u/Immediate_Act8617

I am 18 living in Ontario. I was diagnosed with autism in 2019, I also struggle with severe anxiety and depression which has affected many things in my life including my social skills and my independence most of all. I heavily rely on support people when I am out in public, at school, etc.

I just turned 18 in March, but I still rely on my parents for everything. I don’t have my own money which makes it difficult when I need things and makes me feel bad considering we are already living in a low income household.

I want to be able to work so I can gain more independence, and also so I will have something to keep myself occupied once I am finished school.

I would not do well in an environment where I have to work directly with the public, as my social anxiety is a barrier and I just don’t do well around lots of people in general.

I also get overwhelmed and overstimulated really easily and I worry about being in an environment where people wouldn’t understand me and I can’t get out of.

If anyone has any advice at all anything helps!

So i am 17F, when i was in elementary school (this was in 2020, so i was 9 or 10 and he was 7 or 8.) i was in schools that helped with behavioural issues and learning disabilities (i was undiagnosed at the time) I made friends with this boy who is severely autistic, i was kind of like a mentor to him. Our families got really close, they were like a second family i couldn’t imagine life without them. I stayed with them for a whole summer while i was waiting on my autism diagnosis as it was comforting to be in a household with people that understood.. In 2022 their mom passed away. It was devastating, and at this point i feel me and him and his sister are trauma bonded.I still stayed as i was trying to help this boy grieve because i knew he didn’t quite understand but the one time while i slept over with his sister, the next day he came in to the room ( he was 11 or 12 now, i was 13 or 14) to watch tv, and while she was gone he grabbed my breasts and he said and i quote “I like your boobs.” I laughed it off for years thinking he didn’t understand what he was doing, he’s an autistic boy going through puberty.. he’s probably feeling a lot of things that he doesn’t understand. So i sat with it for all these years, and i just let it go until last month when i went to visit him and his sister and he looked at me dead in the eyes, pointed at my chest and said “I like those” and put his hand on my thigh. I froze and again, i just let it go..

Recently I’ve been struggling a lot mentally and this has been a big part of it. I feel as if it’s somehow my fault for getting to close with him. It hurts to think about cutting them off because of the things that have gone on but i worry about it happening again and worse.

Am i thinking too much about it?
Is this even valid considering he probably didn’t even know it was wrong?