Social loss
Something I've read a lot about discovering one's autistic self is to be prepared for a complete shift in social circle.
If I'm being honest... I'm not sure I'll ever be ready for that. The friends I have are *good* people, who I love and who love me, and who have put up with an admittedly outsize amount of crap from my disregulated, shame-filled self.
They're my primary support network. It'd be great to have more autistic friends I can just... vibe with. But we've put effort into these relationships, and value them. I'm concerned that it really will cause such a shift, as they're my primary support network.
Sorry to be a forever, it's just been on my mind. Have you had any experience keeping friends through DX / discovery? #actuallyaustic
Social loss
Honestly, I didn't lose any friends when I realised I was autistic. They just all gradually realized they were Au/DHD too. Birds of an ND feather flock together, whether we know it or not...
That said, the one person in my life who MIGHT be neurotypical is actually my partner. He doesn't hit autism numbers on the tests, but all the people in his life are ND too so maybe he's got SOMETHING going on, we don't know. Anyway, what's important is we're still fine. If anything, my knowing I was autistic made things between us better, because we could navigate our relationship in a much more informed way.
I don't think your social circle *has* to shift, it just can, especially if your social circle is not currently accommodating or supportive of your ND traits. But it sounds like yours is. I don't think there's too much need to stress over it.
@loops I pushed away most people over the years, before my diagnosis, because of my social anxiety. Now I'm trying to reconnect and in some cases it's working and some peoople just don't believe me when I tell about my real self. I was masking my whole life, so I partially understand. What is there to say except: If their are your real friends, they will understand and stay with you. It's simple and it's true.