recently diagnosed with questions

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I have just recently been diagnosed with aspergers. i have suspected that i had had this since 2007, but i have known something has not been right for a long time. i am 34 and have never been able to live on my own, never been able to hold down a job for any length of time longer than 3 months, i am unable to make friends or keep them, and when people talk to me i have a great deal of trouble understanding what they are trying to say.

i have some questions. according to books i have read a lot of aspergers folk can have successful lives. in general, do most people with aspergers have families, independent lives, careers, everything else that is considered 'normal' or is generally the minority that achieve these things? thanks.

I have no idea what the statistics are.

I have a job, my own place, but not much of a social life.

Got a job in academia, wife, two kids. A couple of friends. Don't want or need much more.

I (and many, many) other AS people are wildly functional and even downright wealthy. Some of us can make it in the world (think Bill Gates here) and others cannot. It is a spectrum and I think there is no "most" for this question. Despite all having the same general types of thinking issues, we are still all individuals.

I don't know where to find statistics on that either, but personally I have a career in a special interest with a lot of autonomy, a great working environment and very few constraints. Until I worked my way into that field, I seemed unable to manage life living on my own, whether I had money or not, so I'll venture to guess that finding work that suits you is about much more than financial success for Aspies. As for social stuff, when I was younger I didn't have too much trouble starting friendships, but I have always had issues maintaining them. It's interesting to note though that making friendships is much harder for me since I stopped drinking over a decade ago... admittedly, getting wasted helped me to initiate friendships, but made trying to keep them much worse. As for the rest, I've just gotten really good at pretending that I understand when I can ascertain that it's not important whether or not I actually do, although that is exhausting and leaves little time for much else.