Sosnowy Collette, Silverman Chloe, Shattuck Paul, Garfield Tamara
A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Department of Politics and the Center for Science, Technology and Society, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Autism Adulthood. 2019 Mar 1;1(1):44-51. doi: 10.1089/aut.2018.0009. Epub 2019 Mar 11.
To describe the perspectives of young adults on the autism spectrum about how they seek and make friends and explore the diverse ways that some develop satisfying friendships despite social difficulties.
We conducted semistructured interviews with 20 young adults on the autism spectrum about their lives after high school. Although interviews covered a broad range of topics related to transition, the subject of friendship came up frequently throughout the interviews. We extracted data specifically related to friendship for this article and used an inductive approach derived from grounded theory to identify and examine concepts.
Participants had the most success in relationships in which their atypical behavior was normalized. Specifically, this occurred among friends who accepted and appreciated their social differences and through common interests where these differences were not a concern. In other relationships, participants felt that they were expected to adhere to social norms, but found it uncomfortable and/or were not sure how to act in some contexts. Therefore, finding friends who did not expect this was a welcome relief. Participants who were socially isolated wanted more opportunities to meet other people, such as organized social groups, but were not sure how to access these.
Results suggest that friendship, although challenging, can be navigated successfully for some young adults on the autism spectrum. These findings have implications for supporting young adults in their efforts to make friends in ways that work best for them and for creating measures that more accurately reflect their perspectives and needs. Reframing the concept of friendship to include a wider array of experiences and perspectives, identifying successful strategies, and creating more accurate assessments could present a very different picture of friendship and contribute to better outcomes for this unique population.
Young adults on the autism spectrum often have difficulty making friends due to challenges with social communication. Nevertheless, some do enjoy friendships with their peers. The purpose of this article is to describe friendship seeking from the perspectives of young adults on the autism spectrum and explore the diverse ways that some develop satisfying friendships despite social difficulties. This information can be used to support young adults in their efforts to make friends by identifying the approaches and strategies that work best for them. The information in this article comes from a study we conducted about the transition to adulthood for young adults. We interviewed 20 young adults about their life experiences in their late teens and 20s. Friendship was very important for most of them and they described their desires to have friends, their efforts to make friends, and the significant difficulties and frustrations they faced. They attributed these difficulties to being seen as different from others and too few opportunities to socialize. They had the most success by finding friends who accepted and appreciated their social differences. In these relationships, they did not have to worry about social norms the way they usually did. Several participants found it easier to relate to others on the spectrum and participated in organized social groups. Still others made friends around shared interests where their autism was not a primary concern. Overall, our interviews showed that young adults on the autism spectrum seek friends in a variety of ways. Researchers and service providers often conclude that friendship for people on the autism spectrum is lacking when compared with their typically developing peers. However, the experiences of some young adults can tell a story of difference rather than deficit. From this and other studies, it is clear that people on the autism spectrum may perceive friendship differently, have different priorities or goals for friendship, and have different ways of seeking and experiencing friendship than their typical peers. If we broaden our ideas of friendship to be more inclusive, things might appear very differently. Even so, many young adults struggle to make friends. By understanding their experiences with friendship, identifying where they need help, and identifying strategies and approaches that might work best for them, we can better support their efforts.
描述自闭症谱系中的年轻人在寻求和结交朋友方面的观点，并探索一些人尽管存在社交困难但仍能建立令人满意的友谊的多样方式。
我们对20名自闭症谱系的年轻人进行了半结构化访谈，了解他们高中毕业后的生活。尽管访谈涵盖了与过渡相关的广泛主题，但友谊这一主题在访谈中频繁出现。我们针对本文提取了与友谊具体相关的数据，并采用扎根理论衍生的归纳法来识别和审视概念。
参与者在其非典型行为被正常化的关系中最成功。具体而言，这种情况发生在那些接受并欣赏他们社交差异的朋友之间，以及通过共同兴趣建立的关系中，在这些关系里这些差异并不构成问题。在其他关系中，参与者觉得他们被期望遵守社会规范，但在某些情况下会感到不舒服和/或不确定如何行事。因此，找到不期望他们这样做的朋友是一种令人欣慰的解脱。社交孤立的参与者希望有更多机会结识其他人，比如有组织的社交团体，但不确定如何获得这些机会。
结果表明，友谊虽然具有挑战性，但对于一些自闭症谱系的年轻人来说仍可以成功建立。这些发现对于支持年轻人以最适合他们的方式交朋友以及制定更准确反映他们观点和需求的措施具有启示意义。重新构建友谊的概念以纳入更广泛的经历和观点、识别成功策略以及创建更准确的评估，可能会呈现出截然不同的友谊图景，并为这一独特群体带来更好的结果。
自闭症谱系的年轻人由于社交沟通方面的挑战，在交朋友时往往存在困难。然而，一些人确实享受与同龄人建立的友谊。本文的目的是从自闭症谱系的年轻人的角度描述寻求友谊的情况，并探索一些人尽管存在社交困难但仍能建立令人满意的友谊的多样方式。这些信息可用于通过识别最适合他们的方法和策略来支持年轻人交朋友。本文中的信息来自我们对年轻人向成年过渡的一项研究。我们采访了20名十几岁后期和二十多岁的年轻人，了解他们的生活经历。友谊对他们中的大多数人来说非常重要，他们描述了自己交朋友的愿望、努力以及所面临的重大困难和挫折。他们将这些困难归因于被视为与他人不同以及社交机会太少。他们通过找到接受并欣赏他们社交差异的朋友取得了最大的成功。在这些关系中,他们不必像往常那样担心社会规范。一些参与者发现与谱系中的其他人建立联系更容易，并参加了有组织的社交团体。还有一些人围绕共同兴趣结交朋友，在这些关系中他们的自闭症并非主要问题。总体而言，我们的访谈表明自闭症谱系的年轻人以多种方式寻求朋友。研究人员和服务提供者通常得出结论，与发育正常的同龄人相比，自闭症谱系的人缺乏友谊。然而，一些年轻人的经历讲述的是差异而非缺陷的故事。从这项研究和其他研究中可以清楚地看出，自闭症谱系的人可能对友谊有不同的看法，对友谊有不同的优先事项或目标，并且与他们的典型同龄人相比，有不同的寻求和体验友谊的方式。如果我们拓宽对友谊的看法，使其更具包容性，情况可能会大不相同。即便如此，许多年轻人在交朋友方面仍面临困难。通过了解他们的友谊经历、确定他们需要帮助的地方以及识别可能最适合他们的策略和方法，我们可以更好地支持他们的努力。
