It's hard, but it can be learned. I did.

i did too. although as an adult i’m a loner again. i had about 7 extremely social years.

Yeah, guess the social issues never leave you completely, but as someone else said, it can be learned like any skill

Holy shit. You blew my mind.

Not fall apart, but it does come less natural for me, I need to practice and accept I will fuck up from time to time. It's all about accepting your limitations.

So true, it takes up so much more of my working memory to socialize. If I stop concentrating on being neurotypical it all falls to shit. This manifests itself when I am multitasking while in a social situation, I literally can't do it and can't act like a NT human. Same for learning, I can't sit in a lecture hall and coordinate what my seat mate just asked me while I'm trying to internalize a lecture. If someone asks me a complex word problem, I'm too focused on acting receptive to the question to actually internalize the question. Same for complex instructions that I've never heard before. This makes me look agreeable, but retarded. However, when I study alone and isolate myself I perform extremely well on standardized tests and hard science classes. People are always surprised I'm smart, because to act NT I have to trade off a fuck ton of compute power because it's not natural to me.

I'm the same, I think we are on the spectrum

No joke this is literally how I feel at my job; I feel retarded whenever it comes to social situations like meetings but when I'm left to my own devices I perform very well. Are we on the spectrum?

Jesus.

vantablackpill.

you THINK you did

In this kind of stuff, perception is reality.

Supplementary blackpill:

This doesn't matter if you're attractive.

fml

Too many damn autists here...

A place full of social outcasts having a higher percentage of people who aren't neurotypical isn't exactly surprising.

Get aids

Wow, you must’ve put a lot of effort into that insult. Don’t tire yourself out too much or you won’t be able to make it up the stairs to ask mommy for some more pizza rolls.

haha le neckbeard meme amirite

There are mentalcels then there are delusional autists

Definitely true (for me). Started to lose most of my friends starting in 7th grade and had barely any in highschool. The ones i did have were in my WoW guild or at another school (1 other) thus i was alone for most lf my time in hs. Therefore, never (or forgot) really learned how to interact with people especially women. This post spoke to me on another level lmao

sounds exactly like me. was a normal kid until i moved in 7th grade, then 0 friends. moved again in 10th grade, 0 friends since then and i’m 29 now. played WoW all day for years too and coped by convincing myself i was an introvert and actually preferred living that way. now i can’t stand video games and think about how much fucking time i wasted

Ayyy mah boy didn't know i'd talk to someone that's been thru the same (though I didnt move lol) :p. Although, I still love videogames and anime since im a super nerd so I couldnt relate in that notion XD.

well, im happy you can at least still enjoy your copes. good luck to you :)

thank you!

This hits close to home sadly

I didn't socialise back then because I found other people boring, confusing, too challenging. 20 years later: I'll find me find a nice quirky introvert girl, then. There are plenty on online dating sites. I even stumbled upon one IRL. I just need to muster up a quantum of masculinity to get past the friendzone abyss. I use dating as social practice. It's remedial schooling, and it's free.

only sluts online now bro

well when they're around me they put on a convincing show of chastity. So, perfect for me to practice with.

All women are sluts unless they are 16

Like most things on this sub, this has some semblance of truth, but is untrue because of its absoluteness.

Yes, social skills are probably quicker to learn when you're younger than when you get older, but this doesn't preclude anyone from drastically improving their social skills as they get older. In fact, most people get better at socializing as they enter their 30's because they've matured significantly by then. Kids usually have poor social skills and they only get a pass because they are kids.

And social skills, like most skills, become second nature once you master it. If you've never ridden a bike, riding one seems hard and require a lot of effort. But once you mastered the skill, it becomes second nature and you hardly even think about it while you do it.

How do you learn?

I was extremely outgoing and social until 8th grade, but still had friends and shit, and just got weirder and weirder college, like I had a degenerative disease of the social region of my brain.

I think I was supposed to be a Chad. My family are all super attractive. But somehow my development was fucked up - probably through my parents hippy food bullshit. Then, my Chad brain had to slowly adapt to my horrible face, forcing me into my proper place within society.

Sometimes it's over even if you weren't. Personality can only go so far.

Bull. Fucking. Shit.

I was essentially the kid you described from the moment high school began until my 2nd year of university. Then I took the initiative to figure my shit out, read some books, and learn how to socialise. Now people refuse to believe me if I tell them I used to be crazy socially anxious/borderline autistic.

Then I took the initiative to figure my shit out, read some books, and learn how to socialise.

And yet you're here with us

Ah yes, the classic "I'm a NEET incel and can't fathom living a regular life while also browsing reddit" non-sequitur. Find more original material.

"It's just your fault for missing out, tee-hee!"

Ayyy mah boy didn't know i'd talk to someone that's been thru the same (though I didnt move lol) :p. Although, I still love videogames and anime since im a super nerd so I couldnt relate in that notion XD.

Then I took the initiative to figure my shit out, read some books, and learn how to socialise.

And yet you're here with us