New here, help needed.

Hello,

I’m really sorry that you feel isolated. Your friends do exist, but you’ve just got to find them.  My 21 year old son is the same so I know just how difficult that is. 

1. Do you have a welcoming church nearby? We found a very modern church in our next door town which has a cafe run by volunteers and does all sorts of charity work and groups that people can get involved with. 

2. You could volunteer at a charity to meet kindly others. I used to volunteer for Mencap. They ran a different social group each day for people with mental disabilities, coffee mornings, art clubs, etc and they were always looking for and were so grateful for volunteer help running it. The other volunteers I met were all lovely as were the people attending the clubs so it was a nice regular little social event in my week. It’s also a very understanding and accepting place.

In our area (Herts, Beds,Cambs) there’s an organisation that advertises volunteer roles and is really excellent for finding adverts from charities or volunteer initiatives looking for help. It’s called communities1st.org.uk  they send out regular newsletters with all sorts of different volunteer roles advertised. There might be something similar in your area.

3. If you are into gardening, there are always lots of volunteering opportunities in community or charity gardens so that might be worth searching.

My brother in law volunteers one evening a week for his local homeless shelter and enjoys it very much. Again I think it is a very understanding and welcoming environment.  Also, if you meet people whilst doing work, it maybe takes away some of the social pressures.

4. Have a look to see if there are any “games clubs” in your area. There are board games cafes starting up in various towns. Geek Retreat is one such outfit with new cafes starting in different areas. They run different regular board or card games evenings as well as just being places you can drop in to. I’ve read reviews from people saying that they had never felt that they fitted in anywhere socially until they found the club. It wasn’t a Geek Retreat, but we searched “board games cafe” and found a fantastic similar place near us which my son has been to a few times. They aim make people welcome, particularly if they turn up on their own.

5. Have a look at Meetup. It’s a website for people to find like minded groups in their area. I note that there is an online autistic group coming up in April for newly diagnosed autistic people to meet others and chat/learn about life on the spectrum.  There might also be face to face groups in your area

https://www.meetup.com/neurodivers-ole/events/292471591

Or as someone else has said, chat to others on this group. I’m not very techie but my son has a little group of friends that he met online and are a bit of a lifeline for him.  I’ll ask him how he found them in case you could do similar.

If I can think of anything else, I will post again, but do know that your friends exist and you will find them.

Hello,

I’m really sorry that you feel isolated. Your friends do exist, but you’ve just got to find them.  My 21 year old son is the same so I know just how difficult that is. 

1. Do you have a welcoming church nearby? We found a very modern church in our next door town which has a cafe run by volunteers and does all sorts of charity work and groups that people can get involved with. 

2. You could volunteer at a charity to meet kindly others. I used to volunteer for Mencap. They ran a different social group each day for people with mental disabilities, coffee mornings, art clubs, etc and they were always looking for and were so grateful for volunteer help running it. The other volunteers I met were all lovely as were the people attending the clubs so it was a nice regular little social event in my week. It’s also a very understanding and accepting place.

In our area (Herts, Beds,Cambs) there’s an organisation that advertises volunteer roles and is really excellent for finding adverts from charities or volunteer initiatives looking for help. It’s called communities1st.org.uk  they send out regular newsletters with all sorts of different volunteer roles advertised. There might be something similar in your area.

3. If you are into gardening, there are always lots of volunteering opportunities in community or charity gardens so that might be worth searching.

My brother in law volunteers one evening a week for his local homeless shelter and enjoys it very much. Again I think it is a very understanding and welcoming environment.  Also, if you meet people whilst doing work, it maybe takes away some of the social pressures.

4. Have a look to see if there are any “games clubs” in your area. There are board games cafes starting up in various towns. Geek Retreat is one such outfit with new cafes starting in different areas. They run different regular board or card games evenings as well as just being places you can drop in to. I’ve read reviews from people saying that they had never felt that they fitted in anywhere socially until they found the club. It wasn’t a Geek Retreat, but we searched “board games cafe” and found a fantastic similar place near us which my son has been to a few times. They aim make people welcome, particularly if they turn up on their own.

5. Have a look at Meetup. It’s a website for people to find like minded groups in their area. I note that there is an online autistic group coming up in April for newly diagnosed autistic people to meet others and chat/learn about life on the spectrum.  There might also be face to face groups in your area

https://www.meetup.com/neurodivers-ole/events/292471591

Or as someone else has said, chat to others on this group. I’m not very techie but my son has a little group of friends that he met online and are a bit of a lifeline for him.  I’ll ask him how he found them in case you could do similar.

If I can think of anything else, I will post again, but do know that your friends exist and you will find them.