What autisticelders said.
I myself have no particular desire to go out and make friends. I am close to a few people. Virtually everywhere I've worked over the years, I have made at least one friend with whom I'm still in touch today. But I have no wish to have 'mates' or be part of a crowd or a group.
Sometimes I've read the forum and thought I must be 'weird' because so may autistic people do feel lonely and have that yearning to be socially successful. But I'm one autistic person. We're all different. I'm also aware that it's a lot easier for me. I'm 59, and there is no longer any social pressure on me to 'conform'. It's a lot tougher for younger people.
My neurotypical friends are people I've just happened upon in my life, who like me because of who I am, and not because of any effort I might have been trying to make to appear to be socially skilled. Some of them were surprised to hear that I am autistic. Others wonder how it took me so long to work it out!
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#ActuallyAutistic
Born 1964. Diagnosed 2023.
Oxbridge dropout. Sober since 1993.
There is a God.