I never realised that for most people, hanging out is the activity
I am autistic, female 32, and diagnosed late in life.
when I was younger, if my friends arranged to meet up like go for dinner or something and just hang out, I never knew why we were there. Like what the purpose of it was. I was always wondering what we would be doing next or what the point of it was in general. There was this real sense of unknowing around the purpose of the social situation. I think this feeling probably lasted into my mid twenties.
I'm older now and know that its how people maintain social connections that are important to them. Has anyone else experienced anything similar. Now I'm comfortable just hanging out, but I definitely need a timeline on when the meeting/hangout is over.
It's so weird getting diagnosed so late in life and realising this feeling is likely a fairly autistic thinking pattern. Honestly, everything about me. Im good with maths, art, misinterpreting social ques constantly, and highly sensitive to noise, monotone voice, etc. And i was only diagnosed last year. It's so weird to recollect experiences constantly and think. Oh yeah, that was autism as a 32 year old woman. Even a year later.