ideas to support our friend

[gwento]

My son's best friend is somewhere on the asperger continuum. We LOVE him. But at 6, my son is finally developmentally sophisticated enough that he doesn't like that his best friend always has to beat him, always has to be better in every way, always has to have the best, biggest one.... His best friend's need to be the best at everything and have everything seems to be intensifying.

I'm trying to find positive ways to help my son understand that his friend loves him very much, and his brain works differently.

I am also trying to find positive ways to respond to his friend because sometimes it drives me nuts. I don't know if he is cognitively ready or able to consider other people, and if there is some way I could bypass the need for empathy all together and give him some positive scripts. Any ideas?