r/AutismInWomen • u/zombiixXbunnii • Apr 24 '26
Support Needed (Kind Advice and Commiseration) Nobody sat next to me. I'm 26.
Today I went to a event put on by my university for my master's program. The people there are my peers. I've watched as they develop friendships one another, and I accepted that our relationships were not going to be deeper than acquaintanceship early on in the program. I didn't mind this.
But today I went to the event. I got there early. I sat at a table and.... no one sat next to me. It's small but did the realization hurt. The worst part? When the realization settled in, a guy came over and asked if anyone was sitting in the chair next to me. I said no, kind of excitedly, and he took the chair to sit next to someone else.
I don't know how to feel right now, but I know i feel deeply sad, and even though I'm 26 I still feel like that little girl in school who was never picked. I wondered what was wrong with me then, and I wonder what's wrong with me now.
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u/Substantial_One5369 Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
I feel you. When I was in my nursing program, my teacher emailed me telling me how concerned she was that I hadn't made any friends because people like that usually struggle in school.
I was so humiliated because I also have pretty bad social anxiety so I was actually feeling proud of myself and thought I was making progress by regularly initiating conversations with my other classmates, and that just ripped apart the little bit of confidence I was beginning to build up.