JacksMumAndDad Report post Posted May 13, 2016 Hello from Jack's mum. My lovely 22 year old son has 'atypical autism', he is relatively high functioning but does not fit with aspergers so is caught between typical autism and aspie. He is bored, wants friends / work / girlfriend. He understands he is autistic spectrum but is not able to comprehend or accept fully what this means. He wants to be like other lads his age. He is drawn to the neurotypical world for friendships but then struggles to fit in or adapt which causes him stress and mostly ends in failure. He likes computer games, and the online world including YouTube and Facebook but is not the most sociable lad when face to face. His idea of hanging out with friends is to play computer games or watch movies along side them, complete with pizza and milkshakes, rather than have a conversation, although he can be very funny when he wants to be. He has not been able to meet others on the spectrum who are like him since leaving school. Suggestions would be great please for how he can improve his life in the wider West Midlands area. Organisations etc for aspies appear to be most common but they tend not to be suitable as they seem to cater for people whose interests and skills are different to Jack's so he feels he has little in common. Thank you for reading this. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trekster Report post Posted May 13, 2016 I don't know anything in the west midlands area, but there is an annual conference called autscape for anyone on the spectrum. It runs for five days of the year. I'm also hfa (misleading concept I understand) but have manage to run an autism social group in bath once a month. I'm also a big video games fan it's a safe place to hide from the world Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thomas130 Report post Posted May 26, 2016 Looking for some friends as well live near birmingham he can add me on stream if he wants and have a chat and gaming session Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JacksMumAndDad Report post Posted July 7, 2016 Thanks Thomas, it is good of you to offer, I have sent you a message with contact details. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JacksMumAndDad Report post Posted July 7, 2016 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. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites