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Please can I have some help finding a social autistic group near me?

yjzhou

Hello everyone, my name is Yang-Jian and I have a formal diagnosis of Autism and ADHD as well as a whole host of other stuff like rheumatoid arthritis depression anxiety etc.

 To be honest, I really struggle with socialising and feel very lonely. I don't really go out of my house and I don't have real life friends I can talk to. I'd really really really appreciate it if someone could help me find a suitable local community? I live in the UK in Croydon. Apologies for asking for help with researching and finding stuff. I honestly have been struggling a lot with executive dysfunction etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 Or perhaps if there are any autistic people who live nearby who want to be friends with me? Also just as a disclaimer: I got my diagnosis pretty late so I don't even know if I will fit in with people because I've spent so long masking (to a state where idek when I'm masking). I really hope I can find people like me who can understand me and I can understand them and we can become close friends.

 I really want to make some friends and perhaps something more - i.e. close intimate friendships to a deeper level (perhaps even best friends?). One where we both care about each other very much and enjoy each other's company.

Some facts about me:

- My primary special interest is Starcraft 2 - but due to memory issues I don't really have a lot of facts stored like people do in movies 

- I want to write books, create video games, make digital art, make 3d art and become famous and I want to help the world - I want to be an inventor too but idk how

- I am very kinda and empathetic <--- sorry I kind of hate writing compliments about myself because it feels unnatural but I am trying to be as truthful as I can - I guess I can say something negative too: I am a little insecure at times and need validation a lot. And sometimes my empathy goes wrong and turns into anxiety and worries about how I might impact someone when I say something which actually wasn't anything bad.

- I am very ambitious and hardworking - although recently I'm trying to be kinder to myself and take things slowly

- there are a lot of things I want to do but I struggle with executive dysfunction so I can't bring myself to do them

- I'm 22, I have knowledge in computer science but not that much and I like video games and cats

  • in reply to Ausomely Autistic

    By the way, your interests sound really cool. 

    Have you seen some of the artwork in the Spectrum Magazine?

    https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/the-spectrum/artwork

    You could always publish a piece of your artwork in the magazine if you wanted to!

  • Hello, welcome to your autistic community. It must be really isolating if you struggle with socialising.

    There are many online autistic led groups including these ones led by Aucademy:

    https://aucademy.co.uk/aucademy-autistic-only-closed-groups/

    All of these groups apart from one are interest based, so hopefully you will find something that suits you.

    This organisation is based in London and is autistic led. It runs autistic adult social groups:

    https://autisticinclusivemeets.org/

    Also the NAS run online branches for autistic adults- there are two which may interest you most. 

    • The Book Club
    • Arts and Crafts

    https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/branches/online

    You could even set up your own online branch for video gaming if you wanted.

     I hope these links are helpful, I tried to find a group specifically for autistic people who like video games but the only one I could find was for under 18’s.

  • You could try asking your GP for a referral to a social prescriber. They have contacts for all sorts of groups all over the area and may be able to match you up with some autistic people in your area through one of them, so you can get out and about a bit.

    If you have a number of needs; social and executive social services may provide some support.

    Otherwise google and see whether there are any NAS groups in your area. If you are looking for love, there are autistic dating apps out there. There's a guy on you tube who does a review of them.

  • Hello

    I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling lonely and struggle with socialising. You may want to use our Autism Services Directory to search for potential groups in your area that cater for people with an autism spectrum disorder. You can find the Directory here: https://www.autism.org.uk/directory 

    All the best,

    ChloeMod

  • Try Meetup app, I found one on there.