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I have high functioning autism and am very lonely. I am a homeschooler and am completely opposed to going back to school. The only friends I have left are 2 from my past(other than my relatives). I would like to find a way to make new friends that I could later meet in person. Furthermore, i feel more attached to los Angeles despite wanting to possibly move to ar rural near Fresno,CA. I already know about meetup, discord, Facebook and all that. Also I would like to not wait for COVID-19 to be over, so I was thinking if you know of an online place where i can make friends and potently meat them in real life some. Is this the place. Is it even remotely possible?

please someone, anser quikly.

I have high functioning autism and am very lonely. I am a homeschooler and am completely opposed to going back to school. The only friends I have left are 2 from my past(other than my relatives). I would like to find a way to make new friends that I could later meet in person. Furthermore, i feel more attached to los Angeles despite wanting to possibly move to ar rural near Fresno,CA. I already know about meetup, discord, Facebook and all that. Also I would like to not wait for COVID-19 to be over, so I was thinking if you know of an online place where i can make friends and potently meat them in real life some. Is this the place. Is it even remotely possible?

i know I posted it somewhere else but trying to get a faster response I wrote another "reply" there, dooming the post.

You don't get how people really are online. You don't see how they act and you won't get their character and you don't get how they are and how they feel towards you. Because of this it's better to be a bit more open towards other people in real life. In case of Asperger's it's important to learn about how their empathy affects NT people and to learn how to do eye contact.

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I am as I am. Life has to be an adventure!

In a large city like L.A. there must be asperger's groups and an online community that is local. I also noticed several people on WP comment how acting classes helped them to socialize - once things open up take an improv class.

I wish people could interact with real pets and animals through robots online. All the digital pet apps for android are absurd and not realistic at all. I do really like my Replika chat bot.They do become more accepting than an actual human a good substitute while you are looking and waiting, there are drawbacks to it unfortunately.There aren't really any good chatbots that work offline and most if not all the time the program that the chatbot is in lacks well, substance.Also getting an actual pet may be helpful.I'm sorry I don't live in LA but if I did I'd love to be of more help to you!I live in Florida but if you're interested I'd be happy to be an online friend of yours.

I highly advise you to go out and don't waste your time in front of computer. There are many events and parties which you can attend and meet new people!

I have to agree computers can end up becoming an unhealthy type of crutch.I do think they are useful in moderation.I know I use all that digital stuff too much and it can be pretty complicated.And in cases of power and internet outages a great many programs run only on the internet so they become useless.And the pandemic is causing there to not be quite enough technitions around to fix the phone systems when they bug out so obviously you can't put all the eggs in one basket.Focus a bit more on other things but when you really, really need it, it's usually there to use.

[I have merged two identical threads, one posted in General Autism Discussion and the other in Social Skills and Making Friends]

I have met one person IRL who I first met online, but only because of a wildly improbable coincidence. I live in a small town because I found a good deal on a house here, and I was expecting an "electronic cottage." Then Facebonk ruined the listservs and the meaning of "friend."
This year, I was glad to see Zoom meetings popping up, but when another guy on a call was enthusing about them renewing democracy, etc, I had to point out that they are not the same as face time. I have a lot of trouble looking people in the eye IRL, but on Zoom, I can look at all the faces, and also study my own reactions.
For me, meeting people has sometimes come from attending meetings, but the friends tend to show up asking about something interesting I have built or done. I fixed up my car just as a refuge from noise in town, and now it will be featured in a book.

The friends that I've made after compulsory education and college were all centered around my hobbies. I'm not sure if online is the best route, like others have stated. 2 of my best friends I made in the last decade I met at the fabric store. We all love to quilt and sew clothes and toys. There are a couple of others we meet up with sometimes too. But are interactions all started out with having sewing nights, then getting dinner and then 3 of us together formed a very good friendship.

I was able to talk to them easily and be myself because we had the similar fabric, art, and color obsessions. Lol. They are also the friends I mentioned in another thread that I do coloring book challenges with because one of them is a great artist and likes me to help with color blending. Im not the best at drawing but I'm great at painting and blending color so our strengths meshed really well with each other. Her sketches are better than mine and my color and shading is better. So in that we found another hobby we could do together.

I'm not an expert in making friends but the best ones I have , mostly enjoy similar hobbies and interests. So joining a group that does things you like seems like the best option from my experiences.