Loneliness = autism?

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Great discussion i agree that society if there is such a thing makes no sense fitting in becomes incresingly impossible as one gets older.Tonight iam am atempting to start a self advocacy encouragement group called autistics for autistics have no idea how it will turn out everone seems angry and defensive.If we dont get together and show the herd there is a better way and despite appearances we have a lot to contribute we might as well give up .

Have to agree here with those that do not equate being a lone or a loner with the feeling of loneliness.

I am alone right now typing this message but have no overwhelming desire for any company, not even that of the internet.

I have autism. DO NOT STEREOTYPE US. f--k you, you can't just go on a forum for people who HAVE AUTISM OR ASPERGER'S and say that they are all loners. HOW DARE YOU.

I enjoy my own company, and generally like to be alone. However, there are times when I feel that I would like to have a partner or significant other. my problem is that I do not wish to endure the dating process necessary in order to find someone.

Autistic = alone, but not lonely.

Personally, I spend a lot more thought on how to avoid people than on how to engage people.

From the wiki, which includes a formal reference to the quote:
"Autism" - used it to mean morbid self-admiration, referring to "autistic withdrawal of the patient to his fantasies, against which any influence from outside becomes an intolerable disturbance".

By definition, autistic closely means someone who shuns the outside world. This happens naturally as children, but as knowledge of the outside world increases, some people want to participate more with that outside world and begin to change their mindset from being as autistic as it was when they were a child.

I for one am a very outgoing loner. I like being friendly and having down-to-earth friends with whom I don't feel like I'm having to put on an act, but in the end, I will prefer to be at home in my room putting together a puzzle, listening to the radio, and absorbed in my own head over going out with people to a bar. I will prefer to work on a project on my own after someone has shown me how than to work with a group on a project - in fact, it quite bothers me when others are involved, usually because I know I have certain standards of perfection and control, and it's in everyone's best interest that either I'm in charge or I'm left alone. It's only when others look down upon me for that mindset and possibly shun me or talk bad about me that I begin to feel alone if I let it get to me.

I am definitely a loner, but I also get lonely. I have enough interaction with my kids during the week that it takes care of any loneliness I might feel. If I feel the need to "socialize", I just go to a bar or Starbucks or whatever and sit and people watch. Works for me. If I spend too much time around people I start to feel that internal pressure and need to escape.

I don't relate to the concept of loneliness. The closest thing I can imagine is an unwanted silence (there are times when a total silence strikes me with horror, there is nothing to distract from the awareness of being so small and irrelevant and mortal).

I live my life to maximize the amount of time I can spend alone, and it seems like I can never get enough. I'd probably crave interaction if I was stranded on a deserted island, but I'm not, and loneliness is something that so far I have never experienced.

I don't believe that all introverts have Aspergers. Rather, everyone who has Aspergers is an introvert and shares some common characteristics.