Hi to whomever reads this. I just found this site last night. I'm hoping it might be someplace to feel like I belong. I have yet to find anyplace like that. I'm happily married, have a decent relationship with my sister, and stay in touch with a friend or two from high school. That is the extent of my friendships. Even with any one of them, I feel lonely. I have constant anxiety over things like whether they're only interest in me is pity. I'm frustrated by constantly feeling misunderstood and underestimated. I imagine I can't be the only one. It's painful to suspect most of the world sees me as "ret*d." I don't use that word against anyone, I'm only saying that I think others think it of me. They used to just see me as "weird." As an adult, I've had the freedom to avoid social situations, which has been both a relief and the cause of not only my loneliness, but how others see me the way they do. I worry that everyone without Asperger's is cruel, stupid, oblivious, ignorant, selfish, rude, and it bothers me that I should feel like I'm the odd one out. Anyone like me out there? You don't happen to live nearby do you? We could commiserate. Or maybe try to be a friend to each other.