My son just started second grade. He's the happiest, sweetest, kindest, most gentle human being I've ever known.

He was diagnosed with high-functioning autism a few years ago, and he's responded very well to the work we've done with him. Mostly it's involved conversation skills, and he's gotten very good about staying on topic, asking questions, and finding new subjects to talk about.

One thing that I struggle with is seeing how much of a loner he is. He doesn't really have friends, and he prefers to play alone during recess at school instead of playing with other kids. I've set up play dates for him at his request, but they usually don't go anywhere because he doesn't want to do the things his guests are doing, and they aren't interested in what he wants to do.

He's told me many times that he just really likes being alone, and he seems very comfortable and content with that right now.

But it's hard for me to see. I was diagnosed as high-functioning as well as an adult (after seeing that he and I both meet the same criteria). I've never really had friends, and always felt conflicted between wanting to be alone and wanting to be seen as a social person.

So I'm not sure what I should be doing as a parent. I try to encourage him to play more with kids at school, and there are rare occasions when he can engage with another kid at the park. (Usually if the other kid insists that he play with them.) But I'm not sure how much I should push him to be more social, or how much I should just accept that this is who he is. I want him to know that it's okay to be an introvert if that's who he is, but I don't want him to be unable to connect with anyone his own age.

I'd love to get other people's insights and their experiences.