Why I have no social skills -- what should I do?
I've posted experiences before but I think I should post the whole story:
I feel my parents were too successful in a way.
My parents came from an impoverished country and made their way to America. My dad (who has AS) became a math professor and my mom became a nurse.
My parents said that pencil-and-paper education was the most important thing in the world. They taught me social skills, but never emphasized the intrinsic value of them. As a child, I never played outside and only studied since I thought this was more important . I don't know how far I could have developed my social skills, but I consider myself to be AS since now I have an absence of them. My little brother has more developed social skills since he wasn't as good at school to begin with, so he needed to become more assertive in another way.
I did become interested in making some friends when I was 10. I made one friend, then he moved away, so I made a couple others. At 12, one of my new friends started making fun of me and calling me uncool. I found some new friends for the third time, but the same thing happened at 13.
I didn't want to go back to the world of just studying anymore. My parents said that to make new friends, I should join a club. From the way they said it, it sounded like an extra homework assignment. To this day, I haven't had a single hobby, not even a "nerdy" hobby. They also wouldn't let me join any club with misfits in it, since most of those people weren't "college-bound" or something like that, and I took their advice too seriously.
I started skipping school for the first two years and although I got others to turn in my assignments and showed up on test days, my parents were angry. I didn't even care since I saw no purpose in my life back then. Whenever I went to school, I would swear at the teachers and talk back (even to my fellow students!) because I didn't feel assertive.
I still managed to pull my grades up and get into college, but I still have no friends and only a mediocre (engineering) GPA. I've never kissed at 19. I don't know what should I do.
parents who are restrictive end up making their children over protected and the child becomes too cautious or too introvert
there is a world out there and we should learn how to deal with it and whether good or bad we should know how to create a balance
my parents were also very over protective but the strange thing was that they did everything they wanted to do their way
my father was a drunkard who played card games with money alongwith his drunkard friends, he was a chain smoker, he was packing his bags and going on trips with his drunkard friends but he would never let me stand on the balcony also, i wasnt allow to use the phone no incoming calls also allowed for me, i was suposed to dress up like a slob, i was not allowed to talk with neighbours either
and my mom expected me to behave in the same manner too
ultimately the result is here i am clinically depressed, struggling in life, loner, isolated, unsucessful in career
unsucessful in everything
_________________
The only thing right in this wrong world is
WRONG PLANET
KaminariNoKage
Pileated woodpecker
Joined: 1 Jun 2012
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Posts: 175
Location: In and Out of Reality
Ironically - I am going through the same thing (19 now, and in college with a shameful GPA). I did not desire friendship until about 2 years ago. Never have kissed either, but I honestly do not care about that since I am a hardcore aromantic-asexual.
A simple solution is actually to just start talking to people. Yes it is work. Yes it is a pain in the neck. Yes you probably will analyze every last syllable in the conversation later while banging your head against the wall because you sound like an idiot. Find ways to break your shell (you will be miserable, but hey, somethings hurt). Social skills take time and practice, especially for people with an ASD. If you want a friend - be a friend. How do you be a friend? Just be what you think a friend should be. Honest, silly sometimes, a good listener, etc.
A simple solution is actually to just start talking to people. Yes it is work. Yes it is a pain in the neck. Yes you probably will analyze every last syllable in the conversation later while banging your head against the wall because you sound like an idiot. Find ways to break your shell (you will be miserable, but hey, somethings hurt). Social skills take time and practice, especially for people with an ASD. If you want a friend - be a friend. How do you be a friend? Just be what you think a friend should be. Honest, silly sometimes, a good listener, etc.
Thanks, but only problem is who will be willing to talk with me?
My parents (especially my mother) were EXTREMELY overprotective to the point where I missed out on many social opportunities because I wasn't allowed to attend. I love my parents but have always resented the fact they interfered in my life so much. They meant well but all it did was put me even further behind most NT's (if that's even possible). Ironic how she did it to protect me yet I felt suicidal over it at one point. They even disapproved of 'nerd' things like D&D and wearing black saying they were evil and warped minds. As a semi-nerd this didn't bother me so much but nerds were my best chance at friends since I could relate to them so well.
