Will he ever make any friends?

Yes, tho it takes a while, I really did not have any 'friends' until about 4th grade myself that I can recall. Their were neghboorhood kids, geographical convience that I would chill with, but not real true friends.

I think as you get older, you see it as a problem and with observation one can learn to interact and then eventually they will find success. Just takes a bit.

Now, even years after collage and school, I still maintain a good circle of friends (tho they will marry and have familes soon, so that will be rough) but they are indeed... friends.woodsman2539349.4763194444

My son is almost 13 and just made his first friend. We had tried very hard before that, but he wasn't interested. We have been very happy with this new friend.

Does school over any social skills for him. Adam used to have a teacher come out and try and include him with some of the kids in activiities and guide him, that helped some.

Hi and welcome to the board! My oldest son has Aspergers. He is 10 years old and in the 5th grade. He does have a couple of good friends at school who he eats lunch with and plays with at recess. However, it did take him awhile to get to this point.

When he was your son's age, he usually played alone at recess. He actually did this for the most part through the 4th grade. I honestly think that after being around kids in the classroom for a few hours, he just needed to have some alone time.

To help him socially, we got him involved in things like scouting and swimming. This year he is in the school band, and we are looking into an activity like Karate. When he was younger, I would take him to the park and follow him around, encouraging him to play with other kids. Anything to facilitate some interaction and build his confidence. He also has a social skills class at school which has helped a lot.

My 3rd grade nephew has a best friend with Aspergers. They have been friends since the 1st grade. This particular boy was able to find a true friend earlier than my son.

Hi

My four year old son (with suspected Aspergers) has just started mainstream school in England. At lunchtime they go out into the 'big' playground with all the other children.

I asked him today what he did at playtime and asked if he played with any of the other children. He said no, he just played by himself. It broke my heart to think of him running around by himself in this huge playground. I asked him why and he said he liked playing by himself. He seems perfectly happy with this but as he gets older I am sure it will be different and he will stick out just running around making up his imaginary stories and talking to himself.

For me personally it is the worst part of the whole Aspergers thing. I can cope with the outbursts in the hairdressers and the screaming and hiding from lawnmowers and such things. But I can't seem to accept him never having friends. It breaks my heart to think of him not having friends as it is so alien to me. I have always had friends for as long as i can remember.

Do Asperger's kids ever make friends. Is there anything that I can do to help him! Some words of support, encouragement would be very much appreciated..

Thanks

I've had close friends in my life, but they were few and far between. I had more acquaintances that thought they were my friends. I still get a, "Hi Mary," when I go back to the small town I went to high school in. These people remember me, but I have no clue who they are. I smile and try to escape as fast as I can becasue I just don't know who they are and they obviously know me. Very uncomfortable and awkward. In elementary school I had one friend all the way through. Her name was Carmen. In jr high I had no friends. I tried to make friends, but nothing ever clicked. High school was a little different. We moved to the town where my mom's family is from and I started going to school with my cousin who I'd known my whole life. She became my best friend and still is to this day. Then she married my mom's baby brother so she's my aunt now too. My abc aunt/best friend/cousin. Friendship is hard for me usually. The Internet has opened the world up. I can have a conversation with someone on the computer alot easier than I can in person. If I were responding to this question in person I'd probably say something like, "Friends are important and I have a few." Here it's easier. I don't have to look into you guys' eyes when I'm typing this, or worry that I'm going to be judged harshly. Sometimes happens on here, but judgment on here is alot easier to handle than judgment by the people you have to look in the eye.

I went to our local autism meeting this last week. It was the first meeting of the new school year, we don't meet in the summer months. A lot of the parents have older children with Aspergers. The kids come and meet with their friendship group...because this was the first meeting of the year we all met in the meeting room first because they were serving food...as kids were walking in they would shout and wave, some of the girls were hugging each other...the boys were high fiving...they all wandered to a back table, next to the one I was sitting at and were talking about all sorts of things...sports and computers...they were laughing and having a great time!

Now I don't know how it is for them at other times, but I can tell you that these kids were more than just a meeting group...they were definitely friends! I know they are older than your son, but I believe it will come for him! And my ds for that matter!!

It's been a little more difficult for my oldest, who is LD and does have some similarities to Aspergers, (not diagnosed). He's either too pushy, or too clingy, and tends to drive other little boys away.

He's been in counseling now for 2 years to learn how to fit in a little better, and it has helped, if just a little.

My son doesn't really have friends yet at age 9, but he has playmates and that's a start. He also has friendship-like attachments to his little brother and cousins.

My son was alone on the playground before school started today. My husband was there and talked to him about it. He said the other kids didn't always feel like playing chase (a very simple way for him to interact with them), and that he couldn't play the other kids' way because everyone had their own ideas (ie too hard for him to follow along, when the kids are bouncing ideas off each other, and "rules" change from one minute to the next).

This is typical for him at recess, too, and, like WiMom said, he needs a break from social demands after all the social and academic demands of the classroom. Maybe your son needs a break, too, but he might also need help learning how to initiate play. My son did at that age. You might try a social story. There are lots of free examples at the following topic on our forum:

http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=14154&am p;KW=sample+social+stories

Welcome to the forum, btw!

Depends what do you called friends. My son has kids he knows in the bus and they do their little talk here and there and he has classmates riding with him on bus and he knows their names and the kids say hi to him and hug him! Playmate he only has one and he is NT!
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