Should I bring up something like autism to a boy?

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ASDABCs
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25 Sep 2017, 2:18 pm

I'm in college. I'm having trouble making friends, but I've been texting with this boy. I think he knows something's weird about me. I've:

1.) Gone down to hang out with his friends and sat on a chair really far away from them until he invited me to sit closer.

2.) Said hi to him and his friends but never went over to have a conversation.

3.) Got nervous while walking behind them because I wasn't sure whether or not to pass them, or if it was normal to pass them as they were walking slowly.

4.) Freaked out about whether to say hi to him/his friend because I had already said hi once that day and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to do it again. (This has happened a few times.)

5.) Freaked out because he was with someone else and I wasn't sure whether I should say hi to them too.

This happened today actually. There he was, sitting with someone else. She saw me, I wasn't sure what to do because I couldn't tell it was him at first, he was facing away from me, and was with someone else. So I panicked and walked by him, twice. I could tell he looked at me the first time but I had my headphones in and I wasn't looking at him so I guess he figured he wouldn't say hi.

He's really smart and really sweet and I want to think I haven't blown my chances of making friends with him, but he must think I'm like super jealous or stuck up, or sending him mixed messages and in reality I just can't talk to people.

I've been texting him for almost a week and I want to think of a low-grade, nonthreatening way to say, "I'm not sending you mixed messages, I'm just a little awkward."

Any ideas?



kraftiekortie
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25 Sep 2017, 8:44 pm

How "close" are you during this "texting" relationship? Are you "friends?" Or something more?

In most cases, I would just continue the texting like normal---unless he asks a question. Maybe he didn't even notice you.



ASDABCs
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26 Sep 2017, 5:57 pm

I kind of like him as something more, but to be honest, I'm so wanting for friends that I might just want to be friends with him.

I feel like people are often curious about me, why did you smile, why are you so blunt, why aren't you saying hi, etc, and instead of just asking, so I can tell them I'm not crazy or rude or aloof but just ASD, they back away and never give me the chance to connect. I'm really lonely right now. I know I offended a friend of a prospective friend with my bluntness, and I just wish I could say, "Hey everyone, I'm a good and nice person, but I just have high-functioning autism and I can be a little confusing", and they'd be like, "Oh, thanks for telling me and clearing all this up."

But instead, the reaction is like, "Why are you telling me you have this mental illness? TMI, man!"

I don't know why we're expected to "hide" our Autism so completely, when that's never really possible. If you see me in just a few contexts, you'll realize something's up. And I wish I could just come out completely and say, "I have Autism", instead of them thinking that I'm rude or just don't care and never giving me a chance to explain.



RetroGamer87
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01 Oct 2017, 7:19 am

Tell him. It wouldn't bother me if I was him.


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