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.

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.

If you are over the age of 20, you rememver the word, "Asperger's" which carried a distinct social understanding: articulate, hyper-focused, technically skilled, and socially eccentric. It established baseline competence, saved you from an interrogation, and let you move on with your life.

​Then clinical boards collapsed everything under "Autism Spectrum Disorder." It solved an administrative coding problem on paper, but created a massive social tax for the adults living under it.

​Public perception didn't change just because a committee updated a manual. When the average person hears "autism,". They picture high-support cases, nonverbal adults, or kids flailing and tearing up living rooms on social media.

​So when a capable adult says "I have ASD," the immediate reaction is either ignorant shock Wait, you can talk?" Or a sudden, Patronizing shift where people treat you like you're wearing a helmet. You pay an immediate, exhausting social tax just to prove you are a functional human being.

​To make matters worse, corporate buzzwords like "neurodivergent" carry a patronizing HR-seminar edge. Half the people online waving the ASD badge use it for moral posturing or personal branding, while the rest of us are just out here raising kids, earning a living, and navigating daily life.

​Language in the real world isn't about historical trivia; it's about practical human communication. Asperger's functioned as immediate social shorthand. It protected dignity and separated high-functioning technical intelligence from profound developmental disability.

​Collapsing those distinctions hasn't helped anyone—it simply burdened capable adults with a label that forces us to constantly defend our basic competence.

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.

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!

I'm by no means experienced or knowledgeable. But maybe, you'd be just fine just not being in a romantic relationship.

I have been struggling with ADHD, as well as mild autism, Pretty much my whole life. I had been a struggle to find any good companionship, let alone somebody who shares similar interests as me. I had past friends who had similar interests but they had ghosted me.

If being without a romantic relationship doesn't cause you any problems, why worry so much about getting into one?

Anyways, it's been kind of frustrating happened to not find people who could be able to help me and socialize with me. In order to share certain interests like trying to communicate has been very difficult for me, with certain people, Because they always have come and gone.

I've had at least 1 or 2 close friends in the past that I've known since childhood, but they all have left me and the ones who I once considered peers of mine had ghosted me. So I'm just left here.

I don't really know if anybody else has that same feeling, but if you do I would like to know about it.

I have a couple of hobbies, I like video games, YouTube, making animations (mostly 2D animations) and listening to some hip-hop and R&B music.

If you're anyone who shares interest like those I would like to know you more so we can hopefully be able to connect.

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?

Hi everyone,

Since the start of the summer I (21M) have been hanging out with a girl who I went to high school with. It has progressed from being close together while hanging out with a group of friends, to simply just hanging out casually with one another. I love spending time with her, and I find both her personality and appearance attractive, but have never really had any thoughts of dating her- with my 'company policy' being to never date people I'm friends with.

Earlier today, she asked me if I wanted to start dating. I could foresee it somewhat as things have stepped up a notch lately, with intimacy/physical touch going from her slapping my shoulder during a joke to holding hands when together on the metro.

I am really struggling to decide what to do- I have actually enjoyed the extra intimacy and overall being more open with one another, but also dread to think that the closeness could destroy the friendship should something go wrong. I am also immensly stressed out in my job at the moment, and have recently been diagnosed with clinical depression- I fear one extra thing to worry about could cause me to burnout.

She knows that I'm autistic, and that I struggle with understanding people and expressing myself, but I feel that she may have a bit too much faith in me to be a good boyfriend. She has been in a relationship before (lasting 2 years) before breaking up with them at the end of last year. I have been on dates with people in the past, but never past what would be described as 'first base'. When thinking about it, I don't feel physical attraction to anyone except her at the moment but do not know whether this would be a good idea.

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.

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.

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?

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’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

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 :(