Ask Sam

Hi there,

It sounds like you often feel left out of conversations with other people in your school. Having autism should not stop you from having good friendships. It is wrong of people to laugh at you if you don’t understand something straight away. Making you feel left out from conversations by laughing could be bullying. Bullying is never okay. You can get help and support from school if it is affecting you.

Autism affects how people communicate and how they start relationships with other people. People with autism sometimes have to find different ways of understanding what someone is saying. Often people can find ways to communicate that work for them and the people around them. It can just take time, patience and practice. You can get advice on our page about autism.

When you are thinking about ways to feel more included in conversations, it could really help to get some advice from someone you trust.

If there is anyone who understands you well, perhaps you could talk to them about what helps make talking to them work. You could then try some of these tips when talking to other people. You could also get advice about this on our message boards by talking to other young people who have autism, or who know someone who has. You can also find out more about asking an adult for help.

You can talk to a ChildLine counsellor about how you are feeling and how your autism affects you. The counsellors won’t judge anything you have to say. They want to support you to feel more able to cope.

Take care,
Sam