Actually, I think it goes back to the mind-blanks thing. Most people that call me ask a dozen questions, and if I'm under a lot of pressure to answer... it causes me to panic a lot more. I need time to be able to think about my answers, but there are also times when the person on the phone might not have time for that. A lot of my autism deals with the lack of processing when comes to the input and output of information.
Yeah, my social skills used to be really bad as a child. I used to spend more time focused on picking at rocks or swinging by myself at school then interacting with my peers. However, I also go to this anime convention once a year. It has helped me be more interactive with other people who like anime as much as I do. My mom also goes with me and stays with me in case I have one of my meltdowns. She often serves as a caregiver type of person when it comes to my needs.
The only problem I have with being social is when I have engage it. In other words, I fear going up to someone, even online, and saying "hey" because I worry that person will shrug me off or something like that. D: I also notice that my social skills are awkward. I'll randomly start talking to people without ever saying hi to them or whatever. I guess this would be considered lacking in small talk first.
I actually do a lot better than most people who have autism. The problem with this though is that people don't take my condition seriously. I have so many problems with my emotions and all that. One little trigger, and I could explode like a volcano at any second. At one time, I was at the hospital for chest pains. This nurse wanted to give me an IV, and she seemed really ignorant. Well, she comes in with the stuff for the IV, and I shot off the bed like a rocket and started screaming and sobbing in terror. My mom told her about me being autistic, and this woman had the nerve to say something like, "but she can communicate". Like, she was implying that I couldn't autistic because I was able to communicate better than most. To make matters even worse, this nurse had gotten two security gaurds who were going to hold me down to give me the IV. My mom drew the line there after calling my dad... and my dad told her to get me the hell out of there. We ended up refusing treatment and walking right out.
My autism tends to be a little more mild because there are days when I can act as normal as possible. Yet, there are other times when my autism will show. Like, at the convention I told you I go to? Well, the manager of it won't do anything to accommodate me. So, in order to get the front row seating or be first in line, my mom and I have to get there an hour to a half an hour early. I hate long lines because they cause me great anxiety. Plus, my mom has problems of her own and uses a wheelchair. As for having to be in the front row, this is also mandatory for me because if I'm sitting in back of someone, I have a hard time processing because my ability to process what's going in is blocked by someone's head.
I've tried to find someway to convince him he's in the wrong, but I've gotten nowhere. I did talk to this place on Tumblr about disabled cosplayers, and even the one running it agrees that the manager is wrong to deny me proper accommodations. D: It doesn't matter though because my mom and I found way to accommodate for this on our own. I like going to this convention because it's fun, and I get the chance to cosplay characters I like. This year, I'm cosplaying as Leafa from Sword Art Online.