Friends and Autism

I have mentioned before a resource that I consider a valuable one. http://faqautism.com/ is a website developed and managed by Music Therapist, Cathy Knoll, and her son, Dwight Knoll. Cathy has done much toward the advancement of Music Therapy, and has 35 years experience in the field. She offers daily podcasts which allow related professionals/colleagues and parents/families of persons with autism the opportunity to draw from her knowledge and experience with autism/ASD spectrum.

No School Friends

In a recent podcast, Cathy touches on the dilemma of the friends vs. no friends issue that persons with autism sometimes face. She refers to a few of her articulate teen clients with autism and their feedback on the subject of friends. We, as supporters of our friends/family members/clients with autism, want to see them have meaningful close friendships and peer acceptance. Cathy speaks in this particular podcast of how some of her friends with autism have expressed that it doesn't really bother them to (and often times they don't notice until a parent/other brings it to their attention) not have those same peer relationships as other typically developing peers. I encourage you to click on the link below to hear the entire podcast. In this podcast, Cathy offers this tip:

"TIP FOR THE DAY: Although we might personally prefer having one or two “best friends,” not everyone has that same preference. The best strategies are to give our kids lots of opportunities to interact with other students, to teach them how to be friendly to others, and to closely monitor their attitude about friends and lack of friends. Then we can just relax and quit worrying about things we cannot change."

To read more on this topic, visit the FAQautism.com podcast entitled "No School Friends".

Girl Talk

Now, for those persons with autism who have noticed and are bothered by not having some of those close peer relationships, here is a related podcast from FAQautism.com. This podcast

"A pre-teen diagnosed with autism was having some trouble making friends at school because she talked rather obsessively about the same topic. “I try to be her friend,” commented one of her classmates confidentially, “But it is really irritating to hear the same story over and over.” Sometimes our friends with autism need to be [...]"

"Sometimes our friends with autism need to be purposefully taught the fine art of girl talk.

Two different strategies were introduced to help this pre-teen develop more appropriate conversation skills. The first strategy focused on teaching her to “talk on topic.” The second strategy was designed to expand her repertoire of stories."

To read more on this topic, visit the FAQautism.com podcast entitled "Girl Talk" .

Thank you, Cathy!

Jessica