I am a single mother of a 7 year old boy. I am fairly sure he is autistic and he was referred to CAMHS some months ago so I don't know how long it will be before we see an assessment. I have a diagnosis of ASD.
Today, he returned to school after the summer break. When he came home, he called my mother and I overheard him say that he didn't play with anyone at break time - he said this quite matter of factly and nonchalantly because he is not bothered about playing with other children. My heart, on the other hand, completely broke. I am not a great socialiser but I understand its value and I hate to think of him stood alone in the playground with no-one.
I do try to get him to interact with his peers. He goes to swim club once a week but doesn't talk to anyone else there. The inclusion worker at the school has been supporting him to establish and maintain relationships, clearly to little effect (although she tells it differently, of course). If I suggest any other clubs, he gets very upset (and given where we live, there is very little choice of clubs and nothing that corresponds to his interests). He never asks to have people over and is not invited anywhere except birthday parties but there hasn't been any invitations in over a year.
He is obsessed with video games and I have even tried this to encourage interaction to no avail. For his age, he is reasonably well travelled and on the weekends we are always out seeing or doing something. Yet, I feel guilty. It was suggested when he was in primary one that his "autistic traits" were merely learned behaviour and this assignation of blame is difficult to forget.
I'd be interested to get advice from other parents with ASD.
