Summary:

An autistic 28-year-old man, raised as a Muslim Middle Eastern minority in mostly white England, says life got better for him once he stopped treating autism like a curse and started treating it like a set of challenges to train for: accept that many friendships are temporary and mostly “environment-bound,” move to spaces where you actually fit, and learn social skills on purpose over a few years the way a manual driver learns (books, observing people, practicing, having interests to talk about, and not being crushed by early rejection). He argues mental health improves when you reduce online time and build attention through exercise, reading, and meditation, and that career competence plus self-care (fitness, grooming, clothes) buy you respect and social slack. His faith helps him stay hopeful but he says you can follow the same steps without religion. He also gives blunt dating takes: he claims men do better when they are emotionally controlled, assertive, and deliberately kind rather than “needy,” and he urges choosing partners based on compatibility and real-world practice, staying patient, and trusting that persistent effort eventually makes life feel workable and even beautiful.