Lrts continued: I also stand by what I said before about some of you guys mistaking social anxiety symptoms as neurodivergent symptoms. Like as someone with adhd, autism, and used to have severe social anxiety, I can tell you that if you aren’t anxious about social cues, it

becomes way less of a big deal. If you make a mistake interpreting what someone says or not catching a joke, most of the time people WILL accommodate / explain things, and then you’ll know the next time. It becomes WAY easier when you learn joke telling patterns to catch jokes

Also like.... after finishing secondary school, most of the time if you’re kind of weird, people are more drawn to you and like you more. I take some stuff people say seriously, and it actually creates conversation? Or we have a laugh about it TOGETHER, not at my expense

Also it does no harm to ask for clarification. People usually are happy to explain things to you. If they aren’t? They’re a dick. It’s not your fault. Most of the time if you confirm things people tell you / bring it up again, they’re thrilled you were thinking about it more

I’m not perfect at social cues, but I usually take it as “I’ll remember this next time” so that I can think back and apply it to later situations. Plotting out social rules / instructions really helped me work around my awkwardness and awful social cues before college

This is long and ranty but; if you need any help with basic layouts to social cues, it’s not creepy or weird or anything. You’re a normal person

Learning this stuff takes so much time and effort and I’m so proud of you whatever step along you’re at. If you need more time, please be patient with yourself