30 Days of Autism Acceptance: 8
April 8th: Talk about friendship. How important are friends to you? Do you find it hard to make and maintain friendships? Are your friends generally supportive? Is there anything about having friends that confuses you?
I’ve gone through periods with lots of friends, and periods with no friends. I’ve had friendships last years, even decades, and friendships that only lasted a few weeks. I don’t really have any close friends outside my family right now.
I made pretty strong friendships easily when I was a kid, but they were almost always in situations engineered by my mother. I wouldn’t go seeking other kids out, but if you put me in a group and told me to play with these kids, I would probably become friends for life with one of them. I do remember feeling like friendships didn’t last, as people moved away or changed schools, and I remember a lot of mourning lost friends.
I’m comfortable now, though, mostly interacting with my partner’s friends. I don’t feel a strong urge or need to go seek people out right now, though I did recently join a Discord for autistics. I’m looking forward to making friends with them, and sharing our experiences.