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started. Welcome, everyone. Today we are talking about supporting friendships by reducing risk.

Social interactions can already be hard and many children with autism and or ADHD.

They want friends, but it feels like the risk is just too high based on their past experiences.

So, you know, they've likely been ignored by their peers, rejected, and most of them have been bullied. I've worked with nerd diverse children

for over 23 years and they tell me and show me the same things is, you know, it's hard to know what to say and when.

Turn taking or sharing might be hard. They may interrupt more because they're worried they're

just going to forget what they want to say and they end up talking when someone else is talking.

Winning and losing might create big feelings for them and, you know, following another person's rules

can be difficult and confusing. They might struggle finding other friends who share their interests

and, you know, may not be motivated to play a game with others because the game might feel

kind of boring to them. Social interaction can be hard and anxiety provoking to the point where they just don't want to try anymore

because it often ends poorly for them.

You may even hear them say things like no one likes me.

I'll never have any friends. Why bother? They're not going to talk to me

anyway. I don't even want to make friends. So when you've had all of this rejection over and over again,

it makes sense that kids don't want to try anymore because it's just been too painful for them.

So a great way to help supercharge these friendships is to reduce risk. All of us, all of us,

neurodiverse or neurotypical, we want to reduce risk. So when we think of a situation as less risky, we're going to feel

less anxious. So here's an example of being pretty vulnerable here. I have always struggled with

anxiety since I can remember. And I've always felt a little anxious socially. I want to reduce

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