Until recently I was really sad about my isolated life. I had two best friends years ago. We were friends for years until they married. Then I was dumped, part of this (I think) was that I was still on my own and they only wanted to socialise with other couples, and (possibly) because they regarded me as embarrassing. The past few years were extremely lonely and depressing, until someone told me about a Meet Up group for socially anxious people. I had really low expectations of fitting in there, either, and it was really challenging for me to join and get to a meeting. But it has worked out really well, there's quite a few aspies in the group I go to, and the people in it are sincere, open, genuine, thoughtful and inclusive. The conversations are real, not small talk, and the group members really care about each other. Everyone there has come from a background of painful past experience so there is a deep well of understanding and sensitivity. For the first time in my life, I am part of a social group where I fit in and am accepted as an equal with respect and kindness. This is just the group I go to, of course, and I don't know what other groups in other countries would be like. However if you are as desperate for connection as I was, after years of isolation, it may be worth a try.
20 Feb 2014, 5:45 am
