u/amira6229

I (33F) recent started doing oil painting as a hobby. The art teacher (43M) and I have really hit it off and things felt..flirty. My instructor definitely gives me more attention than others in the class, sharpens my pencils for me, grids my work, and even spent 15 minutes looking for a specific art book for me one day. We also laugh a lot and sometimes tease each other. He doesn't really do this with any other student; he usually VERY serious.

I decided I wanted something romantic to happen between us and picked out a rock and a seashell for him when I went to the beach, as a way to..move things forward (I am AuDHD and get the feeling he may also be neurodivergent.)

When I'm told my therapist this, she kind of freaked out and said if anything happened, it would be an "abuse of power", but I'm attending this class voluntarily, I don't get any credit/compensation/ reward for it, and I can leave whenever I want. I don't want to be a professional artist and I don't idolize him, so I'm a little lost on why she thinks anything romantically happening between us would be bad. She also said there's "no evidence" he's interested in me. (I might need a new therapist).

Anyway, I gave him the rock and seashell and told him why the rock reminds me of his art. He seemed to really like it and told me he collects rocks. But today during class he was super serious with me until the very end and then started asking me questions about where I'm from and things felt very nice/flirty again.

How crazy/inappropriate would it be for me to ask him if he would be open to getting to know each other outside of class??

TLDR - is it a bad idea to ask my recreational art teacher if he would be open to hanging out outside of class??

I am transitioning from corporate to freelance and want to edit my Upwork job title to make it feel more freelance-friendly.

I currently have my title on Upwork listed as a Business Consultant and have had the titles "Process Improvement Engineer" and "Senior Lean Six Sigma Specialist" while working in corporate.

However, these terms are either too vague or don't feel very human-centered and approachable which is important, given that my work can feel very dry and technical.

For a little background, I help small and medium-sized businesses develop a well-defined strategy to improve their operational efficiency, reduce costs, and encourage sustainable revenue growth.

Thus, the strategy-based services I offer are process improvement, project management, and data analytics/visualization.

I have a decade of experience and the degrees, certifications, and case studies to back up my resume. So I would consider myself to be at the "expert" level and my hourly rate will be in the 80-90th percentile within the Upwork "marketplace" for my skillset.

In terms of personality, people often think I am very serious and intense upon first impression. However, they usually seem to realize I am kind and chatty, while also still being a little intense, once they get to know me. Hence, I want the job title to feel more friendly.

Based on that info, which title do you like best?? Feel free to comment any other suggestions!

TIA!

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I (AuDHD) have noticed quite a few times in the last year that I feel like I am a lot more unmasked than the other neurodivergent people around me.

I met up with another neurodivergent person that I met on Hinge. And about 5 minutes into the conversation, she sort of made a weird face and asked me if I normally talk like this, I guess maybe insinuating I was talking too much/fast/non-linearly.

I didn't take it super personally and just kind of let it roll off my back. Looking back, I feel like I left quite a bit of space for her to talk and asked her questions, although sometimes I do ramble a bit. She also kept texting while I was talking.

I think towards the end of the hang-out she came around to me and wanted to hang out again, but idk, her reactions to me being myself kind of made me feel less inclined to want to hang out with her again.

Awhile back, I invited another girl to an event, but was upfront that I was a bit unsure of what the event was going to be like. When we got there, it was NOT what either of us expected and she sarcastically said "wow, I'm so glad I decided to come here." We stayed and ended up having a great time.

On the way home, we talked about my ADHD allowing me to just show up at an event w/o really knowing the language or people and just running with it. And after that we actually hit it off quite well. But I was also left with that same feeling of "I'm not sure I want to hang out with someone who isn't cool with me being me."

I recognize that other people don't necessarily have the same kind of neurodivergence as me and I am happy to adjust if they mention being overstimulated, have sensory needs, or that they sometimes struggle to keep up with multiple convos at once. But other than that, I usually go into social situations all me, because..I like myself??

Has anyone else noticed that other neurodivergent people can sometimes have that same level of judgment that some neurotypicals have when you're not masking at a level they find socially acceptable??

I bought a Passap Duomatic SD but I've been using the passap duomatic 80 manual and I have been having quite a bit of trouble. Does anyone know have a digital English copy of the SD or S manual they would be willing to send me??

TIA!

Like what is the point of making Shirley such a queer-coded character, if they are going to make Knox and Shirley a couple??

Literally everything about Shirley screams GAYYY (which I am totally on board for). Her hair, mannerisms, the way she walks and talks. Like even her being upset about Jules not remembering her is slightly giving unrequited homoerotic friendship. Shirley is WAYYY more upset than anyone else.

Am I the only one who feels the Knox and Shirley relationship feels DEEPLY out of place??