Tezzo, here, introducing myself (he/him/his)

[tezzo]

Hello everyone/anyone,
This is my first time "putting myself out there" on any forum for any reason (other than work-related subjects). I do feel a little exposed and vulnerable.

I've been struggling all my life, of course, but recently, YouTube videos have helped me to realize that I'm on the spectrum. It's been wild; each video I watch and each autism characteristic I learn about, I think, "Oh, wow, that's me!", "So, that's why I do that!", or "That's why I'm like that!". Over my life, as with most of us, I've developed a fairly low opinion of myself. I normally don't tear-up easily, except during each moment I realize that something I always thought was wrong with "me", turns out to be just a symptom of autism. And I feel a lot less alone, when I learn that 1-2% of all people on Earth share these struggles with me. The last several months have been a big time of emotional release and gradual mental healing, but I know I'm only at the very beginning of my journey of mending! I hope I can both benefit from and be a benefit to the people on this forum.

To all of you, thank you so much for maintaining and participating in this site.

–Tezzo

P.S. I currently reside in southern Nevada, USA and I'm in my 50s.

 

[tree]

 

[tezzo]

View attachment 95484

Thank you, @tree!

 

[VictorR]

Welcome! Glad to see you've jumped right into things here. I also really appreciate being part of a community where we can help each other feel a little less alone

 

[tezzo]

Welcome! Glad to see you've jumped right into things here. I also really appreciate being part of a community where we can help each other feel a little less alone

Thanks VictorR. "Queerly Autistic", that sounds interesting.

 

[Luca]

Hi Tezzo, welcome!
I think this community will be very helpful for you.

Nice of you to put your pronouns in the title too, so we know how to address you
I'm genderfluid and gay but my pronouns are almost always she/her.

 

[spockanalia]

Welcome! I just joined the forums a few days ago after a few months of lurking. It wasn't too long ago that I was feeling the exact same way...like finally finding the manual to myself after so much confusion.

 

[tezzo]

Hi Tezzo, welcome!
I think this community will be very helpful for you.

Nice of you to put your pronouns in the title too, so we know how to address you
I'm genderfluid and gay but my pronouns are almost always she/her.

Thank you Luca, it's nice to be seen! I know that I'm not hetero-normal, but I haven't figured out what's going on there, yet. My 18 year old daughter came out as pan, a few years ago.

 

[Luca]

Thank you Luca, it's nice to be seen! I know that I'm not hetero-normal, but I haven't figured out what's going on there, yet. My 18 year old daughter came out as pan, a few years ago.

It doesn't matter how long it takes to figure it out, as long as you're happy
I wondered if I was pan for a while but I'm completely sure now that I only like women. I have a girlfriend but I'm asexual as well.

 

[330]

Hello

 

[tezzo]

Welcome! I just joined the forums a few days ago after a few months of lurking. It wasn't too long ago that I was feeling the exact same way...like finally finding the manual to myself after so much confusion.

"finally finding the manual to myself" – that's a great way to put it! Am I correct in guessing that you're a trekkie? Or am I wrong and your member name is actually alluding to Dr. Spock? Peace and long life, Spockanalia.

 

[tezzo]

It doesn't matter how long it takes to figure it out, as long as you're happy
I wondered if I was pan for a while but I'm completely sure now that I only like women. I have a girlfriend but I'm asexual as well.

Thanks! I've always felt that it would be cool to be called an "Ace". I'm glad to hear that you've found someone.

 

[Stuttermabolur]

Greetings @tezzo, you sound lovely! I'm happy to have you as a part of our community. It seems that you are on a journey of discovery like a lot of us here, and I hope the community here manages to answer some questions and help you feel at ease with yourself. Thanks to this forum, I now consider me agender. I'm biologically male, and I "present" myself as pretty male out of convenience, but I don't really identify with being a specific gender and am fine with all pronouns. Some of my traits are more stereotypically male while some are more female, but most all my friends are women. Like @Luca, I am also asexual, though not aromantic.

If you are wondering about Queerly Autistic, @VictorR wrote a great review of it in the resource section here.

 

[tezzo]

Greetings @tezzo, you sound lovely! I'm happy to have you as a part of our community. It seems that you are on a journey of discovery like a lot of us here, and I hope the community here manages to answer some questions and help you feel at ease with yourself. Thanks to this forum, I now consider me agender. I'm biologically male, and I "present" myself as pretty male out of convenience, but I don't really identify with being a specific gender and am fine with all pronouns. Some of my traits are more stereotypically male while some are more female, but most all my friends are women. Like @Luca, I am also asexual, though not aromantic.

If you are wondering about Queerly Autistic, @VictorR wrote a great review of it in the resource section here.

I appreciate the sentiment, Stuttermabolur! Thank you for the tips and for sharing. I'm not asexual. I'm also not aromantic, but it can be a struggle, because of my autistic social shortcomings.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Welcome @tezzo . Your healing will take time and i hope that it will go well for you.

 

[tezzo]

Welcome @tezzo . Your healing will take time and i hope that it will go well for you.

Thank you, Gerald! Is that a 3D printed trilobite fossil in your profile pic?

 

[Rodafina]

Hello and welcome!

 

[spockanalia]

"finally finding the manual to myself" – that's a great way to put it! Am I correct in guessing that you're a trekkie? Or am I wrong and your member name is actually alluding to Dr. Spock? Peace and long life, Spockanalia.

LOL love the Dr. Spock joke. Now more than ever do I value the Vulcan philosophy of Infinite Diversity Infinite Combinations. (You may notice that he is wearing the IDIC medallion in this photo).

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Thank you, Gerald! Is that a 3D printed trilobite fossil in your profile pic?

That is the real thing a Drotops armatus. I am working with a young fossil preparator in Alnif, Morocco, to obtain at least one specimen from each family in the Devonian and Ordovician. I will be donating the collection to some institution.

 

[Thinx]

Hi and welcome, it's great that you found this forum and have posted here. I agree it's a relief and useful to understand myself better, though it's important to see the positives of how we are, and that can be hard to do, in a misunderstood minority. We are different, and our differences can be labelled in negative ways, or seen as problems, rather than differences. But there are many positives, as there are for neurotypical people presumably.