Is there a place in the real world for someone like me?

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I guess the whole thing started this afternoon when I lost my cell phone on the way to the bank. I retraced my steps, asked everyone I could if they've seen it, etc. but still nothing.
Now when things like this happen, I get extremely anxious and my mind tends to wander off more so than usual.
I remembered my dad telling me that I have to grow up and live in the real world. But how can I be an adult when I can't even hold onto my own phone? What if because of my Asperger's that I am unable to "grow up"? Am I overreacting? Are the mistakes I'm doing just common ones, or stupid ones that "normal" people would never do? If I can't function like a normal adult then what will happen to me? Will I get left behind and end up in a mental home?

Calm down, everyone makes mistakes!

Hello square peg. Believe me, I can easily understand what you are saying because I get the same thing.
I seem entirely incapable of catching a bus or a train because I am always running late. Now I know that nt's run late often as well, but I do not know any nt's that have to plan to be at the bus stop 20 minutes ahead of time so that they have a chance of getting on that bus. Literally every time I want to go anywhere, I have to allow a lot more time than it should take to get there because I know that somewhere along the way I will miss something.
Most of the time if I am not going anywhere in particular, I simply get the next bus or train. but if I am going to be made late because of it, I feel an intense need to scream in frustration. I feel so angry at myself for being so stupid, and that no one else seems to have this much trouble with such an everyday task, how is it possible that I can find it so hard? I then begin to wonder what the point of even trying is and realise that its no wonder I can't keep a job for long if I cant even do a simple thing like get a bus to work. All stuff along those lines.

I am aware that this is unlikely to change your thoughts when the phone stuff is actually happening, but I hope that for the rest of the time it helps to know that there is at least one other person in the world who genuinely knows what you are saying and experiencing. And I also know how frustrating it can be when someone tells you to calm down. It makes me think that they have no idea what you are going through and are just trying to sound like they sympathise.

I think that sometimes when we focus on our AS, we become more aware of things we do that aren't "typical" in the NT sense. Don't worry about the mistakes you see yourself making---everyone does stuff like that.

I don't know if it makes a difference, but I've had 2 NT friends that have lost their cell phones during the time I've known them, my room-mate found some stranger's cell (got it back to them the next day)... and that is not counting my NT sister who has lost her cell phone, her IPod, 2 no-name MP3 players, a Nintendo DS, along with a miriad of other things. Trust me, you certainly are not the only person who looses important/expensive things.

Good luck with either finding it or having an honest person find it for you.

One of my biggest worries as a teenager was whether I could "survive" in the world. I kept imagining myself unable to do anything, and ending up on the street, noplace to go and nobody to turn to. Twenty years later, I'm doing OK for myself. Yeah, I misplace my car keys sometimes and talk to myself a little too loudly on occasion and not go to the personnel manager for a new time card even though my supervisor specifically told me to do so cause I just don't want to bother him. But I'm still here, and still thriving. As long as you can work hard, keep your body clean of toxins (drugs, alcohol) and give help to those you can, you'll always have a job, a strong state of health, and people to turn to when you need it.

Did you try calling the number? It would still be a bit hard to find on the street, but someone may have picked it up. When my friend lost her phone in a cab she called it and it took a few weeks, but she got her phone back. My NT brother is always losing his phone. I'm the one that always helps my MT mother find her car keys - almost everyday.

I can understand about you feeling that you may not make it in the real world because of AS.
I was on a train that had to stop because the tracks were flooded further up, so it went backwards and I thought it was doing that to change tracks, but it just kept going backwards. I was freaking out a little and everyone else on the train did not bat an eyelid. Then we had to wait at another station for a bus, and I couldn't take it. Everyone else was fine. Some people were chatting to others, while I stood there non verbal and stimming.
Another time I freaked out because the bus I was going to catch didn't stop at the place I wanted to get to. I had to wait for another one and I kept repeating the time it arrived in my head, while I sat in store staring at shoe boxes to calm down.
Sometimes I wonder if I can make it in the real world too.

I can see what inspired you to pick that avatar.
But yeah, making mistakes is human, being human is normal, being normal is fitting in. Sooo the more mistakes you make the more likely you are to fit in...
I guess...

Don't overthink stuff like this, there are lots of "dino aspies" in the forum including me, I mean AS is not a new thing, so we have done well before (:
Just put the cellphone always in one of your pockets in your jeans, that's what I always do, and I always have the car keys and the house keys on the front right pocket of my jeans. I think I've only lost the house keys once in like 5 years =P

Thank you all for your support. My boyfriend/roommate is also helping me find it (he's not an Aspie but I told him I was & he's been so patient & supportive of me). He called my number & it went to voice mail, meaning somebody picked it up. Hopefully whoever it was turned it in somewhere near by.

NTs also lose their cellphones