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How People With Autism Forge Friendships

By Lydia Denworth — 2020

Most autistic people want to and can make friends, though their relationships often have a distinctive air.

Read on www.spectrumnews.org

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Why an Autistic Person May Push for a Closer Friendship Right Away

Does your autistic loved one tend to overshare or overexplain? We don't mean to come off as desperate or creepy, we just connect differently.

Article
Jaime Heidel
2020
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An Autistic Teen Girl’s Tips on How to Make and Maintain Friends

Advice often means more when it comes from someone who has walked in your shoes. Perhaps these tips for making friends from an autistic teen will spark some inspiration!

Article
Siena Castellon
2021
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Friendships Pose Unique Challenges for Women on the Spectrum

Many autistic people have trouble making and keeping friends. This has led to the myth that they don’t want friends3. In reality, they long for friendships just like anyone else. But they face unique challenges in forming and maintaining them.

Article
Liz Pellicano
2017
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Autistic People Make Great Social Partners if You Actually Give Them a Chance

For many years, researchers have treated the individual traits and characteristics of autistic people as an enduring essence of their autism-- in isolation of the social context and without even asking autistic people what their social life is actually like. However, perspective matters.

Article
Scott Barry Kaufman
2020
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How to Make Friends As an Adult With ADHD, According to Our Readers

Learning how to make friends as a adult can be particularly difficult when you have ADHD. Readers share their real-world tips for striking up new friendships.

Article
ADDitude Editors
2021
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What Type of Friend Are You? How ADHD Influences Friendships

Whether you collect new friends easily or lean on a few, long-term friendships dating back to kindergarten, there’s no wrong way to build relationships. This is true especially for people with ADHD, who often report that their symptoms complicate, challenge, and color friendships.

Article
ADDitude Editors
2022
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The Challenge of Forming Female Friendships When You’re Autistic

Painful memories of childhood along with gendered social norms can make adult friendships more complicated for neurodiverse women.

Article
Marianne Eloise
2021
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ADHD and Relationships

If you have ADHD, you might find it hard to date, make friends, or parent. That’s partly because good relationships require you to be aware of other people's thoughts and feelings. But ADHD can make it hard for you to pay attention or react the right way.

Article
Hope Cristol
2021
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The Challenges Every Neurodiverse Woman Faces When Dating

Marianne Eloise knows what it is to be neurodiverse. Here, she unpacks the misconceptions that can make dating – and relationships – harder for autistic people

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Marianne Eloise
2021
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The Challenges of Neurodivergent Romantic Relationships

Forming relationships can be challenging when you have autism because you might not be the one to take the lead and engage with others.

Article
Delphine Martineau
2020
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EXPLORE TOPIC

Autism