Does anyone else suffer from lonliness because of their

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Autistic tendencies?
I am often lonely, but when I try to reach out, people just give me that "he is so WEIRD" look! Am I suffering alone, or do I have company? I'd sure love to make some female friends, here!

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An Asperger's man who has Autism Spectrum Disorder level 1- mild, with a sprinkling of Synesthesia.

I did suffer being lonely due to it but then I got used to being lonely I don't suffer it anymore. It doesn't bother me to be alone.

Yes, pretty often. I've found good friends on here, at least. You guys are enjoyable.

Lonely. But most people drive me nuts. It's the box I have to call home.

I'm sure glad I don't have to suffer alone! I WANT FRIENDS!
PM me if you'd like to! Thanks!

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An Asperger's man who has Autism Spectrum Disorder level 1- mild, with a sprinkling of Synesthesia.

Yes, and when I'm around people I'm still lonely because it feels like reaching out and not being able to connect. Then I lose interest in socializing far too quickly and want to leave abnormally early from anything social.

It's like wanting a sip of hot tea and getting a giant mug of coffee instead. Socializing, I mean. It's too much of what I didn't ask for.

Yes and no. I have friends but...it's complicated. One friend is an alcoholic that used to live with me and his actions during that time make me want to distance myself from him (but we still talk every day on the phone and I am trying to help him quit.) Another friend lives about 1,000 miles away and while we talk on the phone for several hours a week, we never see each other. Then there is a neighbor that I sometimes work on projects with but he's not someone I can really be around socially outside of that context. We are too far apart in age and life experience to do much together outside of sharing a need to fix and build things. However, it's a handy friendship to have as he knows how to fix some thing I don't and I can do some things he can't, so we just help each other out whenever needed and don't keep score.

My real need though is to finally have a girlfriend. However, this is the most difficult thing for me to do as I have significant deficits in reading this sort of situation. It also doesn't help to be working a job where no members of the opposite sex in my age range work. On the rare occasion that that is not the case, they are either completely not interested in me or batpoop crazy. When I do meet someone I am compatible with and interested in at work (my only real social outlet), I am too old to even think of asking them out.

This sometimes leads to situations worse than loneliness, like the one I find myself in right now. There is a girl that seems to like me. However, I know I shouldn't be dating a 20 year old (I am 38 ) so instead of just feeling lonely, I have to deal with what I want being just outside of my reach but staring me in the face every day. It's easily the most frustrating thing I have dealt with in years. I would rather just deal with the pain of loneliness.

I used to, but not anymore. I mean, I have my cat, my dog, my books, my movies, my tv, my dvd, my computer. Why should I be lonely?

Yes, not because I'm weird but because I cannot connect with others. Well, I can connect, I just have a hard time.

Finding friends that can relate to you is very hard. My closest friends have AS or something similar.
Your not alone!
Greetings from Florida

I used to have so much trouble dealing with loneliness and it was just awful because I was so dependent on people who had no respect for me My psychological well being depended on it. It was pure hell. It made my symptoms much worse. I thought anything was preferable to being alone. Then, one day, I realized things could be better than that. I lost contact with the ones who had no respect for me. I garnered an attitude that friends are great but if someone doesn't respect me, they aren't my friend and I don't have to be around them. Things started improving for me from there. It makes the concept of friendship more enduring and exceptional. I hope you find some really good friends. They are a rare.

I can see from all your answers that I am definitely not really alone in my misery! haha.
Outofplace, I can really understand where you're coming from! I am so-so with many people I know. I would love to find a girlfriend who could stand me too, just the way I am- I've never succeeded in that endeavor, yet. I've sure tried, but to no avail....
More than one of you has written along the lines of "just getting used to being lonely". Since my extended family is huge, and I was raised to be around someone as much as possible, I find the concept of "getting used to loneliness" a foreign concept.
Granted, I was an only child. Not that that is the best situation there is- far from it! I just wish my adult life had proved much better than it has thus far...
Well, here's hoping to break down this awful isolation I've been feeling, anyway. Thanks for all your responses!

JWS

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An Asperger's man who has Autism Spectrum Disorder level 1- mild, with a sprinkling of Synesthesia.

Sometimes the flesh just feels entirely hollow. Even when life is good.

Hey, I am an old Asperger's and I have found that one of the best places to find friends is with others of our ilk or those near us--- Like geeks if your spot on the spectrum is near geekdom.

These people don't mind that you are a little weird - because they are also and in fact may not even notice your weirdness because weirdness does not matter to them.

Some cities now have Asperger's groups that exist primarily to bring together Asperger's for simple social interaction, Aspie to Aspie! These groups can be hard to start as most other Asperger's help groups (usually run by NTs) prove to be no help at all as most are into fixing us not in helping us just be comfortable with Asperger's and cannot see why we may want to meet others "that Can't communicate".

My group of geeks (many of whom are Asper as well) is a great place for me. I can relax and not worry about doing the "being with you dance" (maintaining eye contact, making gestures that mean nothing to me but are required by NTs, going through small talk hell). I have had some really fine entertaining conversations there - where no one required eye contact - or little touches while the conversion was underway - we were able to stay more or less on topic while allowing minor deviations to allow some with special interests near the topic get in their 2cents worth. (it did help that computer specialist group - though not all conversations are on this topic).

There's one in my city, too, and it's something I very much look forward to.