how do I get invited to do things with people?

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Non_Passerine
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26 Jan 2011, 8:57 pm

Most people that I consider "friends" typically get invited to hang out/ go out/ go to parties with a select group of people. I'm rarely, if ever, invited in this way unless it's an organized organization event.

How do I convince people to invite me to their friendly gatherings? Do I have to invite them to things myself? What if they decline? Do I have to coax them? Or am I not considered part of their core group and can be left behind.

I'm a perennial reject.



john93
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27 Jan 2011, 12:35 pm

I'm also rarely invited for stuff.. I hate this and feels like I miss a part of my life.. dunno what I could do to improve this..



Janissy
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27 Jan 2011, 4:21 pm

Non_Passerine wrote:
Most people that I consider "friends" typically get invited to hang out/ go out/ go to parties with a select group of people. I'm rarely, if ever, invited in this way unless it's an organized organization event.

How do I convince people to invite me to their friendly gatherings? Do I have to invite them to things myself?
]


Yes.


Quote:
What if they decline?


Sometimes they will. But that's ok. This isn't an all or nothing endeavor. Invite more than one person, which increases the odds somebody will say yes. Also invite the same person more than one time. People who say "no" to one activity may say "yes" to another.

Quote:
Do I have to coax them?



Don't. If they decline, say "ok, maybe next time" and invite somebody else.


Quote:
Or am I not considered part of their core group and can be left behind.


If you don't ever invite them to do things with you, they may very well have mentally labeled you as "the guy who doesn't like to ever go do stuff". Try inviting them and see what happens.

Quote:
I'm a perennial reject.


Or you may be perceived as "the guy who never wants to go anywhere" and so they don't invite you. Try inviting them. Try saying "that sounds like fun, mind if I tag along?" if they announce they are going off to some (public) activity :don't invite yourself to somebody else's house, do invite yourself to something public like if they are all going to a pizza place.



Atreides
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28 Jan 2011, 1:36 am

good advice Janissy. through and through. my friends call me Grinch because I usually don't participate in their social endeavours, but they know more now than before. They don't invite me to clubs or parties, but if some sports are being organized, they let me know.

so you probably refused an invite here and there, and now you're labelled. Just redefine that label and your friends will probably be thrilled.



fburzaco
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28 Jan 2011, 2:17 pm

When I was a teenager I made it my special interest to have friends, so I made it NT's my main interest of study. Then I chose the hippest group as a challenge, decided to fit in. WHOA!, what a trip it was, but I somehow succeded. I remember coming to a conclusion about your answer, and it was just kind of including myself. Not letting myself leave me out by myself. And then, like a typical Aspie, I told them about my 'huge' discovery, to which they just nodded like it was obvious! You include yourself in the activities of the group that has already accepted you somehow!

To give you an example: school is over everyone is heading to the parking lot and you hear someone in your group saying to the guy next to him "hey, let's go grab some pizza and go play pool at my place".
Guy next to him goes "sure, sounds good".
Guy next to you goes "yeah, that'd be cool"
andyou're left out.
Thing is, you just missed your cue to include yourself! After guy 3 it was your turn to say somethink like
"shotgun" (silly expression in the 80's to claim copilot seat, dont know if still in use),
or something like "I'll bring the beers" (or sodas, or chips or whatever your group likes in common),
or anything along those lines that lets them know you also feel included.

I know, it's hard to believe and doesn't make much logical sense. It actually felt a bit like trespassing, but thats the NT way if you analize it. Unless it's a gathering that involves physical (or e-mail) invitations and If it's the group you kinda hang out with at school, you're the one supposed to include yourself.

They even see your not including yourself as being aloof and uninterested in what they do, so they conclude you don't even want to go. If you study them a bit, you'll come to realize that there's rarely a direct invite from any porposer of 'the plan' to all those included. Give it a shot, it's one less barrier that you'll eventually learn to cross in the everlasting effort to communicate with these bewildering but interesting NT beings ;)



Atreides
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29 Jan 2011, 1:27 am

that is very well put.



rocknrollslc
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29 Jan 2011, 3:36 am

fburzaco wrote:
When I was a teenager I made it my special interest to have friends, so I made it NT's my main interest of study. Then I chose the hippest group as a challenge, decided to fit in. WHOA!, what a trip it was, but I somehow succeded. I remember coming to a conclusion about your answer, and it was just kind of including myself. Not letting myself leave me out by myself. And then, like a typical Aspie, I told them about my 'huge' discovery, to which they just nodded like it was obvious! You include yourself in the activities of the group that has already accepted you somehow!

