School playground

Not sure if I am in the right place! but are there other parents out there whose heart breaks knowing that their son standing in the school playground alone watching the other children playing. With the insight that they are different and have no friends but dont want to be different and want to have friends.

My son tells his sister and teacher how he feels and their hearts ache for him too, arrrrrgh

Parents
  • Just as an observation it is always important to assess whether being alone in the playground is necessarily bad. If a child on the spectrum is more at peace on their own in their own thoughts it may be perfectly valid. The issue should be whether the exclusion is perceived by the child as hurtful, or whether the child is bullied for being on his/her own.  It may be that playtime is an opportunity to recover from the difficulties encountered in the classroom.

    I know its a long time ago now, but in primary school I probably did best engaged in solitary activity, even if it got me a label. But the school took it on themselves to arrange for me to see a psychiatrist, without asking my parents, because they were concerned for me because I wandered about on my own supposedly talking to an imaginary friend. I was far happier doing that than coping with all the noise around me.

    So please check first - make sure being alone isn't beneficial

Reply
  • Just as an observation it is always important to assess whether being alone in the playground is necessarily bad. If a child on the spectrum is more at peace on their own in their own thoughts it may be perfectly valid. The issue should be whether the exclusion is perceived by the child as hurtful, or whether the child is bullied for being on his/her own.  It may be that playtime is an opportunity to recover from the difficulties encountered in the classroom.

    I know its a long time ago now, but in primary school I probably did best engaged in solitary activity, even if it got me a label. But the school took it on themselves to arrange for me to see a psychiatrist, without asking my parents, because they were concerned for me because I wandered about on my own supposedly talking to an imaginary friend. I was far happier doing that than coping with all the noise around me.

    So please check first - make sure being alone isn't beneficial

Children
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