I've always been a fan of table top role playing gaming. Creating a fanatical world with my friends and for years it's been my safe place to explore idea and try out all sorts of things. Whether I'm the game master running the game and a player its always a treat to hang out with my friends and tell a story together. It is the best way for me to socialize, it has a structure to it. You meet up every week, you role the dice, you think about your next move and work with the people around you to come up with solutions.

I myself have never been diagnosis as Autistic, but the more I work with the community the more I find I have a whole lot in common with those who do. I always had trouble engaging with people and picking up on social mannerism. But TTRPG's offered me a way to engage with people without put up a mask and stress about social rule, I can learn by trail and error in a fictional setting.

All that being said, I never really consider that it could be used as a platform for building social connection for those who struggle in the same way I do, but then I heard Peter Jung speak about how he has be using TTRPG's to help children with Autism develop friendships and social group. Using them to "explore how to rethink the social skills model to focus on building skills that help scaffold autistic and neurodivergent centered friendships organically through peer advocacy", I was amazed, but it made so much sense.

Click here to learn more about Roll for Kindness.

And he's not the only one use TTRPG's to help kid build social groups. And it's not just for kids with autism. Game to Grow a non-profit uses TTRPG's for Therapy. Often people are intimidated to speak about their problems in front of a group but through a lens of role play they are find that people are much more responsive than they would normally be. You can hear them talk about it here . They even have a Kickstarter of a kit their are building call Critical Core that can be used be therapist to guide them through the process of using Role play games to help their patient. I really recommend you check it out even if you've never played or even heard of TTRPGs before. You might find that its what you've been looking for.