I wish I had a good answer… most of my life, I was raised by a single parent. I love my mom, but she’s no doubt also on the spectrum, and she was incredibly overprotective and wasn’t the best at managing her emotions. After I turned 18 and started community college, I really pushed for my independence. She didn’t do too well with this and was constantly telling me I wasn’t allowed to leave without her permission and set an arbitrary curfew for me. I pushed back, she got super upset, changed the locks on me one day, and I was forced to live in my car (until I totalled it), friends’ floors, and eventually a small shelter specifically for people struggling with mental health issues. I really hated that shelter since it was rigid and I had no privacy… I learned independence to survive. I’m in my 30s, living in my own, and I feel I’ll always be playing catch up. I wasn’t taught how to handle different life obstacles well or how to navigate my intense emotions, especially when it came to friendships, relationships, and work-life.

We’re semi-fortunate to have the internet and access to large amounts of information. I leverage it constantly to help me figure out and understand how to solve problems in my life. Obviously, research is important and not acting impulsively (not the easiest). For your question, I think figuring out what specific things you’d like to plan or research would be helpful!