To give you an example: school is over everyone is heading to the parking lot and you hear someone in your group saying to the guy next to him "hey, let's go grab some pizza and go play pool at my place".
Guy next to him goes "sure, sounds good".
Guy next to you goes "yeah, that'd be cool"
andyou're left out.
Thing is, you just missed your cue to include yourself! After guy 3 it was your turn to say somethink like
"shotgun" (silly expression in the 80's to claim copilot seat, dont know if still in use),
or something like "I'll bring the beers" (or sodas, or chips or whatever your group likes in common),
or anything along those lines that lets them know you also feel included.

I know, it's hard to believe and doesn't make much logical sense. It actually felt a bit like trespassing, but thats the NT way if you analize it. Unless it's a gathering that involves physical (or e-mail) invitations and If it's the group you kinda hang out with at school, you're the one supposed to include yourself.

They even see your not including yourself as being aloof and uninterested in what they do, so they conclude you don't even want to go. If you study them a bit, you'll come to realize that there's rarely a direct invite from any porposer of 'the plan' to all those included. Give it a shot, it's one less barrier that you'll eventually learn to cross in the everlasting effort to communicate with these bewildering but interesting NT beings ;)


hmm. sounds like you did one hell of a job. people do still say shotgun, btw. and in montana, some even challenge shotgun by pulling down their pants, yelling "challenge", and then running to the car before the other person does the same! ...but that could just be brother and his friends...........haha

anyway i understand this NT business and a lot of other NT biz on an intellectual level, but my mind doesn't work like that on the fly...maybe i could train it though...kinda like my adhd...



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29 Jan 2011, 3:44 am

I think it's just all about the way you present yourself in general. You'll probably need to learn more social skills before being invited by people other than close friends.



richardbenson
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30 Jan 2011, 1:02 pm

I really dont know. its such a gamble, using the internet to meet anyone. mostely because people just dont ever follow through with anything. so I guess you could say its just because there lonely and want to talk and not actually meetup


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Non_Passerine
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30 Jan 2011, 7:26 pm

Okay, but I have two questions:

I know the situations vary, but how can I come up with ideas to invite people to places?

If a few friends talk about going somewhere without including you, wouldn't you asking to go along be sort of invading their time? Is it impolite to tag along?



fburzaco
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30 Jan 2011, 11:49 pm

nope! if its the group you hang oput with, its usually expected for you to tag along. And of course, you should sometimes be the one to come up with a plan, or invite them to your place or whatever... (the activity depends on your location & age group really)... from bowling, movies, pizza, bar, bonfire, beach, billiards, swimmingpool, barbecue, etc., etc.
It's considered rude if you seem not to join your group and therefore are tagged aloof, strange, distanced, so on



Nereid
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31 Jan 2011, 2:46 am

fburzaco wrote:
When I was a teenager I made it my special interest to have friends, so I made it NT's my main interest of study. Then I chose the hippest group as a challenge, decided to fit in. WHOA!, what a trip it was, but I somehow succeded. I remember coming to a conclusion about your answer, and it was just kind of including myself. Not letting myself leave me out by myself. And then, like a typical Aspie, I told them about my 'huge' discovery, to which they just nodded like it was obvious! You include yourself in the activities of the group that has already accepted you somehow!

To give you an example: school is over everyone is heading to the parking lot and you hear someone in your group saying to the guy next to him "hey, let's go grab some pizza and go play pool at my place".
Guy next to him goes "sure, sounds good".
Guy next to you goes "yeah, that'd be cool"
andyou're left out.
Thing is, you just missed your cue to include yourself! After guy 3 it was your turn to say somethink like
"shotgun" (silly expression in the 80's to claim copilot seat, dont know if still in use),
or something like "I'll bring the beers" (or sodas, or chips or whatever your group likes in common),
or anything along those lines that lets them know you also feel included.

I know, it's hard to believe and doesn't make much logical sense. It actually felt a bit like trespassing, but thats the NT way if you analize it. Unless it's a gathering that involves physical (or e-mail) invitations and If it's the group you kinda hang out with at school, you're the one supposed to include yourself.

