Local social meetups suitable for people with Asperger's

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Leon_Trotsky
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27 Dec 2019, 12:03 am

In the last few months, I have been looking all over online and asking in person where there are social gatherings/meetups that are at least suitable for people with Asperger's. As in, welcoming, non-judgemental, and without toxic people, i.e. "alpha male" and "alpha female" types, plus people who look down on others for not doing things according to societal norms.

I still have not found any suitable ones, despite living in a major metropolitan area. Most meetups on all of the big platforms such as meetup.com., InterNations, Couchsurfing, Facebook, eventbrite.com, etc. are basically geared for so-called "normal" people. One thing that I noticed from looking at events is that I did not know that people even in their 30s and 40s participated in beer pong tournaments.

When I go to meetups, I often ask others where, if any, are there better socials. No one has insofar provided me with any information, almost always because they do not know themselves. Some tell me straight, "If there were better meetups, I would not be attending this one." It seems like there are quite a lot of people like me, in that they attend to just get out of the house and try to socialise, because the other option is just sitting alone at home. That is basically what the options are.

How did you find social gatherings that were suitable for people with ASD in your situation? What platforms did you use, and how did you find them?

I usually like meetups in quieter bars or pubs with down-to-earth people. Basically every meetup that I have attended, most people are making well over $200000-$300000 per year and/or are millionaires, and I often have major difficulties relating to people in this demographic.



Fireblossom
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27 Dec 2019, 12:53 am

People with aspergers can be very different from each other; what's suitable for someone else might not be so for you. Personally, I wouldn't go to meet ups in bars or other places where people will definitely be drinking. Do you have any this kind of limitations?

Not that I've ever been to any social meet ups, aside from speed meetings (like speed dating but platonic) in events some years back. I don't think that kind of stuff is a thing here, or at least I've never heard any of the more social people talk about stuff like that, either.

Maybe you should go to meetups that focus around some specific hobby? That would quarantee you something to talk about with those people.



Leon_Trotsky
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29 Dec 2019, 2:48 am

Just came back home from a meetup.

I asked my only acquaintance about other meetups. He said that the only ones that he has found are the ones that I already attend, and that there is a scarcity of suitable meetups here. Other than of course hiking meetups, which are not appealing at all to me.

An older woman who was a first-time attendee told me that she felt that people at the meetup were cold and stuck up, in cliques and not welcoming of others.

Not sure which other social portal/group would have suitable socials.