Are there any programs in Maine that can help me learn social skills?

[Gaerwyn]

Greetings,

I am, for lack of a better phrase, inept socially. I am continually bombarded by the fact that I am different and hate every second of it. Basically (whether this is true or not I care little) I feel that I make three or four friends over the course of 5 years or so, who stick around for a little while, then eventually outgrow me and move on. I have gone through this cycle since I was old enough to talk and am quite sick of it. I have been in a romantic relationship one time with another autistic person and it ended in tragedy. So, seeing as most of my relationships (of any kind) in one way or another, fail, I would appreciate it if somebody could please recommend some service or program that would help in developing social skills. I have looked into CAER, however seeing as it is based off of EMD/R, I am not interested in it simply because EMD/R does not work for me and I've tried it several times. I thank you for the time you took to read this and appreciate any and all responses. Thanks.

[NovemberDaughter]

I am the cousin and POA of an adult (62 yr.old) cousin.  She is hard-of-hearing, has vision problems, diabetic, and may have ASD.  Mary frequently repeats what she has said over and over, even though I have responded to it verbally and physically the first time she said it.  She also will say "What" more than any other single word.  Sometimes it is said when I have only spoken half a word.  She has an excellent device which lets her hear very well, but she does not like to use it.  This is hard for me to understand.  I would be so eager to understand another person, it would be used regularly.  I do not understand the repeative speech nor the lack of wanting to easily hear another person talking to me.  Where can I get some advice on how to calmly deal with these annoying and other behaviors?  Thank you.

[Jessica L Thomason Sassi, Ph.D., BCBA-D]

I am not local to Maine, so I'm not aware of any specific programs in your area.  However, the Autism Society maintains a referral service that may be able to help you find some local assistance.  Email [email protected] or visit their website http://www.autism-society.org for more information.

Good luck to you