How do you cope?

Hi Pinkapple, As others have said, the most important thing is to be kind to yourself. Work out what needs changing in your life to make you happier, and work towards implementing it.

I stopped accepting social invitations if I knew I would not enjoy them and/or get overloaded. By stopping pressurising myself to "act normal" or "fit in" I became more relaxed and over the past few years have become friendly with most of the women where I work. I'm open with them about how things affect me, and surprisingly, some of them who aren't autistic have shared with me how they get anxious in certain situations, and what they find difficult to deal with. Remember that everyone has challenges in life and we are all entitled to a little empathy from others.

I have also learned to articulate how things affect me - to my partner, my colleagues, and to management at work, which improves relationships and has enabled my work environment to be changed to suit me better. I have often related back to assertiveness training I did years ago, which can help with thinking about how to request support or explain how things are negatively impacting me, so if you have never participated in assertiveness training it might be useful to look into whether this is available in your workplace or if you could do it online.

Good luck with your journey. As I read in a book recently, "we are all the same in different ways'

Hi Pinkapple, As others have said, the most important thing is to be kind to yourself. Work out what needs changing in your life to make you happier, and work towards implementing it.

I stopped accepting social invitations if I knew I would not enjoy them and/or get overloaded. By stopping pressurising myself to "act normal" or "fit in" I became more relaxed and over the past few years have become friendly with most of the women where I work. I'm open with them about how things affect me, and surprisingly, some of them who aren't autistic have shared with me how they get anxious in certain situations, and what they find difficult to deal with. Remember that everyone has challenges in life and we are all entitled to a little empathy from others.

I have also learned to articulate how things affect me - to my partner, my colleagues, and to management at work, which improves relationships and has enabled my work environment to be changed to suit me better. I have often related back to assertiveness training I did years ago, which can help with thinking about how to request support or explain how things are negatively impacting me, so if you have never participated in assertiveness training it might be useful to look into whether this is available in your workplace or if you could do it online.

Good luck with your journey. As I read in a book recently, "we are all the same in different ways'