Lonely

I can relate

I really wish I had some friends 1 would be enough lol but in the real world I'm so sad and struggle mentally people don't want to be around me

I understand that but it's still a lonely place to be

I'm lucky to have some lovely friends here :) the people in this community are amazing and I'm really grateful to know them all

For years the work I have done is from home. My husband also has many autistic traits but like your partner hasn’t got a diagnosis. I don’t think my husband would quite meet the threshold for a diagnosis to be honest. Both of our children have a diagnosis of autism. 
My eldest made some friends at Uni - and met his girlfriend there too. But my youngest dropped out of college and he doesn’t have any friends (but really would like some). 
With us it’s always that contradictory thing - on one level we want friends and on another we don’t. For example - I HATE anyone coming to our house. And because of what’s happened over the last few years with the pandemic I think we’ve got even more isolated and prone to avoiding contact with people. My husband goes to work and deals with a lot of people through his job - but if anything I think that’s put him off people even more! 

Hello, 

I can relate in finding it difficult to make and maintain friendships, i don't have much struggle talking to people face to face or over the internet i find it more difficult finding people to engage conversation with as i am outside of normal social settings, ie i don't drink alcohol well so i don't go to pubs or clubs to meet people as much but they have now opened a disability friendly club venue for adults with disabilities in my area including ASD.

I dropped out of secondary school and i have been moving around the country working and seeing family i have met great people along the way and would suggest travelling to people if they can and they can make arrangements they are comfortable with.

Most people are really friendly and accepting of any disabilities or ailments somebody has.

I'd be more then happy to find friends online and converse with them on and off of the forums if its allowed.

I know theres a load of new social groups on facebook and online if you type in social group and your area in the search bar on facebook there usually comes up with a list of groups for people to join, sometimes it can be difficult to find friends in the groups or find a topic to speak about that everybody is agreeing on.

if anyone has any luck or would like advice or to speak about how they are finding life / their social group or support network i would be more then happy too. 

I have Level 2 counselling skills and im currently doing Level 2 in autism awareness i have a few other certificates and diplomas online i mainly just use them to be a better person in the community.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post

I hope you have a great day 

Kind Regards 

Hey thanks for your reply, yeah my boyfriend is understanding but i kinda think he may be autistic himself but he hasnt got a diagnosis.

I am the same also as yourself i want friends but i dont want the hassle or awkwardness of conversation.

I dont work i wouldn't even no where to begin with work i would struggle so bad =/ 

Definitely can relate. Probably everyone on here can relate to this a bit I imagine. It’s great that you have your boyfriend though. Is he understanding? And does he have any friends that you get along with? I definitely don’t feel comfortable to people I’m not really close to. When I do my husband always says that an outsider would never know - because I do a reasonable job of hiding how stressful I find it. But after any conversation with other people I just feel exhausted and stressed. Because of this I don’t really have any friends that I regularly see because I just don’t enjoy it, and gradually people I knew at college have just drifted away to their own lives. Sometimes I think ‘would I like to have friends?’ - but deep down I just don’t want the stress of it. Do you go to work? And if so do you meet people there?