Ever try to make friends with other people w/ disabilities?

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If so, was it successful or a disaster?

I tried to befriend a woman with Down Syndrome. She wanted to hang out for quite a while but then she abruptly cut off contact. I suspect I broke a social rule or maybe her parents didn't want her to see me anymore....

I had hoped that logically my best chance at making friends was to interact with people with other disabilities (including Asperger Syndrome or elsewhere on the spectrum). However, it was a miserable failure for a number of reasons, including the universal non-verbal body language code that people seem to follow, and no matter what disability a person has, if they are weirded out for whatever reason, they will act just like any NT and cut you off. (at least that has been my experience....)

Interested to hear your experiences of trying to befriend/interact with people on the spectrum or with other disabilities. Raging success or dismal failure?

I know a few Aspies, as well as a kid with Moderate Functioning Autism. They're all pretty good friends of mine.

I haven't actively searched for anyone else on the spectrum, but since I've discovered AS I've realized that most of my friends either have a couple major traits of it, or they're just odd for some other reason. Yeah, I'm usually friends with the guy who seems like he's always high but really isn't. I also know a really intelligent but slightly psychotic homeless man who lives near my university. I seem to be a magnet that other social oddballs drift toward. It keeps my life interesting, at least.

Making friends with Aspies is pretty darn hard, due to the lack of reciprocity on both sides.

I have tried to befriend others with disabilities and the efforts have paid off.

That's not true for me TBH I befriended with some aspie dude my age and he totally misread a social situation.... long story but he took and took and took from me while when I was in trouble he left me stranded. So yeah, I guess his fault :\

It depends how severe is the disabillity. I find moderately func aspies really easy to manipulate, but TBH ,the same two dudes that I am talking about, specifically, seems unaware of themselves. Like, they are blatantly impolite and bohemian..... and it's really hard to communicate with them you know :\

But overall when I was hospitalized I found some really good friends with schizo and stuff like that... I also made enemies.... but hey can't one be perfect can he?

Nah, never really had the chance to.

I rarely ever see other disabled people in real life.

Ditto.

I live in an apartment building for people with disabilities. My wife and mother are both disabled and live here as well. I have had mixed results making friends with others, regardless whether they're disabled or not. However, as several others already said, making the effort to befriend them has paid off more often than not.

I know several people who like me have physical disabilities. I find it easier to relate to other disabled people because we already share something in common. It's even easier because disability is an interest of mine.

I've never purposefully gone and tried to make friends with someone with a disability. I've been friends with many disabled people, but it was all just coincidence that they were disabled.

For example, one of my exes was totally blind from birth, but her blindness has nothing to do with why I became friends with her, or why/how I met her, etc.

I've also had several friends with Autism, but I'm autistic myself, and had the diagnosis from a young age, so I had a lot of exposure to other autistic people as a kid.

I care more about someone's personality and how much I enjoy myself in their company, than anything else about them.

I've never tried to make friends with someone just because they had a disability.

not becouse they had a disability, but, especially in high school, most of my friends had some disability or another; but that was becouse outcasts seem to cluster together.

Same experience here ... and after high school too. I knew many schizophrenics, manic-depressives (now called bipolar), etc. Asperger's didn't exist at the time but probably a few of them too.

Haven't actively tried to make friends with people because they hav a disability. Have had a few deaf friends,though. Seem not to notice peculiar voices etc?;-$

I've never set out to specifically make friends who are disabled, but a large number of my acquaintances and just about every person I consider a friend is disabled in some way.