My son has ASD and ADHD. He is fifteen now. He is my only child and we don't have any family close by, although his father is very good with Harry and spends a lot of time with him.
When Harry was young he had lots of friends, but as he got older he became less popular and there was an element of me having to buy his friendships. Harry is very sociable and loves the company of his peers. I would take other peoples children to fairs, lazer zone, play centres, swimming, days out, you name it I did it. It cost me a fortune and was very rarely recipricated, but I didn't care because my son was happy. I would frequently have large groups of children in my house all weekend, from morning through to the evening, and I would feed them all and be happy and charming even though they drove me up the wall. I gave him the bigest and the best parties ever, not just birthdays, but halloween and Christmas.
I Got Harry to join clubs to make friends. Pony club, BMX, Art and football. I had a lot of control in keeping my boy surrounded by other children, and he was happy, and because he was happy so was I. But all that control has gone now. I can no longer buy his friendships.
Harry had a best friend at secondary who also had ASD. He moved away last summer. Harry is a loney boy these days. He locks himself in his bedroom at the weekends with the curtains closed and plays games on his phone. He doesn't play his xbox any more though I got him xbox live. He has had friends and even girlfriends as he wears trendy clothes, he is tall and nice looking. But his friends have stopped inviting him out and I know its because of Harrys Autism. He is not seen as cool to socialize with. He can appear immature which can be quite irritating.
I see the kids that he grew up with around the village in groups. The boys go and play football or basketball, or they all just hang out, but Harry is not welcome. He's at home locked in his bedroom. My heart is absolutely breaking over it.
