ASD Meetup Groups

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Does anyone here attend any AS meetup or support groups in your area? I'm not fishing for any details I'm just curious how you liked the one you attend? What kind of things you do? I'm thinking about starting one up in my state because I looked all over and couldn't find a single meetup group for adults the spectrum.

I think WP is great and all but I don't think it does much to address the isolation and social withdraw most of us are plagued with. I really only feel like there is only so much we can do for eachother behind a computer screen. It'd be nice if more of us started actually getting together, and coming out of our holes.

It would be cool if you did start one. There's one in my town but I haven't been along yet. They go out on trips, go bowling, have meals together, that kind of thing. They also have a building they meet up in weekly, which has a quiet room, a room for meetings, games room, etc. Every once in a while they have speakers or therapists or other professionals come in. Also, I got together with some parents of kids with ASD and we have our own support group, while the kids hang out. It's been great for the kids because they're often isolated and don't get the chance to mix very often.

That actually sounds pretty rad. I think it'd be nice to be around a group of peeps on the spectrum and for once not have to feel as though I need to "fake it" plus the added benefit of understanding more of the hardships I face especially socially.

I know I would be relieved to be able to talk to some young adults that face some of the same challenges I do, maybe even make some new friends!

I've been isolating way more then I usually do. I never usually isolated much and I usually have someone to do something with but I've been stuck in a rut lately so I know where you're coming from with your kids. Do you have AS yourself or are just a mother to some kids with AS?

My son and I have both been diagnosed with Asperger's. I already know a few people who I would consider to have ASD (the town eccentrics) and I get to chat with one of them every week so I haven't felt the need to go to the ASD social group. It might be nice to meet some fellow Aspies nearer my age though as these guys are 10 to 35 years older than me. I definitely prefer the company of other people with ASD so you would probably enjoy it if you had a group of friends on the spectrum to socialise with in addition to your other friends. It's great when a group of us eccentrics get together because none of us feel self-conscious about people looking at us and thinking we're weird so there's no holding back and we have all kinds of interesting conversations.

This is exactly why I am looking forward to the meeting some people like me! I'm starting the group up on meetup site today once I wake up a little bit. I'll probably let the group grow until there is at least a few people willing to go, I don't wanna arrange a night just for only one other person to show up lol.

I just went through the hassle of starting a meetup group at meetup.com just to find out I gotta pay to do it! Anyone know any free meetup sites?

That sounds like a great idea if you are able,I know the pain of isolation myself and I unfortunately live pretty much in the middle of nowhere....,I have scantly encountered other aspies in person so I have often wonder about the struggles of others,I hope you have success in your endevour.

even in big cities there isn't a lot of options it seems

most spectrum anything seems geared towards children/parents

Which is exactly why we should all be taking steps to starting groups in our own areas. Like shadowtag said, the isolation sucks and I'm willing to bet it's the driving factor for the depression a lot of us are feeling, I know it's killing me!

You guys know how much better we could do for ourselves if we actually got together in person on a regular basis? We can only do so much on our computers. Nothing's ever going to change for us like that and I wanna meet others that feel the same way.

Plus just knowing there wont be any pressure on us to act a certain way will probably take a ton of the pressure of socializing off, don't you think?

I live in the bundah's too but I know there are a fair amount of other aspies withing meeting distance, enough to get together and have a little fun every now and then. I mean I there's 4 of us in my immediate family on the spectrum right off the bat, but we meet everyday and I'm kinda getting sick of em lol j/k

cant find any here, lots of nt's here.....

found one that was a volunteer site but it was really limited
All the meetup things i found via the actual meetup site are mostly parents with small children on the spectrum

It's a lottery whether there is one or not. Depends which charitable organisations are active in one's area, how much funding there is, etc. I run a group for my employer which luckily is in the town I live, but before, when I was just another attendee, I had to wait until I had a driver's licence and a car and drive 20 miles each way to the nearest big city as we didn't have one locally at the time.

Having seen it from both sides of the fence, I guess I would say ASD groups are a great idea, but it's pot luck whether the ones where YOU live are good or not.