I have a 13 year old with ASD with demand avoidance profile. For the most part he is doing very well, by some miracle he is in an academic school and attending, we make a lot of adjustments but he is eating, sleeping, showering etc so I count myself extremely lucky.
For the purpose of this thread I will describe him as 'high functioning' although it's not really accurate, but it means you'll understand his needs a little better.
He has had issues around friendships at school since he was little, he has poor social skills and limited understanding of other people's emotions or responses. He can be very loud and very 'immature' (as an example if he wants his younger brother to engage with him, he will tap him on the head repeatedly).
This has come to head somewhat in year 9 with another neuro diverse child accusing my son of bullying him, because he, for example, takes his pencil, or says his name over and over. I've had many many chats with the school and with my son to try and help and support. My son acknowledges that he is 'annoying' but gets upset that he has upset others and I genuinely don't think he means to hurt anyone, he's just struggling to find the right ways to engage.
My son has said he would like to have a professional person to talk to about such things and also to advise him/model good social skills, because he says he wants to improve his skills or understand people better.
I don't know where to look for such a service. I don't think it falls within occupational therapy or speech and language. I don't think it's psychological or requires CBT. He needs almost like a functional skills coach. Does such a thing exist? I did do a search online but I couldn't find anything.
We're in the Manchester area if anyone has any ideas.
Thanks for reading if you made it to the end.