Trekster, I am mum to a son who is not unlike Thomas130 (I guess). My son has much the same feelings about feeling lonely and isolated and wanting to make friends as Thomas130 says in his posts. We have been trying for some time to find out how to find friends, either online or local to us in the west midlands area. My son wants to find friends who are close in age to him (he's nearly 23) and who share his interests (those of a typical young man, mostly involving computers and games consoles). He has the the usual autistic communication and social difficulties, so it's not proving easy for him. You've mentioned local autism support groups and online friends but where to look and how to find the right people who will put in the effort to get people who need friends together? I've tried some routes and found that posting on sites such as this and ringing helplines can go round in circles or lead to dead ends or no replies...... How is someone with ASD and associated difficulties going to manage this themselves, apart from the depressing affect of no replies on already unhappy people? I'm sure any advice on this would be welcome by all the lads like Thomas130 and my son. Perhaps your site could have a clearer, more obvious area for penpals / online friends seeking friends? I'm sure there are posts all over this site but finding them is not easy! Thanks for listening.