Once upon a time, there were autistic, ADHD, and anxious students who didn't know that there are stages or levels between strangers and friends. 

Sometimes these students treat people they kind of knew like they were strangers, not acknowledging them when they saw them. 

Sometimes they didn't know how to engage in small talk with people they kind of knew, so interactions were pretty awkward. 

And some students thought everyone they knew was their friend, which meant they were often too friendly or too personal with people they only kind of knew. And the reality is that most people in our lives are people we only kind of know. 

I created the lesson I'm sharing on this week's podcast for all of these students. 

In this lesson, I teach students that an acquaintance is someone we recognize from somewhere or something. We usually know their name, but not always. This can include students in our class or our group, neighbors, teachers, and friends of our parents. We also talk about what the social expectations are when we are around acquaintances, like small talk and introductions to other people.