I can really relate to interacting with the kids, rather than with the adults, but I see it from a slightly different point of view. I figure that if it’s an event with kids at the center, then the adults ought to be focusing on the kids, rather than on one another. But most of the time, they don’t. I am mystified every time I see it happen.

I find this sort of situation at every one of my daughter’s soccer games. If I sit in the bleachers with the other parents, I hear all kinds of different conversations going on, none of which have anything to do with the game. There have even been situations in which someone’s kid got a goal, and they missed it because they were taking about who-knows-what.

I just don’t understand it. I’m there to support my daughter and her team. My husband feels the same way, and he is NT. He chats a bit more with the othe adults than I do, but he is generally where I am: down on the ground, close to the field, where we can shout encouragement to the players.

Throughout my daughter’s childhood, I have watched these kinds of situations over and over, and they never make sense to me. Why do children’s events become opportunities for the adults to socialise? I always loved spending time with the kids, despite the sensory overload, because I know how important it is that someone show an interest in them, help them, and appreciate what they’re doing.

At times like this, I’m certain that we Aspies aren’t the only ones with challenges.