Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello
I am the mother of a 25 year old male who has Aspergers. We are in the lengthy process of getting a formal diagnosis. It is some comfort to discover there is a reason for his struggles after many years of ignorance on my part but I know that when/if we have a formal diagnosis, it won't make the problems and difficulties he has disappear.
My son is at an all time low. He has struggled all his life to make and retain friends and to be and to feel included. Employment has been a similar story.
I'm posting on here because he won't do it for himself and I feel helpless and powerless when I see him so unhappy with all aspects of his life.
He has tried to fit in with the mainstream and he can't. He needs friends, people to talk to, do things with. People who understand.
We are based in Surrey/London area.
If anyone knows of a support group he could go along to in our area or if you are in need of a friend too please get in touch.
Thanks
Have you thought about video-games? Give me a minute before you blast me with something lol.
I know video-games have a bad rep among some folk and I don't know what your opinion is, some think it encourages people to be anti-social (even sociopathic)... But I personally love sitting down, putting my mic on, getting a few friends into a lobby and playing a strategy game or MMO together.
I have a friend who also has aspergers, and he's on the other-side - he's one of the people who over-do it, he's never off the computer. Not to eat, wash, and he only sleeps out of necessity. But that's because he's spoiled, really I think within a proper framework it could be a really comfortable middle-ground between socialising and not having to be around people in awkward situations.
A major plus-side being; if you have an awkward silence, which is common in aspergers, you're probably busy plotting something, so it's not really awkward - and because you're playing a game, conversation flows naturally, you can be as quiet or as talkative as you want.