Hi all,
I’m 22, high functioning autistic, and having a hard time trying to talk to a person. We aren’t in a relationship, I only know her as a friend (really acquaintance, just because I can’t seem to get anywhere beneath surface level). I do understand that people aren’t always ready to give a lot of details about their life without an adequate amount of time having gone by, but I feel like I’m shouldering everything- even on days she starts the conversation first. It’s getting to the point where I want to reply less and less because I already know it’s going to be “lol”, “lmao,” “nice,” or “wyd.” That’s literally it.
Asking people I know irl how to handle it has led to suggestions of “just tell her” to “ghost her” to “try to meet her where she is.” Meeting her where she’s at (at the moment, unsure if this is where she’ll be or if there’s more to come) means I have to be wildly untrue to myself and act like I don’t know things, or more realistically I have to shove down my interests because
“lol nice”, “lol huh”, “lol cool”, is all I get back.
I’m from WA, she’s from MS, and I’ve been trying so hard to not let any sort of geographical bias get in the way of who I befriend but it just feels like they don’t value the same stuff I do (that being education) and I’m getting frustrated having to reword everything I say. I say “they” because since moving to Texas for school I’ve met multiple people from the Deep South both my age and older than me that have no clue about anything I’m talking about… I don’t mean to generalize but I’m getting so frustrated. Like, if you’re going to start a dialogue with me (especially if it’s something I’m super interested in) then either be ready to respond or ask questions or something. Why wind me up (with enthusiasm) and then just refuse to interact past the bare minimum.