How can you help your Aspergers child make friends?
Every parent has a fear that their child may not make any friends at school, but that fear may be especially hard if your child has Asperger’s. They may lack the social skills that everyone their age may have and it can be a little worrisome for you. You can help yourself by practicing social skills with your child at home.
Your child may experience some bullying or teasing behavior at school, which may deter them from wanting to make friends. They may believe that everyone will pick on them or be mean to them. You should explain to them the good characteristics of a good friend and what to look for.
Social skills are hard to learn and it takes time to really practice them well. Social skills take time to learn and can be quite frustrating to those who have Asperger’s.
Some social skills to practice with your child are:
- How to interpret and understand facial expressions and body language
- How to have a back and forth conversation
- How to accept changes to schedule or gameplay
- How to understand others emotions, both positive and negative
- How to compromise with others
- How to give and receive compliments
These are just a few of many social skills they should practice. Some therapy offices provide social skills group therapy sessions to help improve and practice social skills with others around the same age. These social skills groups allow for your child to have a safe place away from bullies to practice making friends with others.
Your child may not feel comfortable going to other places to meet friends, so you may suggest that the friend comes over to your house. Your child will feel more comfortable in their own environment and may be more willing to make friends. The home is a predictable and comfortable environment for most, so why not have play dates there?
You can practice doing role-play scenarios that promote certain social interactions. You can start by using really easy and not so stressful scenarios such as: Making introductions or describing your favorite interests to others. This will help promote the back and forth conversation. You can move on to harder social situations such as: telling a teacher about a bully or telling your friend that what they said hurt your feelings. These can help promote confidence, communication, and self-advocating. Role-playing helps give your child some time to learn and think through real-life situations.
Find out what your child’s interests are and get them involved. Try to get them in activities that they enjoy doing, but they also get to socialize while doing it. They will have the chance to have fun and make friends who share the same interests. This could be sports, STEAM clubs, or nature-based activities like hiking.
You cannot make your child socialize, but it helps when you can provide support and guidance along the way.