As a person suffering from Asperger syndrome, as well as major clinical depression and complex PTSD, I'd say that loneliness describes one of my major struggles in life quite well. I can't speak for everyone, but I have a hunch that your assessment of loneliness is pretty damn near universal to the autistic community.

I think there are a number of reasons for this. Sure, it's been said that autistic people struggle with social skills. I know that damn well. My dad was out of my life for much of my childhood, and mother was too busy beating me senseless and lying about me to psychiatrists to teach me the basic set of skills that everyone else takes for granted. I'd say that the fault is also on society as a whole, for demonizing the disenfranchised and weak; either outright bullying them, or patronizing them and taking them for emasculated r***rds with no capacity for legitimate emotion or critical thought, and therefore it's as if they're of no worth (both of which has been the case in my life).

How can anyone expect me to already know what was never taught to me? And besides, much of that **** I don't need to know anyway. But basic compassion, understanding, and respect are things that every human being deserves, and things that I see are denied far too often. Just as one example out of many (and it's probably not a very good one), you'll often hear about 'nice guys' being demonized and mocked just because they're honest and compassionate people who are looking for a romantic relationship. The implication is that they're all 'creeps' or 'stalkers'. While it very well is true that a lot of assholes use these tactics to take advantage of others (which is extremely messed-up in its own right), the implication is that they don't know basic social skills, and deserve to be denied things that everyone else takes for granted - as if they had any choice in the matter.

I think society needs to be a more compassionate and understanding place. It seems as if liars and sadists rule the world and have free reign to abuse whoever they please and get off scott-free, and when their victims call them out on their horrible deeds then all of a sudden they are the bad guys. No one should be surprised when the oppressed push back.

Maybe I'm not suffering from Asperger syndrome after all - maybe I'm suffering from asshole world syndrome.