This is J, alone again on the playground yesterday.

Just to be clear,  he's completely safe and supervised. Just playing alone. I don't expect the teachers to constantly be watching to make sure he's playing with someone. I know firsthand that it's impossible to get him to stay with the other kids. I can't even really get him to stay with us when we play outside at home. He's always disappearing to go back inside or be someplace by himself.

I watched a whole scene go down yesterday where he was happily playing on the boat and talking to himself. A whole group of kids came over pretending to be sharks. As soon as they all arrived, he jumped down and walked away. He went over to a picnic table on the far end of the playground and put his head down. Then he got down and played alone on this bike for awhile.

At one point, a little girl from his class came over and, though I couldn't hear what she was saying, I could tell she was trying to get him to play. He kept shrugging her off and walking away. She was relentless for awhile, but eventually gave up and walked away. (She actually went over to find their teacher to tell her J was sad, I think... because shortly after that, the teacher came over and talked to him.)

He just has NO interest in his classmates. None. He adores adults and will hang with them and talk to them when they are available. But other kids are not his thing.   This is part of what we worry about going forward. You can't be in a kindergarten class of 20 kids and not interact. When he does interact, it's often in a negative way or it's obvious he just does not understand how to get them to play or join their games.

It's an odd thing to watch happen. I wouldn't believe it unless I saw it for myself. A whole playground full of kids running around and he purposely separates from everyone. Is it because he wants to be alone? Is it because he gives up or just can't keep up with them socially? Is it because what they are doing doesn't interest him? They aren't playing a game he has learned? (he play things in a very scripted way, generally the same way every time)  Could be all of this. More answers I don't have....