Hi All, our daughter is 5 years old and we are noticing more and more that she is having difficulties socialising with other children and making friends. She’s always been very shy (or we’ve put it down to shyness) even to the point where the staff at her preschool were questioning whether she could actually talk. She is very talkative at home and articulate. She’s now in reception year and at a recent parents evening her teacher said that she is progressing more than fine academically but her social skills are of concern. She doesn’t seem to know how to make friends and this doesn’t come naturally to her, like it does with the other children. When one of the children ask her something she will just start laughing loudly and uncomfortably (not a real laugh) and they will just eventually get confused and walk off. She does get invited to parties but doesn’t have a friendship group or a best friend and when she goes to the parties she doesn’t join in, she just hangs near me. She also doesn’t make eye contact very often with other people but does with us at home. I have wondered whether she is on the autism scale, I just don’t know enough about it. Maybe a child psychologist could help. Any thoughts?