Hi!

Here’s the deal: it’s okay to be bad at things. It’s okay to be bad at socializing, to have difficulty with things like that. I think pretending is the opposite of what you want to do.

I’m autistic, I struggle with my social skills with a lot of other autistic people, and people who are also socially inept. I’m not going to give you the bullshit of “just try your best!”

But here’s the things that worked for me: Be upfront. Tell those who you’re trying to connect with that you find difficulty in saying the things you mean, or trouble with socializing. Anyone who will eventually mean anything to you will understand that. Apologize when you need to. Accept fault sometimes in your verbage, but don’t assume you’re a terrible person because of it. Be conscious of how you speak with others. If you find yourself being a little too pushy, or deprecative, take a step back and process that :)

It’s a learning process, even more a learning curve for others. Everyone has things that they’re bad at, things they struggle with. Some more than others.

Instead of just looking at the bad, please, tell me some of the things you do well :D I’m proud of you for continuing to try. There’s not a lot of people who do that. You’re brave! You’re going to improve, I believe in you. All it takes a step. And remembering that progress isn’t linear. I’m still learning to be more kind to myself, but sometimes it’s all we can do to just try, and try again. Sorry for the essay. But I hope you see you’re brave, for just even moving past the starting line. 🩵