I don't have any autistic friends

Hi KL, nice to meet you.

I am new here as well and do not have autistic friends either. Even if, I have to say, thinking about whoever has been close to me in the past, I believe now they also were ND for many reasons. I do not have many friends in general anyway, I moved ten years ago to Scotland and I managed to meet a couple of people I meet maybe once every 3 months and that's it.

I have a partner, who believes to be NT, but I am pretty sure he is not (this is a discussion for another post). Anyway, I am here because I also would love to make friends here, so happy to chat!

I love movies, tv-shows, documentaries. (favourite tv-show at the moment is "Severance"). I love cats, but I do not have any atm, unfortunately.

I love dancing, music in general, spend too much time on social medias (Instagram specifically) and love being outdoor in the nature, especially with animals, as this is the most soothing experience for me.

I have a special interest for languages and accents. Also play videogames.

I relate a lot to your experience. All parents in the Kita are in one or few cliques. Only I don’t belong anywhere. They sit chat laugh and I’m lost. 

Hows your sleep pattern? 

Hi Lotus, I have plenty of friends I could spend time with, but I may not have explained my thoughts well. Even though I have many friends, there are times when I prefer to be alone. I genuinely enjoy solitude. It’s been about 3 to 4 months since I’ve seen most of my friends, and honestly, I don’t mind at all. Not sure if I’m still on the spectrum.

Hi Sherry and welcome.

Just wanted to say, I believed I was "just a normal person" too, until I did the AQ50 test online and scored 42 out of 50 and realised I was a "normal person" who just happened to be on the autism spectrum. And If you have an autistic family member, you have a higher chance of being on the spectrum yourself, as a genetic link has been proven.

I would be interested to know your AQ score if you're happy to take the test, as I am keen to know if there really are allistic (non autistic) people who aren't bothered about having friends. I've always believed that it was only autistic people who felt like that, because not having friends is seen as one of the main traits of autism. Maybe you are an exception to the rule though?

I loved chat rooms back in the early 2000s, I made loads of friends on there, some I'm still in touch with now. I don't like what the internet's turned into now though.

I have a daughter and I've tried to break into the mum's group but I was unsuccessful. They seem to have a secret body language code where the recognise each other and sense those who don't have it. The other parent's are nice but I'm miles away from being in the clique. The school run is 100% the worst part of parenting, if I had the money I would employ someone to do it for me!

Hi, I’m not on the spectrum, but I’m here for a family member. Just wanted to assure you that I don’t have many friends either! I actually enjoy my solitude. Don’t feel like the world ends if you don’t have friends; I find more peace in my own company, doing art, than I would with a thousand friends. I’m just a normal person, but let me tell you, many people can be toxic, so don’t stress. Find something you love to do in your free time. Art is incredibly helpful—painting is relaxing and enjoyable.

I use instagram and although it’s too much, I like it because the algorithm sends me posts which I like - science, technology, language related posts, space etc. so I like sitting there and reading or watching it. I also love Videos from production processes. I have fun there and a friend who I hang out with sometimes. But otherwise I don’t care about social media and trends there,  don’t care about showing myself in a way that I seem cool to NTs etc. I have few autistic online friends, met in forums, but in real life I have no friends. I have one friend abroad, she is my long term friend for nearly 2 decades, she is not autistic, but we used to get on really well in the past. Now it’s kind of toxic and idk hard to explain. I have my husband and daughter and also have absolutely 0 friends where we are living. I go out to the playground with my daughter and feel like a total outcast among other parents who sit, chat, laugh etc, but I can’t. Sometimes I get weird stares from other parents or even kids when I sit and stim and it reminds me of those times when I was bullied as a kid. I get anxious about going to the playground but I do it for my daughter. I would like to get some help in social interactions but I’m not sure if I ever get it. 

My 5-year-old nephew, who is on the autism spectrum, has been struggling with severe sleep issues. Nights are difficult for him—he often lies awake for hours, restless and overwhelmed by the world around him. It’s heartbreaking to see him exhausted yet unable to find peace.

I wanted to do something, anything, to help. I started researching ways to create a calming environment, and that’s when I discovered the power of ASMR and soft, soothing visuals. Since I’ve always loved watercolor painting, I decided to combine the two and create something gentle and peaceful. I began making ASMR watercolor videos, hoping they could bring him a sense of calm.

To my surprise, it worked—at least a little. He started watching the videos before bed, and while it hasn’t completely solved his sleep problems, it helps him relax. That small improvement means the world to me. It made me realize that if these videos could bring even a little relief to him, maybe they could help others too.

That’s why I created my ASMR watercolor channel. My main goal is to provide a calming and supportive space, especially for people with special needs, including those on the spectrum. This mission is very important to me, and I truly want my videos to be as helpful as possible.

I really need to know if these videos are actually helpful for autistic individuals. Please check them out through this link: https://youtube.com/@whisperingpallette?si=DeTVuOtkB6ehrHvt and let me know what I can do to improve them to better support people on the spectrum. Your feedback would mean so much to me!

I relate to what you're saying. I don't really have any autistic friends. My best friend and husband are NT and are amazing people, I have some friends who consider themselves NT but I think they are NDs in denial :-D 

I tried social media but found it extremely toxic, unless you agree with the majority you're subject to hate and abuse, and this includes autistic people, not just neurotypicals. I won't use it again.