Apologies for jumping in here but I have found whenever I acted like a friend, the other person was happy to accept my support but when the shoe was on the other foot they had no problem called me a whiner and distancing themselves from me. That's the main reason why I have no friends: they showed over and over again that they are only 'friends' for selfish reasons NOT because they cared. I get along good with people in general but know that if the chips are down, they can't be relied upon.
Actually my parents let me attend social opportunities but at the same time they made no effort in conveying that these opportunities were as worthwhile, if not more worthwhile, than schoolwork. They made it seem like extra homework :p. The club I wanted to join was the gay straight alliance because of the counterculture vibe but my parents said that "they were dropouts", and "did illegal substances". Indeed, I tried attending a meeting, and found out that they were actually right! Problem is, looking back, college people aren't so great either, and a college degree doesn't mean anything nowadays. A lot of the nerds I know played a lot of videogames, which would interfere with my ability to do the supposed schoolwork. The kids that got into good college from my school were "well-rounded" and preppy.
Apologies for jumping in here but I have found whenever I acted like a friend, the other person was happy to accept my support but when the shoe was on the other foot they had no problem called me a whiner and distancing themselves from me. That's the main reason why I have no friends: they showed over and over again that they are only 'friends' for selfish reasons NOT because they cared. I get along good with people in general but know that if the chips are down, they can't be relied upon.
That's true most of the time with me too. I've been reduced to one acquaintance who cares.
KaminariNoKage
Pileated woodpecker
Joined: 1 Jun 2012
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Posts: 175
Location: In and Out of Reality
Actually my parents let me attend social opportunities but at the same time they made no effort in conveying that these opportunities were as worthwhile, if not more worthwhile, than schoolwork. They made it seem like extra homework :p. The club I wanted to join was the gay straight alliance because of the counterculture vibe but my parents said that "they were dropouts", and "did illegal substances". Indeed, I tried attending a meeting, and found out that they were actually right! Problem is, looking back, college people aren't so great either, and a college degree doesn't mean anything nowadays. A lot of the nerds I know played a lot of videogames, which would interfere with my ability to do the supposed schoolwork. The kids that got into good college from my school were "well-rounded" and preppy.
Apologies for jumping in here but I have found whenever I acted like a friend, the other person was happy to accept my support but when the shoe was on the other foot they had no problem called me a whiner and distancing themselves from me. That's the main reason why I have no friends: they showed over and over again that they are only 'friends' for selfish reasons NOT because they cared. I get along good with people in general but know that if the chips are down, they can't be relied upon.
That's true most of the time with me too. I've been reduced to one acquaintance who cares.
Friendship is in general the most selfish of all things. We "want" someone to care about us, we "want" someone who accepts us for who we are. It becomes a Catch-22, a paradox of sorts. You have to play the NT game. They are better at reciprocity than us? Then that means they will be the ones more likely to "copy" us. Care about others - they care about you. Sad part of life is that turns out to be one of the biggest lies wee tell ourselves because it is all or none. People have come to me with their problems because I am "the only one that is nice to them" - I was a friend they could count on. Did I see them as friends? No. I still largely regard myself as a loner. And yet I have always wanted that kind of friend you see in the movies who comes crashing through the middle of a war zone to punch me in the face and shout "SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Do I believe that kind of person exists? No - because I have no faith in people. The only logical solution then is to be that type of person to other people, because that is the only thing left. Perhaps it is because I have actually been told one to many times that people do not care what I think, that I only have problems because I want them, that the reason I do not have friends is because of how I look/my personality, etc. I do not believe people care. I do not ask for help - if I do, I am on the verge of panic. So the true question perhaps is not "how do I make friends?" but "Why do I want friends in the first place?"
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