Autism and Friendship

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters where we are diving into the ocean of truth. I’ve been writing lately on Autism Awareness Month and wanting to give an insider’s perspective as one with Asperger’s. Tonight, I’d like to look at the topic of friendship and Asperger’s.

I can safely say I have a number of good friends. If I take a look at our wedding photos for instance, the people that I had fill various positions in the party such as my groomsmen were examples of friends, and of course there was my best man who was the one I was a roommate with before I got married.

Each of these friends means something quite special to me and each of them ranks above acquaintances. To be sure, there are people I can interact with who I would consider acquaintances, but the people that I am thinking about have managed to earn a higher position than that.

It could be odd to hear about someone earning such a position, but such it is in the world from this point of view. We have to have someone’s trust before we can really let them into our world but once they’re in, they get to see a whole lot more than they thought they would at times. My friends have become the people that I count on in a bind.

In the short time that we’ve been married for instance, I’ve had to have surgery. In that time, I counted on a friend to get me to the hospital and get me back home and some friends were there when I woke up. When I fell on ice shortly afterwards due to bad snow here, it was some friends who were there who immediately took me to the urgent care clinic.

These friends are also always there for the good times as well. We have the friend that comes over regularly that we watch Smallville with every Friday night. We have the friends that I try to get together with every Sunday night if I can to get in some time on the Wii. My best man and I regularly communicate on apologetic issues through the medium of gmail chat and at school and church.

Speaking of the church, the church family has been especially helpful. Mine and my wife’s condition have been understood and people have encouraged us. (Interestingly, our church has only been around a few years and I was the first member of the church to get married rather than join as a married already.) Several women have also surrounded my wife and been a friend to her and helped her through many situations.

I also have to mention friends that I know mainly through the medium of the internet. I plan to write exclusively some time on the internet and autism, but some of these friends I have got to meet and it has been good to get to make a phone call to them in a time of need or just to chat for a little bit.

One thing you can be certain about us is that when you make a friend of us, you definitely make a friend and we are the kind who will do anything for you. My friends know that I can be very sarcastic with them at times, but also that when push comes to shove, I’ve always got their back. I’m very pleased as an Aspie to say I have made enough friends in this world that I can always be sure I have someone if needed and I hope I can repay the favor to them when they need me.

So in closing, thanks for and to my friends!

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