I’m not diagnosed either, But I’ve got all the flavors of socially awkward and wild unbridled obsession that make me a reasonably decent fit. It took me decades to work out social anxiety sufficiently to hang out with people in public. I’m still not particularly good at it, but if I try really hard, I can tell if others are uncomfortable or bored, and on rare occasion I can even shut the fuck up after they ask me something that touches on one of my obsessions.
The way I look at it, I’ve known people who are rather normal and tech obsessed. They know the features of the latest cell phone, They build beautiful gaming rigs from scratch and build themselves a website, maybe even stand up a Plex server.
But they don’t know what all the pins on the ATX power connector do, or know why there’s so much trouble getting Linux to access the cellular modems in the phones, or the minutia of h264 versus h265, or if ever tried it to hand code a QR code.
I could probably be doing a lot more social or environmentally positive with my life. But I like what I like, and I’ve managed to raise a family. It’s just not a train garden in my basement It’s a 42U rack.
When your ‘thing’ is technology (computers/coding/hosting/fixing electronics) they tend not to label you as much as ask you for help with their tech.
Yeah I was trying to figure out what exactly to say here but I really wanted to reply……
My first thought was something like I’m not autistic but posts like this make me wonder if I’m just not diagnosed.
However I’ll stick with your response. I’m clearly neurotypical because my thing is technology
I’m not diagnosed either, But I’ve got all the flavors of socially awkward and wild unbridled obsession that make me a reasonably decent fit. It took me decades to work out social anxiety sufficiently to hang out with people in public. I’m still not particularly good at it, but if I try really hard, I can tell if others are uncomfortable or bored, and on rare occasion I can even shut the fuck up after they ask me something that touches on one of my obsessions.
The way I look at it, I’ve known people who are rather normal and tech obsessed. They know the features of the latest cell phone, They build beautiful gaming rigs from scratch and build themselves a website, maybe even stand up a Plex server.
But they don’t know what all the pins on the ATX power connector do, or know why there’s so much trouble getting Linux to access the cellular modems in the phones, or the minutia of h264 versus h265, or if ever tried it to hand code a QR code.
I could probably be doing a lot more social or environmentally positive with my life. But I like what I like, and I’ve managed to raise a family. It’s just not a train garden in my basement It’s a 42U rack.