How to find friends/girlfriend as an autistic male, 19

I'm 19 and have no friends or girlfriend. I always struggled to understand why i didn't really have friends, i never really had when i started middle/secondary school. Everyone just thought i was shy etc. I tried university but it didn't really work out, i got very ill, i struggled to focus on the course (literally yesterday i was diagnosed with adhd), so i quit, and then i found out that people had made up malicous rumours about me and the girls i was with just thought i was funny and never stayed in touch after i left. How do I find friends or a relationship with a girl etc? I've had one girlfriend it was someone i knew from elementary/primary school who we connected with in lockdown but it lasted barely 2 months if that. I've tried apps like tinder and i can never understand if people are joking or not by the stuff they say on there, usually they just want sex and often theyr'e just plain malicous girls. I think I met an autistic person on a forum who i talked to for a while, a girl, but this might sound bad but I feel like i'd deal with dating an autistic person id find that harder than dating a neurotypical? In the case i had when i was talking to this girl she was just very clingy and would like say "i guess you dont like me" if i didn't reply to a text straight away etc. I'm so lonely and its driven me to suicide attempts before. I've been on my own for so long im just "sick of it" - statements like "oh focus on yourself" dont really mean anything ive had plenty of time for that. I don't really have any typical autistic hobbies tbh - I just like going to the gym, driving, and ocassionally writing.

Parents
  • Two bits of advice.

    Cultivate having a "good heart", people really like that, and it will compensate for a lot of the autistic difference. (As well as make your own life more pleasant and manageable.

    And, there's a book I recommend in my profile that was enormously helpful to me when I was in my twenties, to both obtain and manage my human relationships.

Reply
  • Two bits of advice.

    Cultivate having a "good heart", people really like that, and it will compensate for a lot of the autistic difference. (As well as make your own life more pleasant and manageable.

    And, there's a book I recommend in my profile that was enormously helpful to me when I was in my twenties, to both obtain and manage my human relationships.

Children