I really don’t know how to cope with my friend who has diagnosed Asperger’s recently

Hello. I would like to know how to cope with my friend with Asperger’s.

We were good friends. However, the more we become close, the more we argue. I think this is because that we do not understand to each other. Or I should rather say thay it is so hard for me to understand her way of thinking or perceptions....(she says she understands me but she does not sadly...)

We both had tough times last year. We were so stressed out in own issues. I do admit that I was sometimes nasty and horrible to her. I am shamed to say that I have shouted at her so many times. If I am allowed to excuse for it, this was because I was just not be able to put up with her extreme negativity and strong obsession with wanting to tell her favourite things which I do not like to hear and to correct the meaning of the words I used (my mother language is not English) during having important discussions and/or everyday conversations.

Since she was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, for me, she now excuses everything that she cannot do or change because of having Asperger’s. It really does not work for me... She has said to me once that I am neurotypical that is why I do not understand her. It may be true but sounded really cold and I felt a big barrier between us.

She found a kind of soul mate who has also Asperger’s in SNS. She is very happy and it makes her strong. She said to me that that person really understood her and made her feel very comfortable. I felt very jealous and was not happy at all because I am suffering from not being able to understand her as a real life friend exchanging many private and life issues but she admires her virtual friend....

I almost decided to end up our friendship because I do not know how to manage my emotions with her. I do not want to but I do become short tempered. Also, she believes in what her SNS friend says and telephone Asperger’s psychiatrist advice only now. She ignores my calls eventually. That is actually psychiatrist’s advice because I shout at her...My close friends advise me to finish this friendship because of wasting time...I really liked her and thought that I could make a great friendship with her though.....I do not know why our friendship became so bad...

Could anyone kindly tell me how to cope with this situations and a friend with Asperger’s, please? 

Parents
  • There's such a lot I could say, but the main thing is...

    Do you still want to be friends with her?

    If so - if she means more to you than superficialities - then perhaps try to accept her.  Talk to her about her condition and how it affects her.  Find out about it yourself.

    You said:

    'Since she was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, for me, she now excuses everything that she cannot do or change because of having Asperger’s. It really does not work for me...'

    You could, perhaps, try to understand that when someone gets a diagnosis like this - as I did myself a couple of years ago, at age 56 - it can make a profound difference.  Suddenly, all of those problems you had in life - people not seeming to like you, never feeling like you fit in, feeling anxious around others a lot of the time - make sense.  It's like someone's given you a code that breaks the puzzle.  And of course, when that happens, it's natural to use it to try to explain so many things.  Is she making excuses?  Or are there genuinely things that she cannot change, or will struggle to change?  I work with highly-autistic people.  If they do something that most people would perceive to be 'wrong' - such as shout in public, or try to flush clothing down the toilet - you can't just stop them doing it.  It's a behaviour trait that needs time and patience and careful work before it can be moderated or changed.

    It makes me wonder if your attitude towards her - your self-confessed short-temperedness - is making her react in the way she is by saying she can't change. She feels like she's under attack.  Maybe you need - if you wish to retain her friendship - to show a little more patience and understanding.  Also, it might help to take a look around on some of these threads.  See what other people with Asperger's are saying.  Try to learn a little from it.

    She's not like you.  She's neurodiverse, not neurotypical.  She doesn't see the world in the same way you do, and she's in a minority.  It's not an easy place to be.  And other people can often make it much harder.

  • Thank you so much for your response. 

    I too am a kind of minority here in England. I am foreign.

    I too felt that I was so different from others when I was in my own country because my way of thinking was very different from others. Also, others saw me different from them because of my appearance. I do not look like people who are in my country. I still feel that I am very different from people here because of cultural backgrounds. I do get depressed and feel difficult to change things. I have experienced to stay home for nearly 2 years and avoided contacting others. Therefore, it is so hard to accept that there are huge differences between me and my friend. She is not the only one who feels different from others and suffers from it.

    However, I always try to appropriate what I have,  where I am, being able to see and hear, being able to eat and drink, my heart beats and my organs do function and well-being of my parents and myself although I become negative so many times. It is very hard to keep gratitude when things are so tough, but that is my attitude of life: appreciation and gratitude. 

    I was very patient at first when I met her. I even liked her eccentric nature. I tried to understand her tough experiences and was empathetic. We discussed life attitudes many times but it did not work for her and our friendship, especially we both were so stressed in own issues...I did not shout at her from the beginning though...

    If she keeps listening to only her SNS Asperger’s friend and psychiatrist, then I do not think that I can continue this friendship because there is no actual communication with her...

    We are so different from each other, aren’t we? We have diversity, don’t we? But we all are just human beings. Why can’t we accept it and keep continuing our life with appreciation and gratitude?

    She excuses negative things because of Asperger’s now, I am afraid. I do not want her to be like that. She was much open-minded before.....

  • Also, there’s a difference between feeling different and being different. Not because of appearance or ability but because our brains literally work different to nt’s. You may have bonded initially because you shared the feeling of being different and being in a minority, but the difference is, you still know you’re a human being. Before we get our diagnosis we are doing everything we can to appear neurotypical, to appear like a normal human being, even though we don’t feel like a human being and it’s so exhausting, but nobody sees that. When we finally get the answer to why we’re not like other people, we can stop trying, but with support snd understanding we can learn to ‘fit in’ but in our own way, being ourselves, which won’t necessarily look like other people. We have to be allowed to be ourselves, it’s crucial to our survival and now your friend is learning about who she is, you could help her by saying you’d like to get to know the real person and have a friendship with her. She won’t ever be the person you thought she was, because that was her mask, her false self she created to help her survive in the world, but underneath all that, is the real person, who you bonded with and made a friendship with. She needs time and lots of support to come to terms with the diagnosis. Even if we were expecting it, it can still come as a shock. She’s lucky she has a friend like you and if you help her to keep the friendship going, she will be the best friend you could ever wish for. But right now she needs support and understanding and reminding of what she can do and not what she can’t do and that she’s valued for who she is, not for how she behaves or what she can give you. She needs a friend right now. 

Reply
  • Also, there’s a difference between feeling different and being different. Not because of appearance or ability but because our brains literally work different to nt’s. You may have bonded initially because you shared the feeling of being different and being in a minority, but the difference is, you still know you’re a human being. Before we get our diagnosis we are doing everything we can to appear neurotypical, to appear like a normal human being, even though we don’t feel like a human being and it’s so exhausting, but nobody sees that. When we finally get the answer to why we’re not like other people, we can stop trying, but with support snd understanding we can learn to ‘fit in’ but in our own way, being ourselves, which won’t necessarily look like other people. We have to be allowed to be ourselves, it’s crucial to our survival and now your friend is learning about who she is, you could help her by saying you’d like to get to know the real person and have a friendship with her. She won’t ever be the person you thought she was, because that was her mask, her false self she created to help her survive in the world, but underneath all that, is the real person, who you bonded with and made a friendship with. She needs time and lots of support to come to terms with the diagnosis. Even if we were expecting it, it can still come as a shock. She’s lucky she has a friend like you and if you help her to keep the friendship going, she will be the best friend you could ever wish for. But right now she needs support and understanding and reminding of what she can do and not what she can’t do and that she’s valued for who she is, not for how she behaves or what she can give you. She needs a friend right now. 

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