BlueFireBird wrote:
In my life my parents are the people I have most contact with. I know this is not a healthy thing when you 36 years old. When I think that way I am comparing myself with others (' NT' people who seem to have a ' normal' life with a partner, kids and lots of friends.
As I know that ' normal' social contact costs too much energy, I can enjoy online friendship even more. Does that sounds familliar?
DivaD wrote:
i know what you mean. i'm 31 and still having to live at home with my parents

it's not good for me i know. but the one time i did try and live by myself i did not cope at all and was always stressed out and not eating and coming back to my parents all the time! but still i am always comparing myself to NTs, especially my brother with his job and his girlfriend and their baby, it just makes me feel like a failure
DivaD, I can recognize the feeling you have being a failure when you compare yourself to your brother, his job, his girlfriend and their baby. In order to feel ourselves better, we must not forget that even if you feel like being a failure, this not means you are a failure yourself!!
We are just as much worth as anyone else! I know how easy this is said. The years between 20-40's as most people start a family might be the darkest years for those who will not be able to get themselves into the 'standard' way of life.
DivaD wrote:
Yes real-life social contact is very difficult and takes a lot of energy, although i do actually find it very rewarding on the rare occasion i have enough energy for it

unfortunately i do find online contact still takes a lot of energy. writing to friends takes time and commitment, and it involves lots of words and communication (often a difficult thing for aspies, me especially), and means a lot of time at the computer, i find it hard to sit still and concentrate! so the different ways of communicating have different problems and different rewards. still i have made a lot more friends since i got the internet so it has proved to be a good thing, and worth the time and commitment in writing to people.
You are absolutely right in telling how rewarding real life social contact can be despite the lack of energy it costs you!

In daily life the moments of good real life contact give me a boost of self confidence what not very many other things can bring me

. Indeed the different ways of communicating each have their own problems and different rewards. In my humble opinion The Internet and the WWW were presents of God in order to bring people together all over the world just like the WrongPlanet Forum. I can be so happy thinking about the many many things I read on this forums which bring me so much recognision!!