@m0minmd
Academically, I’m doing fine with my lowest mid-semester grade a B+. Once again, my problem resides socially. I have a counselor whom I don’t believe is helping me at all. so I might drop going to counseling for the semester. The reason for this is a personal disconnect between me and my counselor, and her one-size-fits-all advice isn’t dong me any good.
Hi @wizman631 I didn’t read the entire thread – just the first and last page. But I am glad to see that your parents finally agreed to let you double major in history and business economics! If you are on the spectrum, socialization is always going to be hard for you. Your counselor likely is not trained in helping people with ASD. Is there a social skills group near your campus? Any groups in the psych department? Is there a medical center that has ASD services? Can you ask your parents or one of your triplet sisters to help you find appropriate services nearby?
Just for some inspiration: I have two first cousins (brothers) who have high-functioning ASD. They are in their 30s. One has an MD/PhD from an Ivy and works at a well-known tech company. He has been married for about 10 years and has two beautiful children. His wife is not at all ASD – in fact, she has excellent interpersonal skills and is lovely. His brother, who is a lawyer, just got engaged to a lovely woman who also is quite sociable and has excellent social skills. Just wanted to give you some confidence that you won’t necessarily be alone!
@wizman631 Glad to read the academics are going well. Socially, Rome wasn’t built in a day. I like that you’re here talking on CC. As for your counselor, hopefully you chose to find another counselor. I don’t recall if she is through your school or your family insurance. But hopefully you’ll continue to move forward.
FYI. My S is a freshman. He sometimes sits with a group of people at mealtimes or sometimes he goes in by himself. He told me that after a few miserable solo meals that he would make it a point to go to people who are sitting alone and ask to sit with them. The only exception is probably breakfast, depending on whether he goes before class or after. So if a guy with a beard comes up to you and asks to sit with you, I hope you say yes. He might be my son. He isn’t a History major, but he loves history and obscure facts. You’re probably like him in that you’d be good on Jeopardy. Anyway, he’d try to strike up a conversation - sports, politics, religion, the weather - something. I hope you’d humor him and talk with him. I’d appreciate it.
@wizman631, Being reserved doesn’t make you a loner. My son is a commuter to a state school, which makes it more difficult to connect with people. One of his strategies was to look for classes that included a group activity component. His college has gen ed art classes that visit museums together, geology classes that go out in the field, theater classes that attend plays in a nearby city, etc. Traveling with people gives you time to chat and because you’re all doing the same thing, it gives you something to chat about.
Another strategy was to look for clubs that do active things, not passive. His favorite is one that takes field trips a couple Saturdays a month. When you’re thrown together with other people for an extended time, it’s easier to connect with them. If you can get involved in planning activities, that might help too.
Keep at it. You want to find the places that are good fits for you, but that can take time. My son was in his sophomore year before things started to gel for him. In the meantime, he kept his eye out for events that seemed fun and went to all of them he could find. Good luck. 
@brantly
I told her about my ASD and she is genuinely well-meaning. I guess it’s something else that is off? I am part of a peer mentoring program through my school’s Office of Accessibility Services, but there is no social skills group near my campus. And as far groups in the psych department go, what do you mean by that? And I don’t think a medical center is necessary for me.
@m0minmd
Again, it might be a while before I get a new counselor because the already-long waiting list carries over into the Spring Semester. And also, joining random strangers (who are mostly freshman while I’m a sophomore - most upperclassmen don’t go to the dining hall for meals since they are not required to after freshman year) who I will probably never see again isn’t exactly a thing for me. And I have tried it, it just hasn’t sat well for me.
@austinmshauri
I know being reserved doesn’t make you a loner. Being socially awkward, having few interests, and acting like a werido does. As far as traveling goes, that might be okay if I actually had a driver’s license. As far as active clubs go, we’re supposed to break into small designated groups once a month for this leadership training program, where we will be grouped with a more experienced student leader. Does that count? And right now would not be the best time to join other more active clubs since it is project and exam season right now (two more midterms within the next week). And there is an E-Board (President, Vice President, Treasure, Secretary, and Public Relations) that does the planning for the club, so that would be pointless since I’m not currently part of any E-Board. Overall, just being in group situations doesn’t make me very comfortable and even when I have a good time, it just isn’t instinctive to me to talk much with others.
I congratulate you all for trying to help me, but a lot of the advice that has been given comes off as really generic solutions, no offense intended.
Amidst projects galore and my counselor being unable to help me, I’ve decided to quit counseling for the semester and join the wait list or wait until group counseling opens up again in the spring semester.
I just hope things get better next semester. The only reason I haven’t been thinking about it lately is because I’ve been tangled in a web of schoolwork and projects.
Busy is good. Good luck in the next few weeks. You are in the home stretch now.
In other news, I was basically kicked out of counseling (as in they don’t want to deal with me anymore) because I had a rocky relationship with one of their counselors and assume another one won’t work. They want me to try outside sources (not sure if I can afford them) but I feel like it’ll be more of the same. I feel like there are lost causes in this world and I might be one of them.
You are never a lost cause. There are tons of self help books in addition to individual counseling that you might find helpful. You have to want to do the “exercises” involved in either approach. There is also learning to accept yourself and build on your strengths. It is up to you.
Can your parents help with this? Maybe they would be willing to help you research options through your medical insurance to find another counselor. It’s great that you tried the counseling center on campus, but that’s not working. Whether it was you or them or a combination doesn’t matter; what matters is finding someone who can help you recognize and build on the positive things in your life (and I know there are some, even if it doesn’t seem like it right now).
YOUR PARENTS NEED TO BE INVOLVED. It is clear that you need more help than anyone here can give you. I have seen the same people give you encouraging advice month after month and you don’t seem to listen. It is actually becoming distressing to read these posts and realize that you haven’t really heeded advice that well-meaning people are giving you.
I am not sure that you were “kicked out” of counseling because you assume no one there can help you. It may be true. I am going to be radical here and say you should not return next semester and that you should seek professional help with a psychiatrist. I very much sense that you are using this thread as an emotional crutch, and I feel deeply for you, but at some point you have to do more than ask strangers for advice. How do you want us to respond when you say things like “I am a lost cause”? What more can be said that hasn’t already been said?
I haven’t read through every single post, but it doesn’t seem that your parents have much knowledge of this. You must inform them of how badly you feel and you must tell them plainly that you need to seek some outside support because you can’t get what you need at the college. Your post is a clear cry for help, and the people who need to hear it are your parents, not strangers. I really wish you the best. Please talk to your parents right now. They probably have no idea how you really feel and will want to help you. Parents love their children. You do not have to believe that you are a lost cause. No one is a lost cause.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Closing thread. OP has received some very sound advice, but, bottom line, he needs to seek the advice of a professional. AFAIK, nobody here is a professional in this area, so it really is not fair to them to expect them to have the magic answers.