Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi new to site and would like to connect with others in NI. Sat accidently beside another person with autism at a works "do" today, and it took a lot to get myself there..... what a difference, what a positive experience and I would appreciate meeting others if anyone feels the same it would be good to hear from you.
On a related note, I joined a Social Anxiety meet-up group in 2018 that I think in hindsight had a few people (myself included) who were autistic but just not yet fully sure about that. Or maybe knew but didn’t say. We sometimes met for tea/coffee or a group walk as well as the regular monthly meeting. The wee group sputtered out just as Covid hit and now it’s like it never existed. We’d all been too shy to exchange contact details - that figures! - so once the online platform (just a Twitter thing to advertise meeting) vanished, it was back to the void for each of us. It was sad to lose the tentative trust and mutually supportive connections between us all that had just gently started to flourish there. So I really appreciate you starting a thread like this one. Even if chat remains ‘only’ online (though who knows?), just that sense of local connection and solidarity is a helpful and special thing.
That sounds like a nice group. It’s a shame it stopped. I also have social anxiety so I don’t see people very often but I’m very chatty online. I’m still trying to figure out this forum though. It seems confusing compared to Facebook/Reddit etc.