First-hand experience. I suspect I have ASD. With the help of some very kind friends and coworkers, I've learned to to a passable imitation of normal in many c

First-hand experience. I suspect I have ASD. With the help of some very kind friends and coworkers, I've learned to to a passable imitation of normal in many circumstances. For example, the clerk at the supermarket probably doesn't know, unless they try to share friendly banter with me. Having emotional reactions that are way outside "normal", and generally having a below average ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others causes major inconveniences. Being socially odd leads to accidentally hurting people's feelings, and being perceived as erratic and unpredictable. Sometimes I can pick up on social cues relatively normally, and other times I'm way out in left field, so I must be choosing to behave this way, right? I wouldn't necessarily want to just be normal and average in every way, but it would sure be convenient to have normal, average, social capabilities.