helps in social intelligence.
In my experience, it decreases social anxiety if anything. I mean, I can imagine what he feels like, he's not interested in what most children like, I'm not interested in small talk either or most intellectually unstimulating topics. SSRIs do seem to make you more "spontaneous" so more open about random ideas, more likely to actualize them and from my point of view, I'm not sure if that's a positive change. Perhaps it would be better to find him peers who like the same things? I attended all sorts of math, game and art clubs while at school and it gave me both short- and long-lived friendships. My parents encouraged me a lot to the math clubs and I wasn't fond of that at the beginning, because math was "unpopular", but I'm grateful they persuaded me, as I have met the best friends there and it ended up being a lot of fun.
My doctor a few years ago claimed that I just have social anxiety and need to break through it and that's just anxiety, but settings like crowds, parties etc. make me anxious for a reason and I think the way my body reacts is healthy and self-protective. When I took the SSRIs, I didn't feel anxiety in these settings, but experienced overstimulation that was way worse than not hanging out with people who don't share my interests. Overstimulation for me looks like absorbing all the stimuli like a sponge and then suffering from executive dysfunction, insomnia, inability to focus, inability to study and remember - because everything is playing over and over in my head like a merry go round that won't turn the volume down. So the SSRI might cause more "standard" behaviour and this is what I think the studies have found, however if overstimulation is an issue for him, I'd watch out for it and I think this isn't serving a person with autism as a whole and I'd look more into finding him friends and groups that share his interests. I'm not a parent, but perhaps there are game clubs at his school, in a a different nearby school, in the community centre, perhaps if he would take a liking to chess, there are chess clubs for school age children. Computer and programming clubs. I almost taught children programming at such a course. It looks like more a strictly behavioural approach to take SSRIs - but maybe that could be beneficial for him specifically and the cost I mentioned wouldn't impact his functioning and grades negatively. I'm not a huge fan of SSRIs myself, I think they're good for certain conditions, but are harmful if treated as a panaceum in my opinion and are harmful if the clinician misdiagnoses what your issue actually is and if like the one I mentioned discards what you say. On the other hand, Temple Grandin mentioned in her book that she has found SSRIs helpful with noticing social cues, because she could focus on them more - if I recall right.
Some times he is in his own world and other times he wants to mingle with others.
Is that a problem though? A lot of people are intorverts and don't want to socialise all the time and it's okay.
If anything, I would try to make interacting with others easier such as in calmer less overstimulating settings. Noise is a huge issue for me. Perhaps examine his sensory issues more closely, I have found earplugs that filter out noise very helpful, because it makes participating in conversations in busier settings not as exhausting. Perhaps look into this and hearing aid - I think hearing aid isn't normalised enough, while glasses are considered normal. The thing is, socialising gets exhausting if you have all the sensory issues associated with the autism spectrum. I can't hear all that well if there is any noise present, I'm stressed out by crowds, smells, I stop noticing the nonverbal cues at all when I'm forced to interact in a crowded place and someone is bumping into me all the time, lights are blinking, someone seems to have eaten a tuna sandwich for lunch etc. Perhaps this is what school feels like for him, it certainly can.
