I can identify so much with this. I had a horrific childhood, the least of which was being kept isolated from society. As an adult, I couldn’t understand why people avoided me. Gradually I began to realize that my childhood isolation had prevented me from being socialized properly. I had no idea how to interact with other people. Making friends was out of the question for me.

I’ve gradually learned a few social skills over my lifetime but I still wish that instead of condemning me, people would quietly take me aside and explain the niceties of civilized behavior to me. I don’t know how to convince people that I am not inerently bad, I just have no idea when I am doing or saying something that the rest of society considers unacceptable.