Scared of bumping into old friends, why is this typical?

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I heard and read both here & on other places on internet that its typical for autistic people to feel tense about bumping into old friends or collegues. It happend to me recently when I discovered that a old friend of mine who left this town 10+ years ago are now back again.

When I discovered that this friend lives just a few blocks away I feel tense and the strange feeling of being false cuz i aint the same as I was. This friend wasn't some popular person or like that but I feel that so much happened to me since then, that it would feel too much to even tell a little about my autism or anything like that (joblesness and those heavy things).

I wish I didn't care about this fear of bumping in, but I do and will as soon as I going to town. How to cope with this? How to react if we do meet and I get this fear of not fitting in?

I often worry about bumping into old friends and acquaintances and for a variety of different reasons. Most relevant for this thread is that I’m a little bit embarrassed about where I currently am in my life. A few people (including old friends and a couple professors) had very high expectations for me, and they’ll want to know why I’m not doing what I should be doing, but none of the reasons are things that I’d want to talk to anyone about.

It makes for a very awkward and stunted conversation. I always try to turn the conversation towards them, but it doesn’t work indefinitely of course.

I would probably make some excuse about being late for an appointment - no need to stop and chat about anything with past peers; there's a reason they are in 'the past'. You don't owe someone you knew years ago anything. If it worries you that much maybe plan a script so you don't feel so on the spot if you did happen to meet them.

It's only a problem if they see me first.

How close were you as friends when you knew the person long ago?

If you were close and your friendship did not end on hostile terms, I would suggest that you try to get over your fears and see if you can revive the friendship. Given how difficult it is for many of us to make friends in the first place, I think we should treasure the friends we do have, even if we've been out of touch for a while. Friends do not have to have the same life circumstances; a genuine friend will stick with you through bad times as well as good times, even if there has been a hiatus because you just didn't have time to see each other for a while.

Upon meeting the person, I would suggest making a vague general statement about how you are not doing so well, then change the subject to how the other person is doing, and offer to answer any questions the person may have about their new neighborhood. Then see if the person responds by inquiring about your life in more detail and seems genuinely concerned about you. If so, say a little more about your life, but don't go into huge detail at any one time unless your friend seems VERY interested and concerned.

Who knows? The person might have some valuable information for you, or might otherwise be able to help you in some valuable way, perhaps even connecting you with possible job opportunities. On the other hand, since the person is new in town, you might be able to give your old friend some valuable info about the neighborhood, too.

I am very nurvous to the point that I don't make a move to say hello and here is why. I get prosoprognosia so there is a chance that I habe got it wrong and the person who I think they are might not be that person, so to save myself embarissment I don't make the first move.

I've made a habit of letting everyone know that I have trouble with names and faces. Whenever I am introduced to someone, I mention that I am really bad with names and faces and warn the person that I will probably need to be told the person's name on at least several different occasions before I will finally remember. This saves me embarrassment when I run into the person again and don't remember.