First, I would like to say that my brother is eighteen and about to graduate high school in June. He has yet to get his driver's license, and is very passionate about driving. He has high functioning autism/aspergers. He was diagnosed when he was a baby.
My brother doesn't have many friends his own age. We would love to get him involved with some sort of group where he could feel connected.
He is very aware of his autism, and sometimes plays it up. I can see him 'dumbing' himself down to get away with certain things.
His social skills are not very developed, and only in the past 3 years have I noticed more confidence. He has a speech impediment that, I believe, really holds him back from expressing certain things.
He has only one friend that is about 5 years younger than him. I think he chooses that friend because he feels in some way equal. I know that sounds weird, but he doesn't choose to communicate with any of his friends from school.
He is in special ed and I have personally seen his classmates. Some are mentally ret*d,
have severe autism, etc. He just doesn't connect with any of them.
He really needs a true friend that he can personally connect with.
Any ideas? I've gone of few websites, but they are all so complicated and I don't have the time to be searching through pages and pages to find what I need. Please help!
19 Mar 2009, 1:49 am
