Helping Children with ASD Socialize

I started a club in my community for kids with ASD and or ADHD. My 8 year old son was removed from school 2 years ago as he found it difficult to cope in a mainstream environment. He also doesnt fit in special needs as he has a high IQ. He was socially isolated. I decided to start a group The Fun Club in my community. I knew he would find it difficult to make new friends so I decided to bring friends to him. My brother created a website www.thefunclub.net for us. Now our club meets every Sunday and it has 17 kids at present.

Hi Paula, and welcome to the IAN Discussion Forums.

I think there are many families who will relate to your experience, especially the difficulty faced when the school seems to have no setting that "fits" your high functioning child with ASD. It is inspiring that you have created your own social club from scratch. Would you be willing to share what a typical meeting is like? Are there activities, or just a way of doing things, that have been particularly successful, or not worked that well? What guidance would you give a parent trying create a similar club? I'm sure other families would love to hear how this has gone.

In the meantime, those interested in this topic may want to read our article on what is currently known about Social Skills Training and autism: http://www.iancommunity.org/cs/what_do_we_know/social_skills_interventions