I'm a recently diagnosed (earlier this year) autistic female. I'm 21. I used to go to university, it didn't work out, so I quit. I am going to try again on a different course in a different city. I move in to my new accommodation in one month and two days time. Having the diagnosis is a relief, because it explains why I am quite irreparably bad at managing certain social situations. I'm not non-verbal, if anything I'm the opposite. But I just talk and talk and talk about my special interests with no idea that other people want to change the conversation. I also sort of 'copy' other people's interactions, eg if someone in a group chat is talking about boyfriend struggles, I'll take that as a cue that when they're finished I can talk about an issue I want to talk about or something, but when I do that I'll get told why am I talking about stuff about me, even though I am only doing exactly what someone else did half an hour earlier. People will tell me they are my friends, but then also act like they're not my friends. I get really confused. I misinterpret things and am always told I 'overreact' when to me I'm acting reasonably following whatever has happened.
I've now been in a number of group chats about my new uni. But I already seem to have got a bad reputation. Ie this evening someone on my course (whom I have never spoken to or interacted with at all) drunkenly messaged me and called me two-faced and disrespectful and why was I talking about other people on my course behind their backs (someone asked me a direct question about why I left my course chat, I responded with "because ___ said ____ which was rude and upset me so I didn't want to subject myself to it anymore" - I didn't see that as b*tching or anything, I just saw that as answering a direct question). I just responded with the facts explaining factually exactly what happened at that I didn't understand why I was being insulted, and this person instantly just ignored me. I have now just left all the chats and ignored all messages asking after me because I'll just get told I'm complaining or something.
Sometimes I get told I'm oversharing. Sometimes I get told I'm not sharing enough, I never seem to be able to win with neurotypical people.
How do other autistic people manage this? It's exhausting. I am exhausted. It leaves me feeling hopeless about the future because I can't function in this society.
I have a mental health team as I also have bipolar disorder, but honestly they have no advice or support for autistic issues. All my autism coping strategies have come from google and forums like this (eg after I was diagnosed I only realised what stimming was - I had been doing it for years in forms of like skin picking, pinching my skin very very hard, hitting my head when in a sensory overload, but since reading about stimming I've now got myself stim toys which have stopped / reduced me doing more harmful things and instead it just looks to others more like fidgeting). There are no autism support services in my area, or the area I'm moving to for university. All they have is the diagnostic service, no post-diagnosis support. It's awful.