ND relationships, 'friendship decay', advice 
I forgot the proper term for this, or where I first read about it, but it seems to be something that a lot of folks still aren't aware of: relationships work differently for a lot of ND folks.
It's just sort of *assumed* in society that if you don't talk to a friend for a long time, that the friendship "degrades"; they "become more distant" if you don't keep in contact with them.
But for a lot of ND folks (me included), especially autistic folks, this isn't how it works; relationships exist 'outside of time', they remain stable even if we've not talked to someone for a long time! They're still the same person, and our view of them doesn't change whether it's been a day or a year.
So, really: talk this through with your friends! Make sure that you're on the same page as to whether "friendship decay" is a thing that you both experience or not. It prevents a lot of anxiety and conflict down the line.
ND relationships, 'friendship decay', advice :boost_requested:
@joepie91 The only time I've had ND friendships experience this decay it's been because we spiraled thinking the other person was mad at us, usually due to misinterpreting some offhanded comment and not wanting to bother the other person. Otherwise it behaves exactly as you describe.
re: ND relationships, 'friendship decay', advice
@ellie Yep, a familiar issue... discussing this phenomenon with people explicitly has helped a lot for me there, though, to prevent that from happening
