My mum used to expect more from me socially when I was a child. I can remember when I was aged 7-9 I went through a phase of not speaking to my classmates when they greeted me, not so much in school, but if I happened to pass them in the street or something. They used to say hello and I'd just give them a vague smile, then when they passed my mum got on to me, telling me that I should have said hello back. I know she might of been trying to help with my social skills, but criticising me didn't help, it just made me feel ashamed of myself. She should have been more understanding, and just helped with my social skills in a more encouraging way. I mean, I was diagnosed with AS at 8, so you can't expect too much from an 8-year-old child with AS. Social development takes time with any child, so it will be a little more delayed with an Aspie or Autistic child.
Also my mum used to act as though she wondered why I didn't have any friends when I was a teenager. I remember when I was about 15 and was hanging about in the house, my mum used to say, ''most kids of your age hang out on street corners with their mates!'' She also used to get a little sarcastic, like if the phone rang at week-ends or in school holidays and I asked who it was on the phone, my mum sometimes used to say, ''who do you expect it was? Your 'friends'?''
I did kind of make me feel worthless, as though she was fully aware of my AS but still expected me to have friends and be a normal kid. She's a bit more understanding now. When I was a kid, I denied my AS in front of my mum, so maybe she was like ''well if she thinks she hasn't got it then I will treat her like she hasn't got it''. Now I'm older I can sit down with my mum and talk about my AS more, which does us both good.
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Female