Teenager with Autism

[ADE01]

I'm really struggling with trying to get "friends" for my teenage son with Autsim.

He doesn't want to attend "disabled" groups as he terms it. He attends a specialist base but does have access to some mainstream classes. He has cried this weekend and has gone out walking on his own saying he is depressed as he just wants normal friends. then he gets angry with me and tells me i'm a bad mother as i don't support him mentally. its heartbreaking to see him struggle after he has been through so much already. i know that i am so lucky that he is verbal and able to do so much for himself but to see him so unhappy is torture for me...

he has joined sea-cadets but as yet hasn't made any connections. he has friends in school and i've told him to connect with boys in his class who he gets on with and i will take them out... i don't know what more i can do... :<

[Jasperspace]

I struggled many of years without wanting or needing friends then when I had mid-life crisis I had few people reach out from my community & help me.

its hard as an autistic person to make friends as you cant trust people straight away. My mum was & still is my best friend even if we have fell out 45 times over silly things I cant quite understand .

[Hidden]

Between a Stone and a hard rock!

Just ask him what would he like then give him time to answer.

You need to ask a question with enough detail for him to answer as it's all about processing.

You can try things like where going to A at 10am tomorrow gives his brain some structure &to plan it.

But with him it's not as you/he sees it but as his brain sees/deals with it.

Try going various places but not saying you want to do this or that so let him find what he likes so just sort of guiding him but not the push so lets his brain think hey i like this/that.

Yes it is hard but once he starts to find his feet it does get easier.

Does he like Fishing? or designing things even making things?

Myself i love things i can put my brain and hands to being creative.

I am self taught in Photography.Building work.Mechanicing as built my own car even rewired it&put fuel injection system in plus modded brakes and suspension.

Our brains works at 900MPH which is part of where the issues lie as most people are slower and only think on one plain/level as were in 3D

I'm "under" the Autism rainbow! being someone with Aspergers

[Peter_hardy101]

ADEO1 I am 16 and i relate to this but just recently i had a boy come up to me and ask to talk and he sayed do you want to be friends it turned out he was also autistic and had the same issues as me with my autism. But you could ask him to look out for peeps who are sitting alone and he can talk to them it might help a bit

[Hidden]

I have the same problem, he just won’t go out at all. As he has no friends and seems unwilling to make them . As they don’t get him . It breaks my heart too.