I’m NT and one of my really close friends has Asperger’s. I’ve known him for about 15 years now and up until somewhat recently I’ve never really had reason to be concerned about him or his health/safety. This may be because I’ve become more aware of what Asperger’s is. I met him in college and we lived together on and off through college and after graduation. After I moved out of our last apartment to move in with my girlfriend, he moved home with his parents. It was pretty shortly after that I noticed his “behavior” (sorry if that’s an inappropriate way to phrase it, I don’t know the correct vernacular) getting worse – heavier drinking (especially alone), drunk driving/losing his license, more offensive language (racist or homophobic), and he recently lost his job for making an offhand comment that made a coworker cry. I don’t think he’s racist or homophobic at heart; I feel like the purpose of most of the things he says is to get a rise out of people, but it makes it really difficult to invite him out to do things with people who don’t already know and understand him. I really do want to stress how good a person he is. He’s always willing to go out of his way to help if asked and he’s so passionate about animals and animal rights. My question is how do I best help my friend? He doesn’t do well with direct, serious questions and tends to deflect.