Hello,
I have a friend, RK, who is autistic. I learnt a lot of ''normal'' social behaviour from her, for example, giving people complements and asking people if they're okay.
However, some of her behaviour feels confusing.
Conversations are one sentence at a time, rather than going into detail about a topic of interest, which feels very awkward for me. When she was at my house, I had to keep reminding myself not to talk longer than one or two sentences, and to pause and wait for her response.
Also, she said she was 'sad for me' when 'Matthew Perry died' (Chandler Bing from FRIENDS.) I know she is a very empathetic person, and would be said about someone dying, but I do not know Matthew Perry so I am not sure why she would be sad for me.
In another time we met, she told me that she's 'sorry today was boring' but I did not find the day boring at all. We sat in her home, the Aadams Family (1991) was playing on TV, we petted her dog and talked with her siblings. It was a good day.
If anyone can help me understand her a bit, that would be great help.
Thank-you,
Jayde.
Post Script:
All this also makes me question whether or not I am autistic. I mean, if I am autistic I should be able to understand her behaviour. Then it makes me think and worry: what if I'm not autistic, but also not non-autistic. That shouldn't be possible. I feel like I'm just a stupid waste of space who won't be understood by any neurotype.