have you been to a social group?

Good advice there but knowing myself, I would just shut down and not know what to do if I didn't get a response from someone... Another thing I struggle with is trying to figure out how to get out of situations and conversations. So staying in bed seems like a good option! :D 

Hi there, it’s on my ‘to do’ list. There’s an AS social group in my town on the 1st Wednesday of every month, rather annoyingly Wednesday evening is when I do Beaver Scouts in term time so I’m waiting until a 1st Wednesday of the month falls in school holidays to go. I too get very anxious about new social situations but I’ve done some basic social skills training in the past year so can probably ‘wing it’ for a couple of hours. I think my strategy would be to look for someone on their own or an ‘open’ group and introduce myself with an open ended question such as ‘hi my names @@@ it’s my first time here, what is this group like?’, bear in mind though that someone sitting on their own may want to be on their own so if you get zero eye contact, body turned away, minimal answers then maybe politely end the interaction and move on to someone else. Remember you’re all in the same boat in terms of having ASD so I’d like to think there’d be no judgement. Good luck

Hi, I'm in a similar situation myself. Have you had any success yet? There's a group that meets regularly close to where I live but I just don't know how I could get myself actually going there. What also bothers me is that other people see me as "bubbly, fun, social" and whatnot, which I would definitely disagree with. Yes, I do talk to anyone if they ask me a question and I can go on and on about things that interest me and hold up a conversation (depending on my energy levels though) but inside I'm just a little gremlin crippled up with anxiety and would love to sleep through my life if only it was possible. 

I attended a group, which my sister found out about and contacted the local person running the group, and the first time I went my sister came along with me just for a bit of moral support. I'm not exactly the socialising type naturally and was simply unsure of what to expect from it all but I was more than happy to attend with somebody coming along with me the first time. Nobody seemed to mind that my sister came along. I just needed to be able to take that first step with a bit of help and then get used to the group. I just sometimes need a bit of help with a first step in approaching new social situations.

Those that attended were very nice people, often with similarities in terms of experiences, mental health issues, behaviours, etc. There were times we could find things to talk about ourselves, times when the organiser tried to lead conversation and times when we just sat in silence but in a way I felt quite comfortable in the group once I had gotten past that first hurdle and gotten used to it.

I'd recommend going but you may want your own support (like I took my sister for the first time) to help you with that first hurdle.

I've never been to an actual NAS social group.  And I am usually very bad in any group setting.

But, I have attended a few group sessions organised by MIND.

Most of these are very friendly and the people there were as anxious as I was about the group meetings.  

The real hardcore anti-socials/recluses/anxiety prone people never make it to the group meetings.

The thing about many of these group meetings is that it's difficult to get on them.  They are often overbooked.  Then many people don't turn up .