During the teenage years, friendships for typical adolescents are often based on shared interests such as academic achievements, mutual participation in sports and the arts. Friendship becomes the primary focus for their time, interest and energy, and a major source of self-identity and self-esteem. By contrast, the autistic teenager typically has fewer friends, meeting with friends less often at school and for a shorter duration. Autistic adolescents often sense their differences to their peers and feel that others do not want to be around them.

Autistic adolescents often blame themselves for their peer rejection and become anxious to avoid socialising. A lack of genuine social acceptance by peers will obviously adversely affect the development of self-esteem, self-identity, and perception of autism.

We created this presentation for parents and professionals to explain the friendship challenges and provide ideas and strategies for increasing friendship success for autistic adolescents in high school.