Hey y’all,

I’m a 19 year old psychology student in college (with the goal of becoming a therapist) and have been diagnosed last summer with autism (low support needs).

I think the fact that so many of my peers go to parties, drink and have fun, while it is too overstimulating for me, feels really bad. I can’t go to a party without earplugs, beer tastes awful to me (and coffee as well - way too intense for my taste), as soon as there’s blood in a movie I feel unconformable, and it just feels that everyone is able to do thing easily which for me are a real struggle.

I’m in a relationship, and my gf seems to be able to do all these things easier than me. Asides from the fact that she also has better grades than me, I just feel resentment and sadness that people around me seem to better than me in so many aspects. Of course we should focus on our strengths, and that we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others. But in the end I still feel resentment that people around me are just able to do so many more things than me, and that things considered normal in our society are a struggle, if not outright impossible, for autistic people.

So I’d love some input on how y’all cope with the reality of not being able to participate in social life to the same extent as other people.

Thanks!

  • DigitalprimateEnglish
    9•8 months ago

    This is some very good advice. My eldest son is on the spectrum (also low needs now, but was moderate for a while), and he has found D&D groups to be just stimulating enough. Just as an example.

    Tech can be your friend here. You can search for people with similar interests. For example, here in NL there’s an app for people who want to go on a walk (obviously, safety first of course). The point being use tech to help you discover stuff you like then find other people who are into the same thing.