It's very difficult to meet likeminded people, I've found, even in the neurodiverse world. It only takes one person to hurt me before I back off and lose all confidence. I feel it's about finding things in common regardless if they're autistic or not, but being friends with neurotypical people does mean both sides have to adapt. I won't change for someone, but I'm happy to adapt to avoid misunderstandings as long as they are too. 

I also feel there's a generation gap. Young people seem to be more comfortable with their neurodiverse identities than me, a 40 year old who's only just come to terms with it. I think it's great more people are talking about it now, but I have found some people talk about it a lot, and I don't just want to talk to about autism with autistic people, yet it seems to be the easiest topic because I can't relate to what some of the young people are into these days.

Anyway, I hope you find people you connect with on here.

Hi :)

I'm autistic too, and I sympathise entirely- I've encountered so many people over the years who wanted to hurt me that sometimes I periodically gave up and stopped talking to everyone. 

I'm not good at meeting new people at all, despite trying really hard. Currently I have just 4 friends, all of the opposite gender, but only 2 really close ones. One of them is possibly autistic (though never told me if she is), and the other is most certainly not. 

Let me know if I can help with anything :)

Thanks Bunny, now I just have to work out what it all means

You can view someone's profile by clicking on their name.

People have a profile other can read, where and how does one access it? I've tried hovering over names and avatars and nothing much happens, just a few of the other conversations that person has commented on.

I did used to rewatch a lot of my favourite shows/films when I was a young adult, but back then it was easier - more time, less new things to watch. Nowadays it's the reverse! If I rewatch something it will be because it was exceptionally good. I've been thinking of rewatching Chernobyl for instance.

Being a software developer is what I'm best at I suppose, but it's only as hard as you make it. It just requires a mindset for wanting to understand how things work and solving problems, which in a way isn't totally unlike what you do as a nurse. Slightly similar, I once many years ago helped with first aid at events for the Red Cross, partly to teach myself some sorely needed social skills and get me out in the world, but I also found the act of learning first aid quite interesting, it was a kind of problem solving trying to work out what was wrong with someone and how would you go about helping make it better.

Making music sounds fun. I used to be able to play the piano, again something I just don't have the time for anymore. My son once showed me a website called Bandlab (I think) where he just played around and made his own song. It was layed out with different tracks where you put different instruments like drum beats, bass, samples etc and you could sort out the timings of it all. Maybe something you might be interested in.

Oh! Thanks for your reply. YES exactly! COVID is totally to blame for this whole mess I feel. I struggled a lot in life since school but when my friend died from COVID, it tore up my friendship network and affected me and my fiancé (not that I have that many friends anyway =(  ) I also don't feel shy/awkward when I am working too. I have done many jobs in my life but all of them were highly stressful and ultimately ended in me having a mental breakdown. I was off work for 10 years cos I couldn't find my place in the working world, but thankfully I found ONE thing I'm good at; being a self-employed delivery driver with 0 hour contract. I actually love doing it too cos I love driving =) 

What genre or consoles of video games do you like please?

I managed to get my highest ever score 2 days ago at bowling: I got 200 ^_^ I was well happy!

Rollerblading? Wow that's cool. I am not good on my feet and would probably be hanging onto the railing for my life lol.

I did a 2 year course in 3D modelling and animation so I know a little bit about how to make 3D models at least. I'm so-so at drawing manga characters but not great at proportions.

What types of art do you draw? =)

Hi glow stick I am the same way with meeting new people I'm really shy/social anxiety. And I feel that has gotten worse since COVID. The only time I don't seem to feel that social anxiety is when I am working, I guess because there is nurse/professional me that has no expectations of making friends and it's easier to not say or do something "awkward" when I'm on work mode. But otherwise I really am very anxious being out of my comfort zone of doing anything new. I love video games and I haven't bowled in a while but always found it to be fun. I like being active like rollerblading and at least that's something I don't mind doing by myself at all. I love art and music too I have a lot of hobbies and have a lot of fun when I'm by myself...I guess I just sortve crave to be more like, everyone else...but I'm in therapy for that LOL

Hello there. I am very new to this service. I am very sorry you had a bad time on social media. I have a fiancé but have the same issue as you. I am looking to make some new friends and hopefully to share them with my fiancé also ^_^

I'm quite shy to meeting new people and although I'm always going out and about, I'm not very good at talking to new people in public, so I find it easier to message people online. I just hope the person on the other end is the person they say they are cos I've been messed about a lot in the past. 

Just trying to find GOOD friends and no messing about really! lol.

I hope I can get to know you better.

Are you into video games, anime, any hobbies like bowling?

Okay cool thank for for the advice I am still figuring out how to do things on here. I don't know how to add friends, but I am going to trye "the walking dead" into search 

Hooray I was really hoping I would find another TWD fan!!!! I watched the original and fear the walking dead, and now I'm on "the ones who live" but only got a few episodes in. I like to binge watch them with my husband cause he also is a fan but he works more than I do and I admit that I made a new Netflix profile so I could watch them by myself and then we can still go back to his profile where we left off...so I see a lot of episodes more than once cause I rewatch them with him. I felt bad when I started doing that , but when I told him he said it's ok lol. Who is your favorite character? I have a few . Have you played the vid on game ?