy despite the fact that I really do care, and that can also make me come off as a jerk.

I kept on hoping that it would all go away someday but who was I kidding; just myself and everyone around me. My doc is a pro and is the reason why I've joined Aspies Central. Again I should have gone to a therapist sooner and I should have joined an Aspies online community sooner because I KNEW I was struggling. It's never a good thing to be in denial. He didn't formally diagnose me with Asperger's but he highly suspects that I have it. He did tell me that no formal diagnosis is needed though. I was actually wondering if I have it for a little while before first seeing him. The doc and I are working together on managing my anxieties (see Managing Anxieties - the FLOAT Method) and making me fit into the NT society better. No one wants to see me alone and struggling.

I enjoy video games although I tend to play one at a time, right now I'm all into the online card game Hearthstone. I do software development for a living, and am surprised as to how I've been able to keep a job out in the real world for so long; I'm extremely immature (5 year old child in a grown man's body) and not very well-adjusted. I used to be very fascinated with streetlights and sprinklers back in the day, and am currently into construction sites; don't want to work at one but I do love observing them and reading about them. I also watch a lot of TV and YouTube (including Hearthstone streamers). As for martial arts, I tried judo once per my parents' request but quit because this kid was bullying me there, saying things like "you left all of your strength at home". My self-esteem is very fragile and I've had my fair share of bullying and ridicule. I just quit judo and never got back to it. No interest in any sports or martial arts now. So many people just suck nowadays and it pains me to know that.

Wishing you the best of luck on your journey, and welcome to AC again!
 
HI CoffeeCat88. I just got here too. :)

I like coffee and dogs. Dogs like me. So do fishes and small children. Come to think of it, cats seem to like me too if sleeping on top of my car is an indication.
 
Hey. I love video games too. :) Which ones you like? How about martial arts?
I practiced judo and tried teakwondo.
 
I like classic games a lot. I have played Pokemon Blue recently on an online emulator. More recent games include Eve Online, Call of Duty, Gears of War, and Sim City 4. I like Simulation games a lot where I can set things up and watch them grow (my wallet on Eve Online and cities on Sim City), but I also like flight simulators. I haven't played Krebal space program yet. I haven't tried Hearthstone yet but I have seen some streamers playing it and it looks very interesting.

Right now I am practicing Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). I love the cardio aspect of Muay Thai; it gives me a "runners high" most times. And BJJ is very technical which interests me, but I am so new at it right now.

And Tyrantus1212, it sucks that the kid was messing with you like he did, I totally understand why you left. Some kids on the basketball court in 3rd grade were using martial arts against me (and I didn't know how to defend myself) and it sucks knowing there are people out there who are like that. It is sad to say that a lot of gyms still have those jerks. I am fortunate to have found a gym with none of those mean people. Some gyms are great like that, and I enjoy myself at the one I found.

Dadwith2Autisticsons, thank you for sharing your perspective. It is great that you are so involved with helping your sons. I recall enjoying lining things up because it was comforting to me to do so. I grew to enjoy biological sciences because I liked seeing how organisms (kingdom, phylum, class, order, etc.) were organized and why, and I was comforted in studying this. I also really liked organizing data and numbers.
 
Welcome, CoffeeCat!

I don't have a particular interest in coffee (but I don't dislike it, I just don't think about it or drink it), but boy, do I like cats!

I'm happy to hear you found a seemingly good therapist who pointed you in this direction. It's better than therapy horror stories (but I'm probably biased in that regard, as I've met my fair share of narrow-minded therapist and shrinks).

So Muay thai and BJJ, huh? Are you getting ready to add free fight to that some day? (I kind of know a tiny bit about them because my boyfriend practices all 3, and insists on showing me fights again & again, but it moves too fast for my eyes and I never know what's going on. I still occasionally blurt out a fun fact on them that I never knew I'd memorized).
 
Katleya said:
Welcome, CoffeeCat!

I still occasionally blurt out a fun fact on them that I never knew I'd memorized).
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Do you happen to know if that is a characteristic Aspie trait? The reason I ask is sometimes when I'm in Mexico I'll say something in Spanish that I didn't know I knew.
 
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