When my son was little, I imagined that when he was a teen, there would be neighbourhood kids over all the time, eating snacks with him on our back porch, cranking up their tunes, or playing games and making a lot of noise together. I looked forward to them raiding my fridge?to them crashing on sofas and the floor at impromptu overnighters. But in four years of high school, this had never happened for my son. Not even once.
So recently, I was overwhelmed by the biggest wave of gratitude, prompted by a series of loud splashes. I peeked out my kitchen window to see five boys horsing around in our pool with my teenage son. I could barely contain myself as I watched the group bat around a beach ball, jump cannonball-style into the pool and laugh together. My son has autism spectrum disorder (ASD), of the type formerly referred to as Asperger?s. People like my son can function well in the world and will often achieve independence and success in academic and working life. But they struggle with communication and social skills. Typically, they miss out on the nuances of facial expressions, body language, and social cues, so they often struggle to make and keep friends. While this always hurts (for both the kids and the parents), it?s especially painful during the teen years, when the importance of ?hanging out? peaks.
Most parents don?t think twice about their kid?s friends dropping by at their house. But for parents of teens on the spectrum, such occurrences are anything but no...