Aspies For Freedom

Hi,

Does anyone know of any sites / message boards for people who have AS and are not all that 'high functioning' and also who have learning difficulties and who are a little 'behind' for their age?

I have every respect for AFF, but I feel that my level of ability is not sufficient for me to be able to use this forum or to be able to make myself understood or to 'connect' with people.

I already seem to have made some people angry and it was completely unintended. I also find that a minority of people here can be a bit aggressive.

Generally, this site is too intellectual for someone with my issues. Can anyone recommend any more suitable websites for less high functioning aspies?

My daughter is the lowest functioning of my children and I hope that one day she is able to post a message as well constructed as this one.  She is only 7, so I suppose time will tell.  After 2 hyperlexic boys, I've not been quite certain how to proceed, but have chosen not to push her.

And so.  My dad was in the military and we were constantly moving from place to place. One thing I learned by moving every couple of years is that people are people no matter where you go.  I was the perpetual new kid during my youth, and it seemed that I just kept meeting the same people with different faces.  No matter which group you migrate to, there will remain the same basic social roles -- they will simply be filled by different people.

There are reasons to leave one community and seek another, but the expectation of finding a completely different social dynamic may be disappointed.

I can't see that your level of ability is poor, or that the site is too intellectual for you.

I haven't seen ALL of your posts, but those that I have seen show good reasoning & I for one understood you perfectly in the posts that I saw.

How about joining the ^ game, or word association? the ones who post on there are great & we have a lot of fun & can be as daft as we like.
Sometimes it is good to have a bit of fun, it really does help to cope with more serious issues.

With regard to aggressive people, they are everywhere & sometimes they are not deliberately being so, it is the bluntness that many AS people have.
I know that some are deliberate, but you don't need to respond to someone who upsets you.

grizeldatee gives good advice, have a think about it before proceeding.

Thanks for your responses. I think part of the problem is that I don't have skills either socially or emotionally to deal with people who are not particuarly nice. I have tried to learn skills, and even seen numerous counsellors, but it seems to be something that is difficult to learn - and even more difficult to get someone to teach to you.

Also, I have been bullied and abused a lot throughout my life, so I guess I perhaps have above average sensitivity to these things.

Hi, grizeldatee. I don't know if this would help your daughter, but what helped me was that I was fortunate in that I had some fantastic teachers at school.

They knew that there were things I could do and understand - but that it just took me longer (in fact, a lot longer) than my peers. So they were patient enough to explain things to me over and over and over again until I understood, as they firmly believed I would "get there in the end". The good teachers were never aggressive with me or angry if I struggled to understand something.

I also had a really good speech and drama teacher who helped my communication skills immensely.

I don't know if this will help, and also what teachers you get is partly down to luck. But I just thought I'd mention it as I really believe that if I hadn't had such good teachers I would probably be institutionalised by now. (In fact, some of my support workers are still trying to make that happen...)

In that case I am just like you regarding ALL of this post, but I am old & you are young, that is the only difference .
I have asked for help on the forum for how to deal with people like these & have had good  & helpful responses from many members.

Also  if this helps, I was just thinking last night, that my past is very likely the reason that I am over sensitive to the same things, so you are not alone.
I suspect that there are others' like that here also.

For better or worse, I am her teacher this year.  And I have chosen not to push, but to be led as she is willing and ready.  She will write the first letter of the names of different Pokemon if we draw them first and she likes to read with her father.  She was frustrated at not being able to read some signs on our trip this weekend, so I am optimistic that she may be ready.  Or close to ready. Thanks for your encouragement and sorry to take your thread off topic.  I never tire of obsessing about the children, but I usually do a better job of not interjecting it into other conversations.