Social Resources and Support: Real Life Events and Much More

The majority of autistic individuals have trouble forming friendships and learning social skills. This is due to the fact that doing new things, including meeting new people, may be nerve-wracking, frightening, and occasionally even perplexing. It is simple to see why this might be so challenging if you are aware of the connection between autism and social skill issues. Education, skill development, assistance, and opportunity from real-world situations can all be beneficial. However, it gets simpler to deal with if you see why there are so many problems with autism and friendships. With a particular emphasis on young adults with autism, cerebral palsy, and other developmental challenges, All Friends Network aims to assist people of all ages.

Improve Social Skills

For persons with autism, these three issues may be the major barriers to social skill development. Even with individuals you know and are at ease with, talking to them might be difficult. It may be simpler if you discuss subjects you both have an interest in, such hobbies or a common admiration for something. However, it may rapidly turn into a bad experience if the speaker forgets what they planned to say or stumbles over their words. Autism spectrum disorders can make it difficult for a person to interpret another person’s movements and facial expressions. Consider how difficult it would be to interpret someone’s tone in a text message or online conversation without the use of emoticons and other informative symbols.

For some autistic persons, being in a public or social setting can be excruciating. Even more than simply interacting with people, making friends may be a stressful task. Many people struggle with the concept of just attempting to make friends because they have high ambitions or expectations of success. There is no strain or worry while speaking with strangers since there is no expectation of friendship. Children, teenagers, and young adults must master social skills if they are to negotiate everyday situations and opportunities to establish friends outside of their family, neighborhood, school, and place of employment. To assist our members learn more about overcoming social skills and autism and make friends in everyday settings, All Friends Network is creating interactive tools.

Learn How to Make Friends

For many persons with autism, one negative friendship encounter that did not turn out as intended might become a habit. They assume that their unpleasant experience will occur again and that every new individual would act in the same manner. Fears of failure, rejection, and solitude may be extremely unpleasant, just like they are for anybody else. After a poor experience, it may sometimes be beneficial to start working on social skills development to demonstrate to the individual that not all friendships will turn out the same way. It pays to be patient since anxious, self-conscious, and negative thoughts may overshadow even the best possibilities and situations in real life. Finding others with comparable developmental limitations who can relate to their difficulties establishing friends may be energizing.

All Friends Network was created as a secure environment where persons with developmental impairments including autism and cerebral palsy may learn how to interact with others, form and establish friendships, and gain more self-assurance in social situations. Working with qualified therapists and specialists who comprehend how individuals with autism spectrum disorders think and perceive friendships may also be beneficial. We will begin hosting monthly social gatherings in the fall of 2021. We will add more real-world events and opportunities to our schedule once we can support our gatherings with a sufficient number of people. For our members, AFN Live-LINK provides a safe and secure app environment where they can start chatting and making friends right immediately. Call us at 941-587-7172 to learn more about All Friends Network, the AFN Live-LINK app, and our upcoming events, or use our online contact form to get a callback from a member of our staff.