Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello, my 13 year old son has recently been diagnosed with autism after years of struggle at school. It was a relief to finally have a diagnosis but we have been struggling with school and now we are at the point he isn't attending at all. He is such an easy going extremely chatty and funny boy but is very lonely as he can't go outside and is finding it impossible to make a friend. I find it so heartbreaking when he asks me why can't he be like everyone else and chat to people. I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions or help at all we could try? Thank you
NAS87695 said:is very lonely as he can't go outside
Not at all, not even somewhere with you, such as a club?
He loves being outside in nature. His favourite thing is taking our dog long walks in the fields which we are very lucky to have all around us. As long as there are no people around. We usually have to avoid other dog walkers or he will hide behind me. But that's why it's so difficult to meet anyone because the thought of walking by 1 person in the street is scary for him so things like clubs and socialising is so hard.
All the best with that which sounds like a very good idea.
Then perhaps he could talk to others if he wanted to but there's no pressure (hopefully).
Gardening is the best thing for my anxiety too.
Nothing better
(well, apart from stalking insects).
I have been trying to register and look into lots of groups. It feels tricky to find ones that aren't in a group setting and also for our area but I came across a gardening project that sounded really good. I am waiting to hear back from them but I thought mabey if he was busy gardening it would help take his mind off the anxiety. Fingers crossed.
Ah. I see.
That's a bit of a dilemma then.
Are there any groups local to you run by an autism charity?
I was just wondering whether going to something like that (with you) might be tolerable, if he gets to meet others in a 'controlled' environment.