Autism social groups in London?

[cakedup]

Dss with autism, high functioning, in his early 20s. Such a lovely young man but struggles with relationships.

Myself and DP thought it would be great for him to meet up regularly with others without worrying about fitting in or being 'normal'. Dss was open to the idea.

To my surprise there doesn't seem to be anything!! Am I missing something? We came across 2 social groups in his area, one is not currently running and the other he does not quite live in the borough which is a requirement. The first sounded ideal - organised trips/events i.e. bowling, cinema, game/quiz nights etc.

Surely there must be thousands of people in his situation? We live in central London ffs!! We think that if Dss had at least just one good friend it would make such a difference.

Are any of these links any good? 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Thank you @Imitatingdory, I'm going through your links...some I've tried some I haven't. Some are borough specific, some are just too far. Hopefully we'll find something.

Not sure if this covers your borough www.turtlekeyarts.org.uk/key-club

Going through similar as I have a 14 year old DD who has ADHD and high functioning ASD as well, thank you @Imitatingdory there are some great links there.

There seems to be more groups for adults rather than children though. I think my 14 yr old DS would benefit from a social group where he can mix with other children with autism. I’ve seen one on the links helpfully provided but sadly not in our London borough. It’s well known that it can be especially challenging for autistic teens trying to navigate puberty so it’s a shame there isn’t more provision.

The links I provided are aimed at adults as that was what was relevant for the OP, but there are groups for teens. Have you looked at your local offer and made contact with local parent support groups?

Thanks Imitatingdory. I’m only aware of one local FB support group, aimed at younger children. I haven’t looked properly at the local offer recently, I seem to recall there was very little but I’ll look again.

There will be other local support groups supporting parents of children and young people of all ages. It’s worth seeking them out and asking about groups for teens.