Danno
Active Member
So, that dreaded introduction post that's semi-obligatory when you join a new forum...
My name's Dan. I'm 28. I live in Bournemouth, UK.
Interests include crochet (I've been "hooking" - crocheter's slang for doing crochet as it involves a crochet hook
) for around a year now, and knitting (only been doing it this past week but apparently according to my Mum, who's been doing it for years, I've picked it up really quickly). Both of these are self taught - something about repetitive motions and sensation of yarn and needles/crochet hook between my fingers is rather soothing... All that counting of stitch repeats and logical thinking of "I have this stitch here, in order to put these stitches there..." and the rules of (when required) uniformity in the work so you don't get unsightly bulges in the work... Anyway, I digress.
After several years of thinking "I might be on the spectrum" I've *finally* decided this week I can't keep putting off the formal diagnosis forever.
I've always felt different to my peers - like I was less of a person at times. Didn't do too badly at school but at the same time I think being undiagnosed and such, all the usual difficulties may have hindered me as they got in the way of me really excelling.
I've always preferred my own company. Had a few spells of moderate anxiety (medically diagnosed) over the years but it never felt the way that the "average" anxiety-sufferer explains how they get. But tend to avoid social situations as much as possible. Don't get me wrong, there have been times I've "forced" myself to go out to events and such (being a member of the LGBT community I try to go to Pride every year - but some years just the thought of being around so many people and such loud music and so on means I stay at home sulking because I don't feel up to it). But on the whole, my best (or worst, I suppose) companion is myself.
I have a "mild" thing about the number 3. Strange, I know. But I quite often have to count syllables of what someone's saying into multiples of 3, and if they're one or 2 syllables short of being a multiple of 3, it irks me for some reason. Not sure if this is a trait or just a very unique quirk? When I doodle (or play around with making crochet patterns) anything with a multiple of 3 in it - 3 bobbles across a row, 3 rows of a particular stitch etc., just seem right. Humans are odd creatures, and nothing is more soothing to my soul than the number 3 because it's the simplest "odd" number more than just "one". Three primary colours. Three Little Pigs. Three Piece Suits. Three wheels on my adult tricycle (shoddy balance means I can't ride a 2 wheeler). Three rings for the Elven kings under the sky...
Sorry, rambling again.
When I get started talking about something, I quite often talk about it too much. Another trait? Even worse when I get perhaps the subtlest hint that whoever I'm talking to may have got bored of the subject 5 minutes ago but I still haven't finished...
I'm not a "collector" of facts per se. More like, if I come across something new, I have to Wikipedia/Google it to the extreme until I know everything there is to know about it (like when we got a fish aquarium... or my "obsession" our turtles - get me talking about them and you WILL regret getting me started!) and then for months/years afterwards I can still recall certain obscure facts.
I am occasionally good at remembering strings of letters/numbers - I can remember the alarm combination for the convenience store I worked in when I was 16, but at the same time I am terrible at remembering when I set a different password for something that isn't one of my "usual" passwords.
I have moments when I feel completely "out of it" when it just seems like there's too much noise, too much light, too many people having multiple conversations... I've been working in a call centre for the last year and a half, and although it's a pretty good job, I take every opportunity I can (breaks, when I get home from work etc) to be as distant from everyone and everything as possible just because it all gets too much.
And I've just realised what should have been a short and sweet "Hi, nice to meet you" post has turned into a miniature essay, but I'm just so relived to finally "come out" and talk about all this stuff with people other than my immediate family.
Hope you're all well
(p.s. anyone else love the hours after midnight when no one else is awake and it's all quiet apart from the tiny background house noises which although at any other time of day may be one noise too many, can actually be quite soothing when they're ALL you can hear?)
My name's Dan. I'm 28. I live in Bournemouth, UK.
Interests include crochet (I've been "hooking" - crocheter's slang for doing crochet as it involves a crochet hook
) for around a year now, and knitting (only been doing it this past week but apparently according to my Mum, who's been doing it for years, I've picked it up really quickly). Both of these are self taught - something about repetitive motions and sensation of yarn and needles/crochet hook between my fingers is rather soothing... All that counting of stitch repeats and logical thinking of "I have this stitch here, in order to put these stitches there..." and the rules of (when required) uniformity in the work so you don't get unsightly bulges in the work... Anyway, I digress.After several years of thinking "I might be on the spectrum" I've *finally* decided this week I can't keep putting off the formal diagnosis forever.
I've always felt different to my peers - like I was less of a person at times. Didn't do too badly at school but at the same time I think being undiagnosed and such, all the usual difficulties may have hindered me as they got in the way of me really excelling.
I've always preferred my own company. Had a few spells of moderate anxiety (medically diagnosed) over the years but it never felt the way that the "average" anxiety-sufferer explains how they get. But tend to avoid social situations as much as possible. Don't get me wrong, there have been times I've "forced" myself to go out to events and such (being a member of the LGBT community I try to go to Pride every year - but some years just the thought of being around so many people and such loud music and so on means I stay at home sulking because I don't feel up to it). But on the whole, my best (or worst, I suppose) companion is myself.
I have a "mild" thing about the number 3. Strange, I know. But I quite often have to count syllables of what someone's saying into multiples of 3, and if they're one or 2 syllables short of being a multiple of 3, it irks me for some reason. Not sure if this is a trait or just a very unique quirk? When I doodle (or play around with making crochet patterns) anything with a multiple of 3 in it - 3 bobbles across a row, 3 rows of a particular stitch etc., just seem right. Humans are odd creatures, and nothing is more soothing to my soul than the number 3 because it's the simplest "odd" number more than just "one". Three primary colours. Three Little Pigs. Three Piece Suits. Three wheels on my adult tricycle (shoddy balance means I can't ride a 2 wheeler). Three rings for the Elven kings under the sky...
Sorry, rambling again.
When I get started talking about something, I quite often talk about it too much. Another trait? Even worse when I get perhaps the subtlest hint that whoever I'm talking to may have got bored of the subject 5 minutes ago but I still haven't finished...
I'm not a "collector" of facts per se. More like, if I come across something new, I have to Wikipedia/Google it to the extreme until I know everything there is to know about it (like when we got a fish aquarium... or my "obsession" our turtles - get me talking about them and you WILL regret getting me started!) and then for months/years afterwards I can still recall certain obscure facts.
I am occasionally good at remembering strings of letters/numbers - I can remember the alarm combination for the convenience store I worked in when I was 16, but at the same time I am terrible at remembering when I set a different password for something that isn't one of my "usual" passwords.
I have moments when I feel completely "out of it" when it just seems like there's too much noise, too much light, too many people having multiple conversations... I've been working in a call centre for the last year and a half, and although it's a pretty good job, I take every opportunity I can (breaks, when I get home from work etc) to be as distant from everyone and everything as possible just because it all gets too much.
And I've just realised what should have been a short and sweet "Hi, nice to meet you" post has turned into a miniature essay, but I'm just so relived to finally "come out" and talk about all this stuff with people other than my immediate family.
Hope you're all well
(p.s. anyone else love the hours after midnight when no one else is awake and it's all quiet apart from the tiny background house noises which although at any other time of day may be one noise too many, can actually be quite soothing when they're ALL you can hear?)