They even see your not including yourself as being aloof and uninterested in what they do, so they conclude you don't even want to go. If you study them a bit, you'll come to realize that there's rarely a direct invite from any porposer of 'the plan' to all those included. Give it a shot, it's one less barrier that you'll eventually learn to cross in the everlasting effort to communicate with these bewildering but interesting NT beings ;)


I wouldn't dispute this is a nice chunk of info on how to possibly include yourself, although it seems like you have exceptionally honed in on the social cues most of us on this site have been oblivious to. If you're not comfortable in large groups or parties, this sort of thing could totally backfire on someone not in charge of their situation such as yourself. Example a: me. I get super flustered dealing with large groups of people and haven't mastered my social subtlety studies such as yourself. I could probably do the "tag along" line but then I'd be wracked with nervousness the rest of the time in the unfamiliar circumstance.



fburzaco
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31 Jan 2011, 11:44 am

You are right Nereid, and it does backfire a bit because the inner nervousness never really disapears, it just diminishes. But the 'not really knowing' will always be there. Thing is, it all becomes sort of an act of blind faith. from the tagging-along to the do-theyreally-like-me part, its all a leap of faith and scary as hell especially if you were bullied a lot as a kid like I was. But it pays if you as me.

For me it was a cost-of-opportunity case scenario. Do I want to hang out with my 'friends' in order to really make better friends out of them and all get to know each other better, or do I want to feel absolutely safe. Choosing one will mean you foresake the other a bit. It's a risk, but if you want to develop those social skills its the only way. Skydiving felt like this in many ways, hehehe. That's not to say it's for all, but I've read many aspies like doing things rather than chat about them. If someone tried to explain me all the social cues, I still wouldn't get them (And I'm sure they were explained to me several times by elders) But I onlyu learn while doing, its there that I find the pattern and once that happens I trust it, and then dare myself to copy it

I wish I could make the fear go away, for me and for you and for all of us. But its there, and we have to learn how to manage it so it doesn't prevent us from doing what we want. :)



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31 Jan 2011, 12:53 pm

fburzaco wrote:
When I was a teenager I made it my special interest to have friends, so I made it NT's my main interest of study. Then I chose the hippest group as a challenge, decided to fit in. WHOA!, what a trip it was, but I somehow succeded. I remember coming to a conclusion about your answer, and it was just kind of including myself. Not letting myself leave me out by myself. And then, like a typical Aspie, I told them about my 'huge' discovery, to which they just nodded like it was obvious! You include yourself in the activities of the group that has already accepted you somehow!

To give you an example: school is over everyone is heading to the parking lot and you hear someone in your group saying to the guy next to him "hey, let's go grab some pizza and go play pool at my place".
Guy next to him goes "sure, sounds good".
Guy next to you goes "yeah, that'd be cool"
andyou're left out.
Thing is, you just missed your cue to include yourself! After guy 3 it was your turn to say somethink like
"shotgun" (silly expression in the 80's to claim copilot seat, dont know if still in use),
or something like "I'll bring the beers" (or sodas, or chips or whatever your group likes in common),
or anything along those lines that lets them know you also feel included.

I know, it's hard to believe and doesn't make much logical sense. It actually felt a bit like trespassing, but thats the NT way if you analize it. Unless it's a gathering that involves physical (or e-mail) invitations and If it's the group you kinda hang out with at school, you're the one supposed to include yourself.

They even see your not including yourself as being aloof and uninterested in what they do, so they conclude you don't even want to go. If you study them a bit, you'll come to realize that there's rarely a direct invite from any porposer of 'the plan' to all those included. Give it a shot, it's one less barrier that you'll eventually learn to cross in the everlasting effort to communicate with these bewildering but interesting NT beings ;)



I find this very interesting. I do not consider myself to be quite on the spectrum, but I've always been a bit of an outsider, and wondered how people get included in groups and make friends. I have never done what you just described, because it really does feel like trespassing. After all, if the people had wanted me to come, wouldn't they look at me? I'm sure if I were interested in inviting a few people to do something, I'd make a point of looking at each person, as if to say, "I'm including you in this invitation. Are you interested?" If they don't specifically include me, then I automatically assume that they don't consider me part of the group, and don't want me there.

I do kind of have a feeling that it might be different for girls/women. At least in a general sense. Girls and women seem more cliquey and exclusive, in my experience. And more likely to cruelly reject someone who invites themselves like that. I'm female, and I've noticed that it's much easier to include myself in a group of guys than a group of girls. (At least at a younger age. Now I'm middle-aged with kids, and don't really have those kids of social situations at all.)