Social problems

[cub11]

My brother is incredibly unhappy. He has always struggled to make friends and is now 32 without having any real friends or any real girlfriends. He struggles hugely socially and seems to have no real concept of normal social skills. When he tries to have a conversation with people he completely dominates the conversation and seems to talk 'at' people rather than require a two way conversation. He does not seem to realise when people are not listening and are bored with the conversation and can just keep talking for hours if anyone will let him. He seems like a nervous person as he fidgets a lot when talking to people and often struggles to get his words out. However, he is certainly not shy about approaching anyone and will happily talk to anyone that will listen. He struggles with normal politeness such as thank you if given a present or if offered anything and therefore comes across as incredibly rude. I know that he is a good person that can be incredibly caring but at the moment I cannot see him being happy. He lives with my parents and works in a very low paid manual job that he hates even though he is very intelligent but he cannot seem to get through interviews. Do you think there is something I can do to help him and do you think he may be suffering from something that we are unaware of? I would be so grafeful for some guidance.

Thank you.

[Ethel]

Have a look at this test and try and answer the questions:

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=4 71&a=6730

From the information you have provided it could be a possibility.

[Ethel]

Another possibility:

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2 12

[daffy654]

You have just described classic Asperger Syndrome jen, My 10 year old was diagnosed with it and is exactly the same as your brother in the social skills department. Such things weren't recognised or diagnosed when your brother was young but it can be diagnosed in adulthood, he may need some counselling on how to be a more sociable person,the skills can be learned but it will take some time.

[lorri24601]

hi
your brother is lucky to have such a caring sister,my nephew sounds very similar to your brother and his parents have tried like you to get to the root of it and found very little proffesional help available but through their own research they feel he may have something along the lines of asperger syndrome, it may be worth you having a look at a few websites about it and see if it fits with your brother as well.

hope this may help x