Wherein I explain my new screen name

[Antisocial_Worker]

Hello all! This is the forumer formerly known as Lvl_9_Gazebo, formerly known as hauntedheadnc. I asked Raps to change my name for two reasons. The first is that I've gone back to school to work my way toward a degree in social work. I want to work with victims of crime and abuse, because I've had a fairly wretched life and I can look at the things that people do to each other without screaming. I figure if you can do that, you have a duty to do it and so here I go.

The second reason is that today I got a job that is peripherally involved in the field I want to work in. I'll be working with autistic teenagers. I was skittish about this at first seeing as how I have no experience at all in the field, but as it was astutely pointed out to me, parents don't just abuse "normal" children. In fact, a great many abnormal children got that way because mommy or daddy heaved them into the wall head first one time too many. And so, here I go.

Thanks, Raps for changing the name.

And again... here we go!

[Crossbow]

As long as you don't change your avatar, we'll know who you are. Congrats on both school and the new job!

[Pixilated]

Good luck with school and your new career! And I love your avatar, by the way.

[Antisocial_Worker]

Thanks for your congrats, both of you. I'm nervous about it all, but all I can do is go forward.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I still think of you as HHNC.

Good luck in your new endeavors!

[Seshat]

I can't pull up the statistics easily, but I've seen stats that show that disabled people are more likely to be sexually abused/molested than the able-bodied.

I DO know that I've been (slowly) actively seeking advice on self-defence for the disabled from various places that theoretically provide self-defence information: the consensus seems to be that if you're not able to run, they don't know what to tell you.
(The core technique for self-defence seems to be 'surprise, hurt, or damage them enough to give yourself a chance to run towards lights-and-people'. They don't typically suggest trying to actually slug it out, since attackers often come in groups, or are generally better equipped than their victims.
But if you can't run....)

At any rate, the field of disabled-and-abused definitely needs more workers. Thank you for being interested in it.

[Jester]

I, a man of many words--often too many, if I am honest--have but one word for you:

Bravo!

[morgana]

What they said!

[RootedPhoenix]

YAAYY! I'm glad you chose that field.

[Antisocial_Worker]

w00t to all of you.

[Kristev]

To be honest, disabled kids are sometimes at even greater risk than normal kids are, because they are less able to report it.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Count me among the people to both request you never change your avatar...

...and to congratulate you for the field you're going to work in. You've got a great heart, you crazy gazebo, you.

[cinema guy]

Good luck in your new field.