How to help autistic kids make friends
October 21st, 2009People with autism usually lack of social skills. Making friends could be a really tough mission for autistic children, because they always avoid looking at others in the eye, repeat the words they said a lot to drive people crazy, and they often choose to be alone as it is hard for them to get used to strangers. Here’s some tips for teaching kids with autism to communicate.
If your child is going to a school, you could talk to the teacher to get the information that who in their class is close to your child. Then, you can invite him/her to your home to play with your child, or, you can encourage your kid to ask this child if she/he is available on that day, and if your kid can do this, buy him/her a gift for a reward. Think of some good games or activities for autistic children to play with.
Here’s someting to notice, which is, don’t invite too much children to your place once a time, one at a time is better, it’s easier for your kid to deal with and get used to. You can stay with them for a while and be a role model of how to make friends. However, most of the time, you should leave them alone to play with toys together unless something happens.
If your child is homeschooling, then she/he could make friends with kids in the neighborhood, cousins, or siblings. First, ask some child to play nearby, so your child will accept that there’s someone playing at his/her place. Then, you can try to play with this kid yourself to make a good example to your kid. So you can invite him/her to play along. Please notice that, all of this should happen naturally, don’t force the child to do anything, but you can set some limits for the Do and Don’ts.
Some children with autism like to make friends with grown-ups. It’s normal. Typically developing children can also feel anxious about socialising with strangers, for autistic kids, you are going to need a lot of patience, but it will be worth it.
Hope this helped!