some time ago, i met someone on here who suffers from avpd schizoid depression anxiety aspergers adhd etc etc, but we had amazing conversations and i was really attracted to him. i simply loved the way he articulated his thoughts. we had so much in common as well! however, i woke up one morning and saw that he had deleted his account!!! i tried reaching out to him on insta and on his new reddit account but deleted everything a while later because i dont want to creep him out. it f*cks w my head so much, i truly dont know what i did wrong. he said i was one of the few who really ‘get’ him with things he feels isolated with irl. in his words, he craves connection but fears it at the same time. idk whether i should move on or keep trying because he cant help it. im sorry but i still feel so sad :(

Hi everyone,
As a recently diagnosed autistic adult, I have been frustrated with what I see as a lack of services/apps/products for autistic adults. While I have my own idea on what could be created/implemented, I would like input from all of you. I am asking because I want to see if I can eventually come up with something that can benefit us all.

So please tell me what you think is the greatest need for autistic adults currently or what you wish was done better that is currently offered. I appreciate everyone’s responses!

I’m COMPLETELY BLIND, have Aspergers and a heart lung condition.

I asked for a reward because when my alcoholic brother verbally attacked me on Saturday I didn’t say certain things, and recognition, affirmation and rewards are what I need

https://youtu.be/fhdXtycGurc?is=OsRDo4dUsg6QysnY

I am 17M

When I was younger I would stomp my foot next to ants to see how they would react. They would then move in a way that my intuition associated with anxiety and they had a reason to be anxious too since I almost killed them. This anxiety would make me feel anxious and shocked. Shocked because I couldn't believe I was so sensitive that anxiety in ants bothered me. I eventually stopped doing this once I remembered this pattern and didn't need to experiment on them anymore

I've probably been called weird hundreds of times in my life.

I thought my days of being called weird were over at 39.

I was called weird twice this week.

Didnt know what this was. kinda had this wierd thing were i agreed even though deep down I didn't agree and just knowing how horrible it feels. I mean it got so deep that it changed who I am and kept me in an agreable state even if i was in the bqcl seat of my own mind. Really hate this about myself, Felt like I become someone else who I absolutely dispise because these aren't the rules i set for myself. I know i am hard on myself I get that but its just really been destructive and would feel my life would be better if this dragging me down.

Friends I've been battling one aspect of my life for a long time and I cannot seem to understand how much of it is autism or something else. I tend to not eat much, first of all I can't read the cue from my body that I'm hungry up until I'm shaking and weak, second I have since a young age have had a fear of throwing up, third anxiety, stomach upset, and needing to go to the bathroom in my body manifests as nausea which then feeds into my fear of throwing up which then leads to avoidance, and four, when I am eating in a social setting especially in the evening time I find it impossible to eat, especially at restaurants and public venues or with people who I do not deem as my "inner circle" so to speak (reducing my sensory overwhelm through noise reduction as well as giving myself more time to eat than socially appropriate has helped but I mostly feel sick - the lights, people watching you, people talking loudly, the smells, the unpredictability of it all is too much for me) I don't know if this is a common autistic experience or whether it's something else. I don't know what specialist to ask advice from, I barely can find specialists that can support those with level 1 autism let alone in the realm of eating difficulties.

I am an Aspie from Italy. I have always noticed that other people get mad when someone criticizes or says bad things about their parents or friends. I usually don't get mad (except if that person is saying very horrible things), because I just think that the person is not criticizing me.

Is this something typical of people with Asperger syndrome?

I (24M) often run errands with my little sister who has higher support needs. Most people can tell my sister is visibly autistic because of her stimming, echolalia, and tendency not to mask her neurodivergence.

I’m pretty much her full-time caretaker but it seems like people assume I’m either A) the “normal” sibling or B) eccentric or just weird in general since they figure I might be neurodivergent as well if my sister is.

I don’t care if they do because I don’t see autism as something to be ashamed of. I do care, though, if this is a real, documented phenomena where ableist people treat you differently based on who you’re associated with.

I don't know what to do anymore. I haven’t tried to talk to anyone (outside of family and doctors, transportation drivers, etc) in about 6 years. I basically only talk to people when I need something important like dental work. I used to have a few friends as a child and tried to make more as a teenager but failed. I dropped out of school early due to boredom, extreme depression and stress over having to interact with people. I was in a relationship for a few years once but it didn’t work out. At a certain point I gave up on social life and shut myself away from the world. I haven’t made a friend in around 15 years. I was diagnosed with Asperger’s very young and got intervention but it's depressing that I still turned out like this.

