How to respond to a child? | Autism PDD

WhenMy Grandson Gabriel was 5 , his cousin Devin was born, 2 months later his little brother Gavin was born. Gabe is a very loving, sweet big brother to Gavin. When the little boys were 2 Gabe was trying to play with Devin like he does with Gavin, and of course Devin didn't know how, so he wandered around , not paying any attention to Gabe. Gabe came to me with tears in his eyes and asked, why doesn't Devin like me? It broke my heart

good luck, Mona

Grandma to Devin 3 yrs, ASD / SID

Hi there- Does anyone have a suggestion for me? I need a simple way to explain to an NT child why Ryan doesnt want to play with him/her, in a way that wont make them feel bad, but they will understand.

When Ryan is around NT kids he typically ignores them (and they try to follow him around). Usually, the child will ask me or their own parent why Ryan wont play with them. I never know how to reply to this. On the other hand, i dont want the kids to stop trying to engage him either. I know there are books you can buy for "friends of kids with an ASD", but i need something i can verbalize myself in the moment.

Thanks!

At the pre-school age, I have never found it necessary to say more than
"Jasper's really shy." It seems to be all the little kids need to understand.

hope that helps

When ds used to act like this (a few years ago), I would often say that my ds was kind of shy and sometimes needed some time to himself. All kids feel that way at times. I would also tell them what ds' current interests were and tell them to try to talk to him about one of those. I would help them and that way I could read if ds was interested or not. Sometimes that worked! Other times not so well... I would then tell the child to give ds some time and try again a little later - he still needed some time to himself.

I'm sure there are wiser people on the board who can word it better than I! But that is what we did...