Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello
I am the mother of a young man in his early 20s with high functioning Asperger Syndrome. He lives in a Supported flat, where he has guitar lessons and is interested in music, films, photography and computer games.
Because he's quite isolated at the moment, without other young people he can relate to, I'm wondering whether there are similar young people around Leeds he could meet or perhaps communicate with via Facebook. I'm not sure how that would work ( with not giving personal information via the forum ) but I'm sure it could be managed somehow. Perhaps NAS could advise.
Although his conversation is intelligent and witty, he's not going out much at the moment.
Suggestions welcome.
Hello. I realise your post is now 2 years old but wonder whether you had any success in your quest. I am the father of a teenager who, although he has no diagnosis, appears to me to display mild symptoms of autism. He is intelligent and expects to go to University, he wants to make friends, but finds social conversation very difficult. I worry he is becoming isolated and how he will cope at University.
It strikes me firstly that he has shareable interests (always assuming his musical tastes, film interests etc are commonable). There is potentially a lot more to build on.
He is in a university city. Sometimes it is possible for a non-student to get involved with university activities - it might mean a small fee to get access to resources.
Somewhere in those interests there are activities that are sufficient to overcome social reservations - a workshop for guitar playing, for example - easier to find in Leeds perhaps than many other places. Or a film club.
My one caution is your assumption that he needs to get out. He may actually be perfectly fulfilled by his guitar lessons and a few other interactions and be otherwise OK with his own company. Because socialising is diificult with autism, non-autistics seem convinced we are missing out on something. We might be, but have no way of knowing what we are missing because we never could....
Hi Mackie,
Welcome to the community! If you are interested in social groups for your son then you can find these by searching our Autism Services Directory. Looking at this myself, I've found the Autsim Hub - Leeds Autism AIM and Leeds Asperger Adults. The search can be specified so that you can find services that could help your son. You could also contact our helpline which you can also email if you want to be signposted to services.
I hope that this helps you but if not please don't hesitate to contact us.
Sofie Mod