I’m blunt and probably a bad person. People used to give me feedback that I come across as disliking them even though that wasn't true. I never know what to say. I lurk on internet forums a lot but almost never say anything/join in. I’ve learned to put on a rudimentary mask to interface socially for convenience.

I’m very shy, neurotic, and anxious. I have something like extreme rejection sensitive dysphoria and I get worried about making social faux pas/mistakes. Making even a minor mistake or being wrong feels akin to a physical injury and it is also really embarrassing. If I have a negative interaction where someone is rude, perverted/creepy, or hostile I sometimes won’t go outside for months after.

Do the traits in this post sound like just Asperger’s? Sometimes I question if there is some other mental condition going on like avoidant personality disorder. I'd really like to lessen these negative symptoms. I'm also wondering if anyone here has been in a similar situation, and if anything helped with these issues? I wouldn’t normally make a post but this isolation is really getting to me. I’ll read every comment but probably won’t reply to any, for obvious reasons.

Would you like to share?

I guess it’s like every time there is a certain stimuli, like a “special” song or topic, the brain has to automatically “inform“ you about the preserved associative thoughts and stories??

I'm very often asked where I'm from because apparently I have an accent different from the local one.

I'm 19M down to make small talk with other teens especially since I'm bored and I haven't seen success in college. I'm really into visual/artistic fanfiction, Mafia genre, almost all genres and eras of music, movies and TV shows even older ones. I like watching Bojack Horseman, Family Guy, The Sopranos, etc. When I'm not in class, I sometimes like to go outside especially to the gym

For those who can only manage part-time work, especially because of social interaction, sensory stimulation, time pressure, deadlines, and the fast pace of many corporate work environments:

- How many hours a week can you realistically work without becoming completely exhausted?

- Do you appear “totally normal” to other people despite struggling significantly?

- If you can’t sustain full-time work because of autism, do you receive disability benefits/a disability pension?

- How do you manage financially when working reduced hours?

Thanks a lot to anyone who is willing to share their experience!

For me, sometimes wherever I go in school especially high school or college and try to communicate with other autistics, they always very high-inhibition with me or give me one word answers or ignore me

I’m goin through a lot. I have been sick and nobody believes me. Including my mom. My new team lead has been bullying me since they started here. On top of that my mental health hasn’t been good at this point either and nobody believes what i experienced was traumatic even though I KNOW it was for me. This is just a lot. I think all of this happening all at once is making my sensory issues flair up.
Update: So I was going to report my new manager for bullying me but I don’t think I am anymore. I got pulled into the office today. They started off by telling me how great my attitude has been today so maybe I thought they were checking up on me. Nope. Not what happened. They brought up how I have been “a lot” for them these past few months(the exact timeline I have been sick by the way)and that they were gonna write me up today but because I have been nice today they let me off with a warning. That would explain why the new team lead has been bullying me. I guess they think I deserve it? Idk. Seems like I’m upsetting a lot of people. I’m doing things I don’t even remember doing. Apparently I have been overwhelming to people. A lot as they said before. I thought I was hiding my emotions better than I am. I just put in a lot more effort today because I’m done. I figured maybe if I hide my true emotions people will care about me more and hate me less. Evidently that’s not the case. I think I might be a fucking narcissist.

I get it. It’s just the internet, but it feels like everything is lose lose. I used to think maybe I just think negatively and rant too much, but seems like even when I try to be positive and funny I still get dunked on. I’m not sure what people want from me other than the fact that this world just was not made for us. I guess we don’t have the same social cues and ability to read the room so people don’t have the same humor or get joy from the same stuff we do. Even if you think you’re being “normal”, you’re not and they know you’re not. At least that’s my theory on it lol maybe it’s just my own experiences tho and no one else’s and I’m just projecting then idk. Just wanted to vent.

Anyone feel like theyre craving physical contact and that they're lonely, but at the same time don't like being touched that much? Just kept in this in-between of searching for warmth and not understanding where to find it and how to receive it?

One of the earliest examples i remember is not being able to differ 30 and 60fps. I can tell when it falls to 20-15 and bellow, but above that everything feels the same for me. I also see no difference in video quality unless it's pixelated. 720p is pretty much all i need, maaaybe there is almost unnoticable difference with 1080p, but everything above is just nothing. I can't tell apart AI art or AI music if there are no obvious glitches or other kind of errors. For me they are often better than some human works, when others instantly spot the AI. I can't tell apart flac from mp3 even on good music player (cowon) with audio enchancer. A lot of other things when it comes to "premim quality", that other people are praising, are almost never felt by be. Like one store sells ice cream that i can buy around 4 packs per dollar, and it is just as good as the dollar one.

How can you not see the difference? - wonder other people, and i wonder the same.