Having and making new friends is important to everyone. For young people who have special needs making friends can be difficult. It is very important that young people with special needs are able to make and meet up with friends. Sometimes they will be able to do this independently and sometimes they may need help.

Having friends is important because friends can:

• do things together
• talk about things that are important to them
• help each other

Not everyone finds it easy to make friends, some people find it hard because they:

• get nervous around new people
• don’t know what new people might say or do
• worry about what people might think about them
• worry that new people won't understand them

Some people have lots of friends and some have just a few, some people see their friends every day and some do not see them very often.

On this page there are links to local groups and useful websites.

A good way to make friends is to join a group or visit places where other young people can be found. Find information on local youth groups here.