Published on 12, July, 2020
I am an 18 year old boy with autism and ever since I have left high school I haven't had a friend that lives close to me, can I have some advice on how to change that?
I shoot the breeze with people that i know already have something in common with me. Bumper stickers on cars as we load groceries, pins on baristas aprons that resonate with me, people in the same book genre section in the library, etc. And then I say something like "I don't know about you, but making friends as adults is weird. I'd love to maybe go on a walk or get coffee with you sometime. What do you think?". So far, I've done this roughly five times and it's been a success each time. We meet up and go from there. Two of them didn't make it past the first friend date, but I'm friends now with three people. And truth is, if someone says no, that's okay too. I don't really take it personally. The key for me though is to be genuine and sincere.
Oh! That is pretty brave. I’m kinda socially anxious myself as well. I game online mainly.