Been that way for almost 18 years.
I entered drama group when I was 18 (duh). It changed me. It made me come out of my shell and since then I never really think about what other people think of me.
They need to accept who I am, what I do, how motherfucking crazy I can be.
If they can't/don't want to, fine. There are others who do.
My point isn't that you have to take part in a play and it will help you, my (and everyone's) point is that you have to be confident in who you are.
Of course, all this is easy to say for us, and it's difficult to fully understand what you feel when you are with people, what it is that makes it so hard for you to be social.
But reading through the last few pages, there are some of us who do understand at least a bit.
Don't rush things. You said you used to be much worse, so there has been progress.
Keep working on that. But!
You will fail at one point or another.
I posted the following in the Awesome Stuff Thread some time ago:
There's nothing wrong with failing, you're gonna fail.
Don't give up. Keep trying.
Don't deny yourself your gift, and I'm not only talking about your passion for Pokémon.