Over the past several months, I have begun to accept the need to rely on others for support. This support is essential for navigating my day-to-day life. While I have parents and siblings to support me, it does not cover everything. My family is going through a lot with my father’s injury that he sustained last year. It is a different experience that has not totally brought me down. I need to have others to fill my social void. I also need to make sure that I am doing the best that I can do.

Natural supports can significantly aid in relating to the experiences of others with challenges. They also help in understanding your own experiences. It can also help you combat the loneliness you feel. This occurs when you can’t turn to others for support because they need to care for others. A common stereotype of being autistic is that we want to socially isolate and not be connected to others.

Nevertheless, that is not the case. The reality is that I want to have friends and others to connect with. I want to feel the experiences and companionship of others. Although we seem at times as autistic folks to not care about others’ feelings, this is a stereotype. There are times when we feel deeply about what others share with us. We just express our feelings about it differently.

We want to belong in a society that often has square pegs. Still, we are the round holes that just don’t seem to fit in the world. There are people who ‘get us.’ It takes investigative work to find and connect to them on our own level. It also takes being safe and patient to open up to them. As time goes on, we must accept them for who they are. We should recognize if they have their challenges, just as we have our challenges, wants, and needs. We must also understand the need to have boundaries. We need to recognize when someone is too much for us. It is important to back away if we need to.

Autistic people are human beings. They have feelings and emotions. They need companionship, often with those beside themselves, family members, or those they live with. We also want to connect with others. They do not necessarily have to be neurodivergent. They should just be human and care for us for who we are and for the right reasons. We do not have to connect with someone simply because another person believes they are a ‘good fit’ for us.

In the end, we must decide for ourselves as autistic people who is healthy for us. We must know who is not. We must invest our time wisely in connecting with those who bring us the energy we want. It is important to trust our gut instinct. We must know what we want in a friendship that supports us. It should bring us the energy that we need to have in our lives.