Have You Always Been Alone?

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This is a two part question.

1. I am naturally inclined to be by myself because it is easier to be alone than to work out how to deal with people so I naturally gravitate towards being alone. I don't mind my own company and enjoy solitary hobbies.

2. Parental example. I've been thinking about this alot lately and when I was a child my parents would never come to see my school plays because they didn't like to socialise and didn't want to have to talk to the other parents. I've only recently realised why they did this through learning about AS. I remember another time, there was a school fund-raiser one evening with stalls and games. My Mum dropped me off and I went by myself. All the other kids had family with them. It has become natural for my to go to things by myself because my parents wouldn't go with me. I've actually never really thought about how this has affected me. But I tend to not focus as much on needing people to be with me when going shopping etc because I've always had to do stuff on my own. I've never had anyone to go with me.

Anyone have similar experiences?

I learned to be alone in 6th grade. I was out of school for a while and doing my work at home and all the kids were in school so I had no one to play with. I mostly watched TV and 101 Dalmatians, went to work with my dad when he had to appraise homes, I also played video games or with my Barbies. And lot of kids and my brothers thought I was lucky to be home. Even my bullies thought I was lucky. Well they helped me out there, they gave me a long vacation by picking on me. Maybe I should also thank them for my AS diagnoses. After all we tend to get targeted by them and picking on us sure helps us to a diagnoses.

So now I don't mind being alone and I learned in my teens why have friends if they have nothing in common, they were all boring. I didn't know anyone who had things in common with me except this one girl but she moved. All I did then was computer and video games most of the time or watched TV. Now it's mostly computer.

ever since highchool it seems like

Most of the time I prefer to do things alone, but there are situations in which if there's no one to go with me as moral support, I just won't go at all.

I normally choose to be alone, but sometimes I enjoy doing things with other people.

1 - I like to be alone; the reason that I give to myself to that is that alone I am free to pursue my interests and to think; however, thinking deep about the issue, I suspect that this could be a defense that I created to compensate an innate social inability


2 - No. My father is a very social person; my mother is of the reclusive type, but I think none influenced much my way of being (besides genetics)

Well, my parents were always there for me and liked to take me and my brothers places and always went to our school events.

But otherwise, I have enjoyed being alone. I prefer playing alone, doing school assignments alone, going shopping alone, going to movies alone etc. I think it's mostly cuz I'm selfish and I wanna please myself. With other people around, they want what they want and then I'm not free to do what I wanna do.

I think so. I have always felt alone even when I had friends and people around me. I do know when I am by myself for long stretches of time that I have fewer regrets. People can be taxing, though I do enjoy being able to share and that sensation of being included. I am not much of a follower for the sake of being included either.

Like you, my parents didn't really take much of an interest in what I was doing. I would get more compliments and feedback from other parents than mine, who seemed unaware of what I did or accomplished with the only exception being if I got into some trouble.

Spent a lot of time alone, actually as much as the world allows a lot of time. Mty parents more social than yours - my dad liked to be att the right kind of parties and my mother believed in giving the right kind of parties. But very much a detached loner household even so,

My sister went into a commune, well, I could not have - I start to fade if there are more than six people in the room, and even under six I cannot do too much.

My wife and I [when is alone NOT alone? when you are with the right loner] need a lot of apart time, give one another a lot of apart time. And complementary enough that when we are together it is quality/

I like spending time alone. Even when I'm with people I know well, I generally feel very separate from them. Like many others around here, spending social time with others sometimes wears me out (both physically and mentally). During the time I spend on my own, I can truly relax.

My dad is a little reclusive, but my mom is really social. When I was a kid, at least one of them attended pretty much every 'thing' I had going on.

The only time that I am truely comfortable and happy is when I am alone.

I have felt alone in a room filled with other aspies at an aspie support meeting-I understand that people are going to be careful of me especially if they do not know me very well but got ignored and not one word to me. I realize I am in a room of people on the spectrum so I understood in a way why it happened.

My parents always encouraged me to socialize, so I'm not like that.

But I do need to be alone at some times. And anyway most of the times I'm with people I end up as the fifth wheel, standing or walking a little awkward next to them, barely talking and whishing I had the guts to turn around and walk away.
Nowadays I simply see to it that I don't get into a situation like that and say "no" if people offer me to come along with them somewhere and I know that I would end up like that.
I'm strange either way, so it doesn't really matter.

I still feel stange about going to a café/restaurant/bar/pub or theatre/cinema alone. I would love to, though, and am working on the courage to do so.
Because, again: I'm strange either way...

I always was alone. I'm faceblind, so before I can recognize people, they're already in groups. I'm not spontaneous, so I don't know who to choose and what to say.

My parents tried to socialise me. Other parents too. I was the best student, so I was invited to children parties, because parents wanted me to be a good example to follow. I didn't recognize the kids and I caouldn't play with them, because I didn't know how. So kids were playing and laughing together and I was reading a found book or building something with the blocks. I remember one party where I was playing Mario all evening with much older brother of one kid.
I was a member of many teams: art, glee, theater, science, math, school journal, even sports (yeah, ME!) and I hadn't friends anywhere. My parents encouraged me to join the next teams to find at least one friend. I didn't find any.

People are exhausting. I'm always tired after contact with them. I prefer to go to cinema alone. I don't enjoy parties and I don't go to them.
I think that somewhere are interesting people (hey, where have they gone?), so I go to concerts, fests, forums meetings or events like Railways Open Day.