I am a 25-year-old autistic male who is currently employed at a Salvation Army thrift store in Arizona. About a month ago, a 20-year-old female co-worker charged me with harassment because I developed a crush on her that eventually compelled me to go out of my way to contact her outside of work. Initially, I had been warned to back off when she reported to our boss that she was upset by my various Facebook posts about my feelings toward her and the fact that I had set my profile picture on there to an image of the two of us posing together at a work potluck for my birthday. Everybody thought these incidents were just simple misunderstandings and would blow over quickly. However, when she sprained her ankle and ended up missing a week of work, I ended up doing such things as dropping off a get well card at her apartment, messaging her privately a few times on Facebook despite the fact that we weren't friends on there at the time, and going through her mom, our boss, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend's place of employment to ask if I could see her for a bit over the weekend. I got out of control, she reported me to administration, and I was nearly fired for my actions.

The problem has been solved in the following ways:

1. My boss has changed our shifts so that the two of us avoid each other as much as possible. At first, my shift was over before hers began; now, the last hour of my shift overlaps with the first hour of hers.

2. When we are around each other, we've been told to ignore each other; it's not even recommended that we say "hi" or "bye" or even have work-related conversation with each other.

3. I have a job coach helping me out, plus my vocational rehab counselor stops by periodically.

The first couple of weeks of the transition phase were very difficult, but now it is getting easier and easier by the day. I developed a crush on this co-worker because I viewed her as friendly, cute, and sensitive. When I first started at Salvation Army, I was very shy and had almost no work experience, but she helped me to get comfortable and I thought she saw me as a sweet, innocent, and harmless guy. I felt like I could talk to her about almost anything, and she usually listened. Obviously, I read way too much into things.

Is there any hope for the two of us to interact normally again, especially if I show over a period of months that I have moved on and I haven't harassed her, or should I expect it to stay like this forever?

Leave her alone. You've already creeped her out with your stalking behavior. Besides, she has a boyfriend, she's completely off limits to you.

I tend to agree with the above, but there are 2 "hopes" I can suggest as a way to be workplace friends.

First, practice being sociable with everyone at work. Smiles, how are yous, a compliment on looks or job well done, share a bag of m&ms, pleasant comments on the weather or traffic or customers.
Second, you are articulate, and that's in your favor. If you really feel deep down that you have moved on, let it drop occasionally to others at work that you feel bad about going overboard with her and are over it.
The others are your testing ground.
Of course all this depends on how she feels, and if she doesn't want any of it, that's the end of the story. That you find out from your supervisor.
Take it s-l-o-w.

No there is no hope you will ever get to do ANYTHING with her. You crossed a line that should never be crossed and nobody can change the past.

So you forget her and move forward in your life... if you do otherwise you could easily find yourself in legal trouble.

Also... its always a bad idea to be more than just friends with coworkers. Save anything romantic for people that don't work the same place you do.

Any hope you have is FALSE, and for your own good you should accept that your out of control actions have put her out of your life, except as coworkers, forever. Then maybe moving on can be more than just a show with hopes for more later, it can be a reality, and you can live a better life for yourself without her.

You are very lucky your boss has handled it the way he did. Be thankful and move on.
You need to never forget to keep the workplace life separate from your romantic life as it can get very sticky. In todays world is not healthy to try to mix both.

I agree, you are lucky you still have a job. I would talk to your job coach about this. At the very most, you can compose a letter to her with your job coach's help. Let him decide whether to give it to her. In the letter leave it up to her whether she wants to entertain a normal workplace relationship. If she doesn't then drop it completely.

You are lucky to have a job, and not be in jail.

No there is no future chance with her,