if you’re friends with someone neurodivergent, please be direct (and no, not in a mean way) we don’t perceive & process things the same way a neurotypical would, we need direct communication.

i’ve had previous people in my past completely invalidate me and blame me for things that i would explain because of me being neurodivergent.

ex. as said above, i need direct communication, one of the things that has happened before is people getting mad at me because

they would be feeling bad, and when i would ask them what was wrong, they would say that they’re fine, and when you tell me you’re fine.. i’m going to believe you’re fine, even if you think that it’s obvious that you’re not! and then i’d later get blamed for not caring -

enough to notice that something was wrong. & since i didn’t notice, i was a bad friend

ex. 2: i’ve had times where people got mad at me, because i said something that they didn’t like for example, and they wouldn’t tell me why they were mad, they would just be passive -

aggressive and expect me to magically know what was wrong and what i did wrong. i didn’t know obviously. and later on that would give me bad anxiety when it came to interactions in general, i’d be hyperaware of everyone’s reactions and stress for it for days when i felt -

like something was off about someone & the reason to this was because i’ve had so many times, like the example above, where people get mad at me and then didn’t explain why, so i’d always be very vigilant and paranoid and think everyone was mad at me if something was off -

because i don’t get certain cues like a neurotypical would. & i would always state, that i need direct communication & to please not blame me for things that were never communicated, if i did something, to please let me know so i wouldn’t do it again.

i know a lot of people who are neurodivergent have experienced this as well, and lost friends because of it.

i’m also so thankful for my friends who help me out with social cues and who aren’t condescending about it

if you’re neurodivergent & want to add to this, like your own experiences, and feel comfortable if i add it to this thread, please feel free to do so!