When I met him, AJ didn't seem to have any in-person friends, so when he eventually connected with a fellow named Ethan who is also from Sooke, who is also on the Autism spectrum, they really hit it off, and basically all of our time has been spent going over and visiting Ethan.  The two of them are not particularly similar but then tend to get along nonetheless.  Although their collective social difficulties can sometimes result in some pretty awkward moments, AJ unfailingly says he enjoyed the encounter, even if I personally may have hitherto assumed otherwise.  Usually when we go to Ethan's house we'll play video games, board games, fooseball, and sometimes go outside.

This is related to AJ's recent connection with Ethan.  At first, Ethan and his mom Sherri would often invite him over outside of the time that I saw him, and he would affirm the idea but never commit to it.  It seemed that unless I was actually there to make happen he would just proceed about his solitary life despite my constant encouragement to connect. Eventually however, he would report that in the meantime he had gone out and done this or that with Ethan, and these reports became more frequent, which I was thrilled about.  This is largely the result of the continual encouragement my Sherri, who is great at encouraging these kinds of outings in the Sooke community.

This has always been a tough one for Aj, he is very blunt and brusque and often thinks mostly about what he is interested, which often results in situations where he might be hanging out with Ethan, and Ethan is trying to engage with Aj, but Aj is just sitting on the couch playing a game on his phone and ignoring everyone else.  In times like these I send him a text despite sitting rght next to him, as a subtle way to encourage him to engage with Ethan because it's the polite thing to do.  To AJs credit, he does always immediately put his phone away and go and do whatever Ethan is suggesting, even if it's clear that he's not interested in it. Sometimes he does become interested in it, however, which is great.  Ultimately I do try to suggest to him to always be mindful of Ethan and predicting what he might be interested in, and he's always receptive of the idea which shows that he really is appreciating the connection.

AJ went from being extremely isolated and antisocial, to regularly going out and connecting with his friend Ethan and others, and he is working on being more socially aware and considerate.  Ultimately I'm blown away at the improvements he has made over the past few months!