As a parent of an autistic child we want to help them in every way possible, including trying to help them make friends.

Whilst every child is different with bespoke challenges and personality traits we have provided the below list of tips to consider.

Autism and making friends

Autism can bring about a number of challenges in regard to being sociable and forming friendships.

Some autistic children can become very attached to parents, with no desire to make friends elsewhere

But like anything if you as a family group tackle the issue in a structured way progress can be made.

Here are some things to try;

Work on communication

This may be stating the obvious but communication is one of the crucial aspects of friendship.

If your child has limited or no speech it may therefore be challenging for them to understand or partake in games.

We have many articles covering communication but for the benefit of this post we would just recommend an open mind.

Some of the alternative forms of communication such as picture cards or makaton can be really helpful in teasing the words out of your child.

It may also be that if they are using perhaps picture cards, other children find this interesting and unique.

Social Stories

One of the challenges you may be facing is that your child does not understand social do’s and don’ts.

You could try reading them short social stories.

These are stories that describe social situations and appropriate behaviors such as sharing.

They can help children understand and practice the social skills they need.

Role playing

This may require your direct involvement in that it could be helpful for you to imitate social situations.

If you play the role of the other children you can practice social interactions in a safe and controlled environment.

It can help your son or daughter learn how to initiate and respond to social interactions.

Something like turn taking with toys would be a good example of this.

Be firm with the fact that it is your turn following your child’s and explain verbally and non verbally how that makes you happy.

Video modelling

This involves showing children videos of people engaging in social interactions.

The internet is awash with many different avenues for this including YouTube. Focusing your child’s screen time on watching appropriate interactions between children may help embed learning.

This will also give them a sense of what to expect in different social situations.

Therapy

There are various forms of therapy which may help your child make friends.

As mentioned above, struggles with speech may be a blocker to your child making friends. With that in mind you could consider hiring a speech therapist.

If paid speech therapy is not an option then we have created a list of some tactics you can work on at home.

ABA therapy is evidence-based and can be effective in teaching social skills to children with autism.

Occupational Therapy is a well rounded approach and covers social skills

Use relatives for practice

One of the first friendships a child often develops are with siblings or relatives.

As much as you can try to encourage group games with cousins and siblings to try and ease your child into wider relationships.

Be sensitive of difficulties

Your child may have any number of difficulties which make social situations difficult to them.

For example they may be highly sensitive to bright lights and sound noises. If that is the case then taking them to child groups involving party games may be detrimental to them developing friendships.

It could even get to the stage that your child associates interactions with other children as uncomfortable.

So the advice here would be to tailor your tactics to your child’s individual needs.

Summary – How to help your autistic child make friends

Knowing how to help your autistic child make friends can be a challenging task.

The first hurdle to overcome will likely be improving your son or daughter’s communication. Once progress is made there you can set about a strategy teaching them how to act in social situations.

With time, effort and gradual exposure you may be able to make inroads in your goal to help your child develop meaningful friendships.