Friendship Builder: Making and Keeping Friends

This page supports people with diverse abilities in making friends, keeping friends, and building healthy social connections. Friendship is important for everyone, and with the right tools, encouragement, and support, friendships can grow in positive and meaningful ways.

The Friendship Builder page is designed to be easy to understand, inclusive, and practical. It can be used by:

People with diverse abilities
Recreation therapists
Support workers
Peer support facilitators
Educators and community program leaders

This page focuses on learning social skills in a respectful, strengths-based way, while recognizing that everyone communicates and connects differently.

What This Page Includes

Friendship Skills Made Simple
This page shares helpful ideas about:

How to start a conversation
How to listen and take turns
How to be a good friend
How to respect boundaries
How to handle disagreements kindly

The goal is to help people feel more confident when connecting with others in the community, at programs, at work, or online.

Songs About Friendship 🎵

Music is a powerful way to learn and connect. This page includes songs about friendship that can be used to:

Start group discussions
Talk about feelings and emotions
Encourage positive social behaviour
Create fun, engaging activities

Recreation therapists and support workers can use these songs during:

Group programs
Social skills sessions
One-to-one support
Community inclusion activities

Music helps make learning about friendship fun, relatable, and memorable.

A Tool for Support Professionals

This Friendship Builder page is also a resource for professionals who support people with diverse abilities. It can be used as:

A conversation starter
A planning tool for social activities
A resource during recreation therapy sessions
A guide for teaching friendship skills in real-life situations

The content supports person-centered learning, kindness, inclusion, and emotional well-being.

Building Connections Together

Friendship looks different for everyone, and that’s okay. This page celebrates choice, respect, inclusion, and community connection. Whether someone is making their first friend or learning how to maintain long-term friendships, this page is here to support that journey.

At KSANews.ca and The Kamloops Self Advocate, we believe that everyone deserves friendship, belonging, and connection.