My mom thinks that I should have friends who have autism [I Live With Autism]

Maybe she has a point. It would be nice for you to have friends that get you and you can relate. I’m sure she didn’t mean you should only have friends with disabilities, but you should see her point of view.

I do think relating to people who are not on the spectrum is important and necessary. And probably it depends on continuing to increase social skills.

Not long ago, I watched a documentary series on dating between people with high-functioning autism.

To be honest, it was incredibly funny to watch. Each was a highly quirky individual. They were bluntly honest with one another in ways that one rarely sees with "normals". They understood each other pretty much instantly. And they were excellent at being clear about whether they fancied each other or not.

But one of the problems is that there are so many degrees of severity on the spectrum. The key would be to find friends who closely match your level. (As well as continuing to relate with non-spectrum types.)

I'm not on the spectrum. In tests, I classify in the top 10% for empathy and social skills - but I still make plenty of mistakes. Human relationships are one of the trickiest things in life, for everyone.

Many years ago, while a student in London UK, I formed a relationship with one of the guys in my class. He told me he'd never had a relationship with a woman; according to him, "they were all snobs and wouldn't have me."
He and I lived together for two and a half years - one of the most painful and difficult relationships I've ever had. He was jealous and possessive to an extreme degree. He thought I wore my hair loose in order to attract men; in fact, I was so depresssed that I couldn't be bothered to comb the knots out. He had meltdowns if I chatted with a girlfriend in the cafeteria or on the phone.
Eventually, I became so lonely and isolated that I tried to kill myself with an overdose of sleeping tablets. I ended up in hospital and then a psyche ward, where they helped me realise that I needed to leave him and get a room in a share house.
Years later, I contacted him on Facebook to try to find out why he behaved the way he did. He told me that he had high-functioning Aspergers and severe dyslexia. (I had written his thesis for him, but never knew why he wanted me to.)
Suddenly all his meltdowns and violence made sense. He was misreading me. He had no way of understanding that I had no interest in affairs with other men (and no time for them either.) He was acting out of some kind of insecurity based on his past experiences. But he had no insight into his own condition and zero capacity for empathy for mine.

It's this problem of not being able to read and understand others which makes Aspergers so difficult, both for the person who has it and for others.

But like all disabilities, once there is a diagnosis, there are ways to overcome the problems.

To me, it sounds like you will be able to find your way.

My parents never said that to me, but they say is nice to have some people that I can relate to. most of my childhood friends I grew up with are on the Spectrum. and I have a friend that has has autism too. I also have friends that are not autistic. I've had my fair share of being left out and some people acting like they don't know me.

I have autism as well.

Did she say you should [i]only[/i] have friends with autism? In general, it's a good idea to have folk around who get you