What advice would you give to your younger self?

Regret is what you didn't do. Not what you did.

I would say "live for yourself, not others". I've spent too much time trying to please people rather than living the way I want to. 

"A parent can be a monster and wish to hurt you, even it it's a parent. Your father is lying to you. Get the medical documents and have your thyroid tested NOW. Mother is just enabling your father, she would be happy to kill you to please him, do no trust her. She lied to the authorities to protect him, it's not the cops fault if the case was not taken to the court. Get your medical issues sorted, then pick up and LEAVE. Join the Navy, go to that German place, whatever, just leave. Your parents are monsters."

"BTW, buy Bitcoin now and sell them when they reach 20K. It's worth the wait."

If I could say anything to myself I would say don't give up, things do get better - and always be yourself.

Humans are social animals. Even Autistic humans are meant to be social I think. We need the same reassurance from other humans that Allistic people need. But often we do not get it.

We see more negatives than positives in ourselves unfortunately.

Mellowjian said:

I still do I think. It's hard to retain to a positive view of yourself when you are socially isolated.

Yes it's a constant battle to try and keep a positive view of yourself and life.

I still do I think. It's hard to retain to a positive view of yourself when you are socially isolated.

Gold, In elemental and cat form, for the win..

It depends on how you spend the time whilst waiting...

'It's not you'

Although I wouldn't have believed it, I had an extremely negative view of myself.

"Don't be a people pleaser" is darn good advice that I wish I'd had (or heeded) when I was younger.

Equally cats have taught me that doing stuff I would very much rather not do now, can give collosal rewards, so as with many things this all gets a bit nuanced.

"Pleasing people" by making them happy in some way or helping them achieve stuff they previously could not without unexpected help is very much worth doing sometimes and an absolute waste of time with others.

I got fed up with being sick of other people and decided to find ways of enjoying them more. Finding nice  ways to be pleased by people is very empowering (and a bit enslaving) at the same time.  

Get some Bitcoins xD

Buy Apple shares

I'd probably give myself the line I heard once in a videogame: "The more crutches you have, the more it hurts when they're kicked out from under ya." I reckon if I had known to take more opportunities earlier on to grow some independence and not rely on my childhood 1:1 support or my parents managing near everything in my life then when I became faced with the realities of what is yet to come I'd be more prepared rather than freaking out and having absolute dread over my future survival. At the moment I feel like I'm running low on time and am a million miles from where I need to be, if I could use that time again I could have gradually got where I needed to.

I'd also try to tell myself what my diagnosis is about, what little I know of it now at least. I had been diagnosed as a young child and whilst I had 1:1 support I almost thought it was just because I was 'a bit naughty' in primary school and because support suddenly stopped after college and my parents didn't talk to me about it and seem to treat it as if it's all over now I spent a lot of time not understanding and struggling with myself and putting myself down. I would have also had a head start on overcoming or finding ways to help get around a lot of my issues. I might have even been communicate this with my parents if it were closer to or during when I already had support who could essentially back me up to say 'yeah, this is a lifelong thing, and he might need some guidance to get to that independence'.

To make sure everything I do is fun. 
and to avoid getting a proper job for as long as possible.

Stop trying so hard to be outgoing and extroverted, stop trying to fit in, stop worrying about making an impact. Try and make friends with the quiet kids and choose a career path like librarianship or archives. Just because your family is loud you don't have to be. 

It's made interesting reading for sure and offered more inspiration than I thought it would

Thank you LoonyLuna for bumping this back up + everyone for the new replies.

It's good to see these old threads added to and to read the comments

I was the same at 20.  But I did go on to have friends later in my twenties and in my early 30's. So there's hope for you yet.

Mellowjian said:

But what can you do?  Apart from realise that you have Autism and be kind to yourself.

This is a good point. Kindness to yourself is important. For me it's been the difference between being happy and miserable. I feel my life is a bit of a waste but I'm trying to make a positive impact while I'm here. I'm 20, reclusive and no friends.