Published on 12, July, 2020
Are there any other people on this forum with Asperger's who literally have no friends at this point in time, and that includes being in a relationship?
I have had friends before, but not since I was 11 years old, and the friendships I had as a child usually broke down after only a few weeks. I have a history of struggling to maintain friendships, although they were enjoyable while they lasted, but once I started secondary school, making friends became completely insurmountable. I became a loner, the kid no-one talked to, and I amused myself. Not that I really minded this at the time, because I had my own interests to fall back on, and I soon came to the conclusion that small talk was too difficult, pointless, and often boring. Why bother with something that is so difficult and made me feel so stupid and tense?
However recently I have started to question whether or not I should try and make friends again. I do like company, and I don't want to spend my life alone. I want to have a soul-mate, someone I can enjoy life with, and go places with. However I need a lot of time alone as well - this is my conundrum.
Is it normal within the world of AS not to have any friends at all? At school I was excluded from friendship groups because I did not speak enough, or was too clingy!. I tried my hardest to fit in; I took on the quiet 'good girl' persona, but this did not work, so I became troublesome and annoyed people to get some social feedback. Obviously this just meant that I was singled out as weird and strange, but no one told me how to navigate the social world (I was not diagnosed until I was 21).
Although I was lucky in the sense I was not overtly bullied (I was just a loner and removed myself from the crowd), the experience of being alone while other girls chatted and laughed together has left me with an inferiority complex. I often feel diminutive both literally (I am very small anyway) and figuratively; there is a feeling that I am diseased, dirty, and completely unlikeable. Most of the time these feelings are repressed, but theu come to the surface from time to time - a legacy of social exclusion.
Am I the only one who has not had a 'friend' since childhood, if at all?
Hello,
I just found this as I was Googling 'Autistic adult no friends' I was diagnosed one year ago (I'm forty this year) The few friends I had and saw very infrequently don't want to see me anymore. My family don't want to know. I am married and my only friend is my Husband. If it wasn't for him I would be completely alone. I do worry about being so alone. I don't want to turn strange! I don't really want to confide in people or attend social events but I do feel envious of their relationships. I am very conflicted!
I have lost count of the times I've been told I'm rude. I am actually an incredibly polite person. It's something to do with lack of small talk and eye contact. I find being around NT's exhausting. Keeping up the charade is an ordeal. In the past year I've learned not to tell people that I am autistic. I struggle to hold down jobs. I have one after another each for a few weeks or months so I don't make friends there either.