I have a casual friend who I still talk to that exhibits awkward social skills. There is nothing bad about her, I like her as a friend and vise versa. We've been friends for a few years and we get along so I have nothing against her in any way. I just sometimes wonder if this particular person has Aspergers or just lacks social skills. The reason is because I feel like I have to adapt how I converse with her in order to get her to understand what I may be saying and it is very hard for me to get her to talk about something else once she gets started on a certain topic, among other things.

I know Aspergers is just a milder form of Autism. She has some similarities to people who actually do have the disorder. Some of the similarities are being fixated on a single topic for a long time, conversations are very one-sided, she doesn't feel the need to make friends and actually prefers to be with family, and at one point, she had trouble understanding sarcasm. When I first met her, she was way worse. You could make a sarcastic remark about something and she would take it literally.

Even about the weather. Once it was a rainy day and I sarcastically said it was beautiful out, and she replied by saying no it isn't, it is actually rainy and crappy. Obviously she was right and i agreed, but she didn't get the sarcasm behind it. She was like that with other things as well, couldn't understand jokes at all and was extremely deep about things. Sometimes she would even talk about things that were considered inappropriate or may have seemed exaggerated.

She was never diagnosed with Aspergers, and I've seen people with Aspergers who are way worse so I don't know if she has it due to the similarities or if she just has very poor social skills, making it seem like she has it when she really doesn't. I don't care if she does, that is no big deal. Just feel like sometimes I have to adapt my conversations in order for her to understand what I mean when I say some things. She has improved a bit since we first met in college, but she still struggles a lot with jokes, sarcasm, and social cues.

There has been plenty of times when I would see her talking to someone else, and that person is showing obvious signs of annoyance or not wanting to talk to her and she would not be getting the hint at all. Even when I show since of getting tired of what she is talking about or something, she won't get it. And since she has these tendencies, I have been wondering how to work around these obstacles. Like, should I politely interrupt if she goes on about something for too long?

Does anyone have good tips on how to deal with someone who struggles socially to the point where it hinders their ability to make normal conversations? I've worked with people with Autism in a professional setting, but it is a bit different when it is someone you know from school and know them on a personal level. How do you react if someone you know struggles with getting jokes, sarcasm, and can't read social cues? Just seeing how other people deal with that stuff without coming off as rude and hurting the person's feelings.

There are some things that she doesn't do that are known to be a part of Aspergers. She does not need everything to be the same each time, she doesn't get anxious when there is a small change in her daily plans, she is flexible and can hold jobs with ease. It is just the social aspect that makes me wonder. I don't immediately assume she has Aspergers, it just makes me wonder if she does or not. Anyone else have experiences with people like this, whether it is professionally or personally? As I mentioned before, I don't dislike her due to her lack of social skills, and whether or not she has Aspergers doesn't dictate whether converse with her at times.

I just sometimes find some of her social behaviors and habits a bit off and when it comes to her not understanding something, I want to politely help her understand, but afraid it may come off as offensive. Same with her talking to someone else who is showing very obvious signs of annoyance. I want to be able to hint to her that she needs to stop talking to someone who is annoyed, or at least change the subject, but I don't know how to without being rude. Also she may say stuff that may sound rude to others, but she sees no problem in saying, especially if it is the blunt truth, which can be good and bad.