The daily lives of adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder: discretionary time use and activity partners.

Researchers asked teens with autism to keep a simple diary. They wrote down who they were with and what they did after school for a few days.

The team wanted to know if free-time choices predicted later social skills. They checked social-impairment scores again months later.

Most free hours were spent alone or with mom. Very little time included friends or siblings.

Teens who later showed milder social problems had done two things: talked more with others and read during their free time.

Humphrey et al. (2011) saw the same teens sitting alone in school cafeterias. That sounds like bad news, but the key difference is place: school is forced peer time, home is chosen. Solitary reading at home still gives social learning through stories.

Schroeder et al. (2014) filled in the screen side: these teens average five hours a day on computers. The new study says conversation and reading matter more than those five hours for future social growth.

Shawler et al. (2021) followed slightly older youth and found the steepest drop in structured activities after high school. Together the papers warn: if we don’t shape teen free time now, chances to practice social skills vanish later.

You can’t force friendships, but you can seed low-pressure social habits. Slip short conversation goals into homework breaks. Keep age-appropriate books, comics, or scripts in the living room. Track these choices on a simple daily log and review them at supervision. Small, steady doses of talk and text now may soften social impairment down the road.