Looking in from the outside..

Today the kiddo had an end of the school year pool party for his class and the fourth grade class.  Our school has one class per grade and small class sizes, so this is a fairly easy thing for them to do for the kids.  Anyhoo.. I brought him to the pool to meet up with his classmates for a very anticipated pool party.  I sat on the sidelines and watched him swimming with his classmates.  A sadness washed over me as I realized he's not really playing with them, he's playing around them.  You could tell very obviously which kids were close friends and the kiddo just went from group to group, but not really playing with anyone.  I really haven't noticed this until now.  It doesn't bother him, he still wants to play with everyone.. but I know eventually the kids will get older and eventually mean and I worry it will all cause him pain. 

I don't really watch him while he's outside playing around the house.. but now I'm going to make an effort to.. I wonder how he is with the kids in the neighborhood.  I think this will definitely be something we work on with the ABA therapist.  The whole thing just made me sad.. made me realize once again that he's "different".