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Making friends and socialising online

Kate Kestrel

I’m wondering if anyone on here knows of anything online - a forum or something (apart from this of course!) - which is a good place for younger autistic people to chat online about lighter subjects maybe? My son is out of college at the moment due to anxiety issues and he’s feeling very isolated and would love to make some friends online. I don’t think he wants to talk about heavy stuff like the challenges of autism and mental health - I think he just wants something more social and lighter. Can anyone recommend something online that would be suitable? I’ve looked but can’t really find anything. It doesn’t have to be something that is just for autistic people. It also needs to be safe of course - as we are quite careful about privacy etc. Any ideas anyone? Thanks :) 

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  • I don't really know of anything that fits. I'm just starting out socialising online. 

    My only idea for a suggestion would be Tumblr. You can make a profile that's not specifically linked to you as a real person (like for example Facebook is super linked to you as a real person, Tumblr can be more anonymous if you don't share personal stuff on purpose) You can follow accounts of people who post stuff you like (I like this because it's like having all my interests in one place) so you can get enjoyment out of it without having to post stuff yourself. And if you want you can post stuff and get replies. There are also mini chat forums (I've never actually been on one but they are topic specific so for example if you like Dr Who, find a Dr Who chat, so you can choose to steer clear of heavy topics) As for child friendly, as with most of the internet it's as child friendly as you make it. Tumblr has cracked down on porn a lot recently so its not so prevalent but if you look for it you will find it, but again that's the same for most of the internet. 

    Hope you find something that works for you, and I would appreciate it if you post back on here if you do because I would like to join a community like the one you've described, the internet can so often be way to heavy. 

  • in reply to MelonCauliflower

    Thanks for this suggestion (Melon) - I will look into this. I understand what you say about the possible negatives. It’s so difficult isn’t it? The internet can be a bit of a minefield. At the same time though I online social things are quite good for autistic people. We will keep looking. 

  • in reply to Kate Kestrel

    I don't think it's what you're looking for Kate,, but something i saw the other day may be of interest. I've bookmarked it to go and read when i have time. I was on the OU site, and one of the short (8hrs), free courses in OpenLearn, is called ......... Building confidence in using online forums.  As i said, i've not read it yet, but just it may be worth a look.

    Bill.

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