Making friends

[Merlin]

Heyo I’m new here and from England , I’ve got autism which affects my social skills and for most of my life I’ve been happy just being by myself in my room reading books or going out on trips by myself but finding recently I’ve got this longing of just wanting to talk to people? I’ve tried with people in my congregation to no avail .. I don’t know if it’s a stupid thing to ask but is there anywhere I can go to meet new brothers and sisters ? Like a discord server or zoom chats or just anything , I’m trying to go to different congregations but the days between going are just incredibly lonely and I don’t exactly know how much longer I can cope with these feelings even while praying for help 

[Dages]

Hi Jathanael, there is no discord nor chat, but you are welcome here.
How is your preaching group ? Have you tried chatting with your Group overseer about this?

[Merlin]

8 minutes ago, Dages said:

Hi Jathanael, there is no discord nor chat, but you are welcome here.
How is your preaching group ? Have you tried chatting with your Group overseer about this?

Preaching group is alright , mostly consists of older ones which I’ve tried talking to and getting to know but it’s more acquaintances than friends. Also have talked to a elder or two and they’ve mentioned going to a few other congregations too to see what happens

 

just really struggling atm as it feels like there’s a void in my chest and the silence in my place at night is killing me  

[Friends just call me Ross]

4 hours ago, Merlin said:

Heyo I’m new here and from England , I’ve got autism which affects my social skills and for most of my life I’ve been happy just being by myself in my room reading books or going out on trips by myself but finding recently I’ve got this longing of just wanting to talk to people? I’ve tried with people in my congregation to no avail .. I don’t know if it’s a stupid thing to ask but is there anywhere I can go to meet new brothers and sisters ? Like a discord server or zoom chats or just anything , I’m trying to go to different congregations but the days between going are just incredibly lonely and I don’t exactly know how much longer I can cope with these feelings even while praying for help 

 

Welcome to JWTalk! 👋

A couple of our members hold regular Zoom chats.  They are a lot of fun and very informal.  Feel free to pop on sometime. 👍  

 

https://jwtalk.net/topic/49890-lynns-zoom-chat/

 

https://jwtalk.net/topic/49956-qaplas-zoom-chat/

Edited July 1, 2023 by Friends just call me Ross
CANNOT edit messages on my android phone

[Frances Bennett]

Hi Jathanael,

 

Where are you from in England? I'm in England too, just outside of London - near Croydon.

 

How old are you? 

 

I have teenagers and we know quite a few young ones who use discord servers to keep in touch.

 

What sort of things are you in to? I might be able to point you in the the direction of some others into the same things.

 

 

 

 

[Merlin]

1 hour ago, Friends just call me Ross said:

 

Welcome to JWTalk! 👋

A couple of our members hold regular Zoom chats.  They are a lot of fun and very informal.  Feel free to pop on sometime. 👍  

 

https://jwtalk.net/topic/49890-lynns-zoom-chat/

 

https://jwtalk.net/topic/49956-qaplas-zoom-chat/

Wont let me click those links unfortunately 

[Merlin]

23 minutes ago, Frances Bennett said:

Hi Jathanael,

 

Where are you from in England? I'm in England too, just outside of London - near Croydon.

 

How old are you? 

 

I have teenagers and we know quite a few young ones who use discord servers to keep in touch.

 

What sort of things are you in to? I might be able to point you in the the direction of some others into the same things.

 

 

 

 

I’m 22 and in Northamptonshire , snowboarding , gaming , walks & travelling around 

[Hotteok]

Answer 1 : Most people are you like you whether they have autism or not, they just stick to what they have, their friends, family or cong and do their best to get along well with them forever until Armageddon comes.

 

Answer 2 : Some people leave where they live and move to other areas to make more friends. But then, soon you'll face answer 1 problem again though.

 

Answer 3 : Maybe you might need to marry and find someone who is the one for you. But then again, this is a challenge in this system of things and you might not be able to accomplish it. 

 

 

[carlos]

30 minutes ago, Hotteok said:

Answer 3 : Maybe you might need to marry and find someone who is the one for you. But then again, this is a challenge in this system of things and you might not be able to accomplish it.

 

Timothy, not very good advice in that post and not very encouraging either. There are many ways to get to know brothers and sisters and make friends, online and in person.

 

3 hours ago, Merlin said:

Wont let me click those links unfortunately 

 

For safety reasons we require members to make a few posts before being able to access the Zoom chats. So try again after you have made a few more posts. Those Zoom chats may be exactly what you are looking for, Jathanael.

[Frances Bennett]

6 hours ago, Merlin said:

I’m 22 and in Northamptonshire , snowboarding , gaming , walks & travelling around 

 

Hmm I think I might know just the group to link you up with.

 

There's a group of 18-25 year old in the three congregations that share our hall that might well be just right.

 

I saw a group of 9 of them off this morning at 4am to do 'the three peaks challenge' (link below) When they come back tomorrow I'll have a word if you like 👍 

 

https://www.threepeakschallenge.uk/national-three-peaks-challenge/timing

 

 

[TheKid23]

I’m Autistic too and live in South Wales

Making friends has always been really tough for me too, especially people my own age. I still struggle with feeling of missing out on fun that others have- particularly when I see on social media that a group have been out having a good time and I wasn’t invited 😢

 

I found that not limiting myself to bros/sis my own age and widening out has made a massive difference, some friends I have now are old enough to be my parents, or even grandparents but they’re the bestest friends I could ever have. 
 

it can be really difficult when you 1st start but working with different people on the ministry helped me a lot too. Sometimes it felt like I don’t have anything in common with others but then I realised we all have our love for Jehovah in common, and what better thing could there be? 
just asking others simple questions about how they came into the truth etc can open up some really good and interesting conversations. 
 

 

[Jwanon]

If you ever come to France we can spend time together  😁

[Sete]

On 7/1/2023 at 5:03 AM, Merlin said:

Heyo I’m new here and from England , I’ve got autism which affects my social skills and for most of my life I’ve been happy just being by myself in my room reading books or going out on trips by myself but finding recently I’ve got this longing of just wanting to talk to people? I’ve tried with people in my congregation to no avail .. I don’t know if it’s a stupid thing to ask but is there anywhere I can go to meet new brothers and sisters ? Like a discord server or zoom chats or just anything , I’m trying to go to different congregations but the days between going are just incredibly lonely and I don’t exactly know how much longer I can cope with these feelings even while praying for help 

In my case, I always had problems with having friends in congragation, in childhood I tried to make friends with the children but it never really worked, I think they didn't like me very much. So I just had friend from the world, but it affected my faith that, even today I have some problems, but because I no longer have contact with them I finally manage to evolve spiritually. Something that has helped me a lot is going out more in the field, I still feel a little empty because I don't have friends "my age", but my brothers are good company. I've been making friends from nearby congregations, since mine doesn't have people of my age (19yo). You can make some friends on the internet too, if you want, you can have my discord (Setcntos), I don't speak English very well, but I guess I'm pretty spiritual, so maybe that can work. But be careful, there are some "brothers" on the internet that aren't spiritual, sometimes they arent even brothers.