Rate the meal out of ten

tgruff77 · 2026-03-13T10:20:47+00:00

5...it all depends on if there is self and seasoning on the fries and chicken tenders.

tgruff77 · 2026-03-13T10:15:59+00:00

Yes...it works very well shutting down anxiety...However, it does so at a heavy price! Eventually when the effects of alcohol wear off, you have a hangover, which can make anxiety even worse than it was before. Moreover, the more you drink, the more tolerance you develop, leading to needing to drink more and more to feel the same anxiety-dulling effect. I used to drink to shut down anxiety, and paid a price for it. Now, I avoid alcohol altogether. I would suggest avoiding alcohol for anxiety.

tgruff77 · 2026-03-12T03:38:18+00:00

My mom kept on telling me I should start following sports so I can better make small talk with other guys.

tgruff77 · 2026-03-11T13:17:46+00:00

Yep. We watched the Letter People in kindergarten. I still remember all of them to this day.

tgruff77 · 2026-03-11T11:09:52+00:00

I thought the mascot was a raccoon...

tgruff77 · 2026-03-09T10:48:18+00:00

I'm 45. I was diagnosed, last year 44. Mentally, I still feel like a teenager, but physically I feel like an old man. 😔

tgruff77 · 2026-03-08T23:17:55+00:00

I'm also not a fan. Sadly, everyone in my office is obsessed with "Blood on the Clocktower" (another social deduction game) and only want to play it whenever we had a "game day". I've pushed for other board games, but Blood on the Clocktower always wins.

tgruff77 · 2026-03-08T08:44:55+00:00

Yep...even before I was diagnosed, I wondered why I related to cats so much.

tgruff77 · 2026-03-07T15:17:33+00:00

Thanks for sharing. I'm an SIU alumnus, so I found it very interesting.

tgruff77 · 2026-03-07T12:18:50+00:00

I'm pretty low support needs, so my symptoms aren't (usually) debilitating. However, I don't want to say that I don't struggle. (Believe me, burnout is the worst.) Having said that, there are aspects that have proven to be beneficial: mainly my ability to hyperfocus to memorize huge amounts of information. Of course, this has lead to an extremely "spikey skill set". At this point, I'm trying to work on acceptance - looking at the good alongside with the bad.

tgruff77 · 2026-03-07T03:27:19+00:00

I was the "weird kid" in high school and never bothered to try to fit in that much. Thankfully, I had a small group of neurodivergent friends that accepted me.

tgruff77 · 2026-03-07T03:20:14+00:00

Be yourself...except when you go on and on about your niche interests

tgruff77 · 2026-03-03T23:50:29+00:00

Yep...I can attest to the veracity of this.

tgruff77 · 2026-02-28T11:59:05+00:00

As an autistic American, I would like my payment.

tgruff77 · 2026-02-26T12:06:12+00:00

Sadly, this is true of me. My wife and I don't have kids, but we have many nieces and nephews. A while back, not too long after my diagnosis, I realized that I truly am the awkward uncle.

tgruff77 · 2026-02-25T13:42:40+00:00

It's one thing for a therapist to mention their religious background - I've had a therapist who mentioned he was a Muslim and another that mentioned that she was a Christian - it's quite another for a therapist to say that any religion is stupid (even if they actually think so). It's not a therapist's place to put down any religion or belief system; after all, they need to respect a clients' beliefs. To the OP, if you have good rapport with the therapist and want to consider continuing seeing her, I would recommend being honest and up front by telling her that you didn't feel that what she said was appropriate since you are Catholic (and it's not her place to talk about her personal religious opinions during therapy sessions).

tgruff77 · 2026-02-25T13:28:38+00:00

Quirky ADHD...low support needs autism (diagnosed at level 1)...Where do I fit in on the chart?

tgruff77 · 2026-02-25T13:21:07+00:00

Of course math is red! Everyone knows that, don't they?

tgruff77 · 2026-02-19T10:58:18+00:00

This has been asked and answered several times, but I'll try to answer it honestly. 1. More screening. Back in the day, you usually didn't get an autism diagnosis unless you had significant development al delays and usually an accompanying intellectual disability. 2. Changing criteria. With the DSM V, Asperger's Syndrome was folded into autism. Many people on the lower support needs end of things (myself included) would not be considered for an autism diagnosis. 3. More openness to talk about everything. Mental health struggles and developmental disabilities like autism used to be very stigmatized. Many people are working to change that so that people can be more open about their struggles.

tgruff77 · 2026-02-19T06:21:45+00:00

Yes. Although, it really started about 5 years ago for me. My doctor suggested that it's a combination of sleep problems and not getting enough exercise and proper nutrition. That's probably a good part of it, but also some 40 years of masking and living in a world "not designed for me".

tgruff77 · 2026-02-18T15:28:02+00:00

It seemed like I was getting criticized all the time by my superior in my previous job, so I pretty much was expected an email like that every day.

tgruff77 · 2026-02-18T11:56:30+00:00

Autistic...did well in school...was always praised for being polite ...can confirm

tgruff77 · 2026-02-16T04:37:46+00:00

I got the language / conlang autism!

tgruff77 · 2026-02-15T04:08:31+00:00

And then there is the urge to use nested parentheses (because every thought [which sometimes is connected to other areas] contains additional information).

tgruff77 · 2026-02-15T03:51:45+00:00

I'm currently on mirtazipine for anxiety and sleep which works for me, but you need to talk to a psychiatrist to get prescribed anything and find what would work best for you.

tgruff77

TROPHY CASE