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Awkward Situations I Avoid Because I’m Autistic
I’ve got through life knowing that there are certain situations that I struggle with even though others seem to breeze through them without a second thought.
I’ve been around long enough to know that there is no easy way through them so it is best to avoid them altogether. It’s just part of the arsenal of coping mechanisms I have amassed through decades of being an undiagnosed autistic person still grasping at a thin thread of normality. Here’s some of my best.
Running into someone I haven’t seen for a while at the shops
I see them walking towards me in the street or catch a glimpse of them in the fruit and veg section. My immediate reaction is to avoid eye contact (not hard), change direction and suddenly become very purposeful in carrying out whatever put me in the unfortunate situation. It’s not until I’m away from the scene that I allow myself the exhalation of a crisis averted.
It’s nothing to do with whether or not I like the person. More likely than not, I like them a great deal. But a conversation with them right now is more than I can muster. It may have ended awkwardly last time and I don’t know how to pick up the messy threads and weave them back into…
