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Loneliness

Rach.Mo

I’m new to the forum. I’m fairly newly diagnosed as autistic. I am feeling really lonely at the moment. I was wondering if anyone else feels this way as although my understanding is that autistic people often like their own company I don’t and I crave friendships but I seem to have difficulty making and maintaining them. I have been wondering about possibly trying to access an autism support group to try and make some links with other people and wondered if others have tried these and how they have found them. 

  • Hello Rach, this is a common topic of discussion on here and you are certainly not alone in feeling this way.

    There are a few books on the subject that can make for interesting reading:

    An Aspie's Guide to Making and Keeping Friends - Attwood, Tony, Evans, Craig R., Lesko, Anita (2015)
    eISBN 9781784501259

    Friendships The Aspie Way - Wendy Lawson (2006)
    ISBN-10: 1 84310 427 X

    Social Skills for Teenagers and Adults with Asperger Syndrome - A Practical Guide to Day-to-day Life - Nancy J., Ph.D. Patrick (2008)
    ISBN 9781843108764

    Social Skills Groups for Children And Adolescents With Asperger's Syndrome - A Step-by-step Program - Kim Kiker Painter (2008)
    ISBN 1843108216

    Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships Decoding Social Mysteries Through the Unique Perspectives of Autism - Grandin, Temple, Barron, Sean (2017)
    ISBN 9781941765388

    This forum is a great place to chat, ask questions and debate things with little expectation from others, so it can be great when your energy is low and you still need a bit of contact.

    Rach.Mo said:
    I crave friendships but I seem to have difficulty making and maintaining them.

    What do you see as the reason these relationships don't last?

    For many of us it is because we think we do not "fit in" well enough to be expected while others feel that we expect others to change the way they behave to accommodate our needs and others have said they make too many mess-ups socially and end up excluded.

    As we get older it also gets harder to make friends than back in school times but it is possible if hard work. 

    Another great thing for making friends is to have a shared interest - what are your special interests? Can these be used to get you in touch with like minded people?