Wrote a long post and lost it, looking for advice really. TL;DR - my 9yo's friend "Tom" likely has ASD, being assessed, they've been friends forever and we just deal with any challenging behaviours but recently he's been quite violent, daily, to his friends including my kid (trying to bite people, throwing him to the ground etc). I've said it's OK to say "I don't want to play with you when you hurt me" but he's scared of annoying him and inviting retaliation. His few friends do seem to be on eggshells. My kid is pulling back and deciding he's less of a friend which would be terrible for Tom if it continues. Just don't know how to deal with it, Tom seems unable to control the violent outbursts but also don't think grasps that people will dislike him for it. I'm good friends with his mum but basically I don't think she knows how to deal with it at all, and perhaps hasn't realised it's escalated so much recently.
― kinder, Friday, 24 May 2024 11:57 (three weeks ago) link