social survival guide please?

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The dividing line I use is: does the activity mentally close you off from surroundings? Drawing on a sketch pad has your focus outwards on whatever is being sketched. Reading has your focus inwards.

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I have no doubt she loves him, and is doing the best she currently knows how. She punished him for defying. I doubt she heard or understood any explanation.

Last edited by CuriousKitten on 25 May 2012, 3:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

thank you guys for posting, and for the ideas.

excuse me, alfonso, my mother is not a cruel person,as you imply. I'm sorry if I made it seem that way, but that was not my intention. She is trying to help me get out and have fun. She is extroverted NT and does not understand. You post was uncalled for, and irrelevant to the subject. I asked how to deal with going to camp,and you raged on about a person you don't even know.

I am sorry, I realized I needed to remove my last post so I deleted it. I just have horrible anger control issues. I really am sorry. So far, I have not lost total control of my anger, physically, but verbally I have many times, in typing mostly. I haven't gone into a rage out loud to a person that has angered me. I just wait until they are no longer around so I can be alone when I rage.

Please forgive my angry outburst. I probably should have just avoided this thread, but I just could not control myself.

I guess all I can say to try and correct myself is I hope that maybe you meet someone there who is very much like you, so you can have a friend to spend time with while there. And the 4 people you said you will know, do you know them well? If so, maybe spending as much time with them as possible might help. It might be better than being surrounded by strangers the whole time.

In terms of survival for the weekend, join a clique, say as little as possible and try to do what others do. Do not do anything that would draw attention to yourself. Dealing with groups of people, especially groups of people you don't know, does not have to be that hard. Many of them will be in a similar situation to you: their parents sent them there, they don't want to be there and they probably don't know many people there.

With a group as large as that, in a time as short as that, it is very possible to go unnoticed.

Well said. I hated girls camp when I was younger (except for the nature part). Hopefully you'll be able to find a person or two who can connect with you and you can endure that time together and feel a little less alone. Even if you don't find someone, try to keep in mind that your time there is finite, and eventually it will all be over! That's easy to say, but probably not so easy to do with all of the activity that's going to be going on.

I survived pretty much how NTAndrew described it, being on the outskirts of a clique, not speaking much, and imitating what everyone else did that seemed to be expected of me, even if I felt like I wasn't being true to myself. It really is a survival situation.

I'm sorry that your mom is unable to empathize with you about this right now. It sounds like she's caring enough to want to try to help you, even if she's not entirely understanding of just how much stress this is going to put on you.

When you get back from your camping/ordeal weekend, post something about how it was for you. I want to know how it came out, and Ilm sure the others do too.

This quote can be really false and even dangerous. When I was a child I was afraid of swimming. My father just threw me to the water and let me almost drown. Years after it, being adult, I decided to learn to swim and I did it (and indeed, I love it right now), but I'm still afraid of open waters, since I still can remember this drowning feeling.

Sounds like your mom has some problems understanding what you're dealing with. It may be too late this time around, but maybe you can try to explain your predicament to her by comparing it to something which is easier for her to understand. Like: "You wouldn't send a kid with an allergy to horses on a riding camp, would you?" AS isn't like a phobia which may be improved through exposure therapy. Some people have conditions that may be improved that way, but Asperger isn't one of these conditions. If having to socialize with many people causes stress, then more of the same will not improve your situation. It just doesn't work like that.
However, it may be that some people with AS experience that regular exposure to situations that initially cause stress may make those situations easier to tackle after a while. Has anyone here felt that "socialization training" has been helpful?

Camping trips with a lot of peers when you have an ASD = not a good time in my experience

Best friends turn into enemies and people see your differences in a second when you're away from familiar environments.

I beat up 3 of my friends during one as they tried to get me to do something I didn't want to (self-defense. I don't take well to being forced into things).

Fake being sick. That's exactly what I'd do. Stomach bugs are easy to fake. Go to the bathroom a lot and tell her you have the runs. Also tell her you threw up. Be prepared to be put on a soft diet for a day or two though.

Nice comparison.

I think that the "socialization training" you're referring to IS beneficial for me, but it has to be done on a constant basis, like exercise. If I don't do it for a while I lose the strength and ability to.