Stress over friends party.

And he got away with that? 

I was never in the habit of visiting anyone for less than 50 minutes. At a party, I would aim to stay for around 55 minutes to 110 minutes, depending on the party’s location and size. In some ways, the bigger the better as you can just melt away, people don’t notice.

I dislike sit-down parties, so in that respect I’m like your grandpa. I used to always be told to ‘sit down!. I can still hear my mother’s voice ringing in my ears but there were other voices too.

Somehow this reminded me that my grandpa  would only visit people and family for 20'.

Often without sitting down.

I only got the idea from reading your post! It's a group effort to figure out social situations!

That could be a better idea. 

Oh, another idea is arriving early when it's quiet, before people have had too much to drink. You could even ask the host if you can do anything, and might end up with a job, like showing people where to put their coats (though that depends if it's cooled down where you are by then), or serving drinks or snacks. And if you are early, sometimes people come over to speak to you instead of trying to go over to them (I find that harder so it depends on what your difficulties are!). And then leave early too as ArchaeC says when you've had enough, as after all, you were there early. 

I'm not good at parties though, but I hope you do well and manage it!

I don’t go to parties but I have been to a few in the past. They caused me great anxiety, as they would for many autistic people.

One tip is to arrive late and leave early. You could slip out of the room without mentioning to anyone that you’re leaving, as if you are going to the loo or to get a drink, and leave before the party is over. If it’s a fairly large party, people won’t notice, they will just remember you were present.

If it’s a small party, it’s still acceptable to leave early and if necessary you can say something appropriate to excuse yourself.  E.g., you are tired/you’ve had a lot on/you have an early start in the morning etc. 

Hello Twilightmirror.

This sounds a very reasonable thing to be stressed over, there can be many reasons why something like this might create anxiety and worry - I have been on this earth for many years, but still, I am prone to worrying about parties.

While I am sure that our community will have a lot of useful feedback, I wonder if our NAS resources relating to to anxiety and socializing may be of use:

Anxiety

Socialising and relationships

I hope that when the time arrives, you are able to enjoy the party - you deserve to feel calm and safe.

Thanks - Zac Mod.

Maybe ask if there is a quiet space you can go to, if it gets overwhelming

take fidgets and headphones in case you need to simulate yourself and in case of loud noise