Know your worth even if social stuff is hard for you

One thing I’ve had to learn the hard way as someone on the spectrum is this. I spent a lot of time wondering if I was good enough for other people. Am I saying the right thing Am I acting normal enough Am I being too much or too quiet That kind of thinking can mess with your confidence over time. Especially when you’ve had experiences where people misunderstood you, pulled away, or made you feel like you were the problem. But here’s a shift that actually helped me. Instead of constantly asking if I’m good enough for others, I started asking if they’re good enough for me. Do they respect how I communicate Do they try to understand me Do they have patience when I need a little more time Do they accept my differences instead of trying to change them That doesn’t mean expecting perfection from people. It just means recognizing that relationships go both ways. A lot of us in the autism community grow up feeling like we have to adjust ourselves to fit everyone else. Mask more. Explain less. Be easier to deal with. But that can get exhausting, and honestly it’s not sustainable long term. The truth is, the right people won’t require you to constantly shrink yourself just to be accepted. They’ll meet you halfway. Knowing your worth doesn’t mean thinking you’re better than others. It just means you understand that your needs, your boundaries, and your way of being matter too. If someone makes you feel like you’re always the one who has to change, it’s okay to question whether that relationship is actually healthy for you. For anyone who struggles with this, you’re not alone. It takes time to shift that mindset, especially if you’ve spent years feeling like you had to prove yourself. But once you do, it changes how you see relationships completely. You stop chasing acceptance and start choosing connections that actually respect who you are.