I have been researching about symptoms of AS, specifically female symptoms. One I came across was that they are more likely to be friends with older/younger girls. I was never really friends with older/younger girls. But I always prefered playing with (older) boys. Could this somehow relate to not being friends with girls (your age) in general? Because girls my age always wanted to play pretend which I absolutely hated, whereas the boys always played with blocks or something which I prefered..
This is a great example of how the criteria often aren’t inclusive enough! The point of “playing with girls older or younger” isn’t that you play with girls at all. It is that you are playing with people who have different social rules than are typical of your age.
For example, middle school and junior high are some of the worst times for girls socially, even allistic girls. The social rules change very fast, and autistics especially can’t keep up. But if we are friends with older women or younger girls, the social rules are fairly stable and more easy to exist in.
A lot of us seek out companionship with boys for this same reason. The social rules for boys can be complex and dynamic, but they are also very often simplified. They certainly don’t change as fast or chaotically as they do for girls. They also tend to start changing at a later age for boys, which means girls can often play with boys their age and not have to worry about the quickly changing dynamics of other girls the same age.
So to answer your question - Yes, playing with boys instead of girls is one way this can manifest.
