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Social Detective Intermediate App Full Demo

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Social Skills Video - Having a Conversation

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Autism Social Skills Training: Model Me Conversation Cues™ - Video Modeling

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How to Comment - Social Conversation Skills

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Conversation & Small Talk Skills - Commenting by ECHOING

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Commenting with COMPLIMENTS - Social Conversation Skills

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3K1EsKEGPA

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Conversation & Small Talk Skills - Commenting with CONNECTIONS

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Commenting with Exclamations - Social Conversation Skills

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Limo

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How To Teach Social Skills With Peers│Autism│By A BCBA

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SST sharing

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Overview

Developing social skills is an important part of the lives of young children. Children begin to socialize during infancy and continue to strengthen their skills during preschool years. During this time, social skills may consist of gaining joint attention, initiating and responding, playing and sharing with peers, communicating wants and needs, and following classroom rules. Often children learn these skills by watching other children and adults, but some students may need more intensive interventions. Research suggests that children with disabilities often require these interventions to learn to interact appropriately with peers and adults. Appropriate development of social skills can lead to improved peer relationships, better problem-solving skills, and overall effective communication with others. Social skills interventions can be used to target a variety of essential skills such as requesting, initiating and responding to others, play, and communication among others. Many of these skills can be targeted through peer-mediated interventions (see Peer Training). In addition, children who need support to learn specific social skills can be taught with peers (who may or may not need similar supports) to engage in those behaviors. Remember that children (and adults!) only engage in behaviors that are reinforced; thus, social skills interventions should incorporate rewards that are meaningful to children.

We developed a specific variation of a social skills program designed to improve social behaviors for young children, the Secret Service Social Skills program. This program uses systematic instruction and reinforcement embedded in play activities to help teach children to use pro-social behavior and play skills.

Choosing the Agent:

Select a peer who:

Is likely to engage in the behavior frequently after a brief instructional session.

Is compliant with teacher direction.

Is persistent, as peers may not reciprocate the behavior.

Displays competence in the targeted skill.

Is a peer to whom the target child will likely attend.

Setting Up the Environment:

Select materials that are conducive to the social interaction (e.g., cooperative materials for activities that require sharing).

Have the materials set up and ready to go prior to beginning the session.

Have a token board and reinforcement selections available

Have the tokens and reinforcement stored in an area that is easily accessible in order to deliver to children easily

If working on a commenting skill, make sure materials allow children to create or access something that is easily identifiable so the agent can comment

Short Pre-Teaching Session:

Explicitly name the skill and provide a verbal explanation and model of the skill.

Conduct a guided practice session for the agent (e.g., set up a mock situation for child to perform the skill, verbally prompt them through it, and have them repeat name of skill and show different ways to do it).

Implementing the Session:

Remind the group of the contingency (e.g., "Remember, you can get tokens for doing what the secret agent does! Don't forget to spy on them!")

You may need to prompt the agent's first social interaction.

When delivering a token, explicitly identify the skill that is being reinforced and remind them of the token system (e.g., "You said something about your friend's drawing, you get a token!", "I think you found the secret skill, you get a token, too!").

Secret Service Social Skills Program: Scripts for Peer Pre-Teaching Sessions

"Hi NAME 1, today you are going to be our secret service agent! Here's your secret agent badge. You can earn tokens for being a good secret agent. Your assignment for today is to give your friends compliments. That means you can say nice things about your friend. You can say 'Good job, NAME 2!' or 'Way to go, NAME 2!' or 'You're the best!, NAME 2.' Can you think of a compliment you can give? - Awesome! If you forget what to do, you can look at this picture to help remind you. And remember, this is a secret assignment, so don't tell NAME 2."
Sharing
"Hi NAME 1, today you are going to be our secret service agent! Here's your secret agent badge. You can earn tokens for being a good secret agent. Your assignment for today is to share with your friends. That means that you give things to your friend. You can share tokens, toys, blocks, books or anything you can think of! What kinds of things do you think you can share with your friends today? - That's a great idea! If you forget what to do, you can look at this picture to remind you. And remember, this is a secret assignment, so don't tell NAME 2."

Requesting from Teachers

"Hi NAME 1, today you are going to be our secret service agent! Here's your secret agent badge. You can earn tokens for being a good secret agent. Your assignment for today is to ask your teacher for help. If you don't know the answer to something, you can say "Ms. NAME, can you help me?" You can also ask a teacher to play with you by saying "Ms. NAME, will you play block with me?" What things can you think of to ask your teachers? - That's a great idea! If you forget what to do, you can look at this picture to remind you. And remember, this is a secret assignment, so don't tell NAME 2."

Comments

"Hi NAME 1, today you are going to be our secret service agent! Here's your secret agent badge. You can earn tokens for being a good secret agent. Your assignment for today is to make comments to your friend. That means you talk about what NAME 2 is doing, or what they're playing with.. You can say, "Wow, you have a lot of tokens!" or "Your tower is so tall!" or "That looks like a boat." Can you think of some other comments? - That's a great idea! If you forget what to do, you can look at this picture to remind you. And remember, this is a secret assignment, so don't tell NAME 2."

"Hi NAME 1, today you are going to be our secret service agent! Here's your secret agent badge. You can earn tokens for being a good secret agent. Your assignment for today is to show and tell with your tokens, toys or anything else. That means you talk to NAME 2 about your stuff. You can say, "This token has a spiderman sticker!" or "Look at the airplane I made!" or "I have 10 tokens." Can you think of some other things to show and tell? - That's a great idea! If you forget what to do, you can look at this picture to remind you. And remember, this is a secret assignment, so don't tell NAME 2."

"Hi NAME 1, today you are going to be our secret service agent! Here's your secret agent badge. You can earn tokens for being a good secret agent. Your assignment for today is to ask lots of questions. You should ask questions to NAME 2 about their tokens, about what they're playing with, or if they'd like to play with you. You could say "Hey, NAME 2, what is that?" or "Can I have that block?" or "Which one is your favorite?" Can you think of some other questions you could ask? - That's a great idea! If you forget what to do, you can look at this picture to remind you. And remember, this is a secret assignment, so don't tell NAME 2."

Offering Help

"Hi NAME 1, today you are going to be our secret service agent! Here's your secret agent badge. You can earn tokens for being a good secret agent. Your assignment for today is to offer help to your friends. Sometimes a teacher may ask them a question that they don't know the answer to and you could help! Or you could help them paint their picture or build with blocks. You should say "Can I help you?" If they say yes, you can give them the answer or play with them. Can you think of way you can help your friends? - That's a great idea! If you forget what to do, you can look at this picture to remind you. And remember, this is a secret assignment, so don't tell NAME 2."

Morales, V.A., Ledford, J.R., & Chazin, K.T. (2016). Social Skills Groups. In Evidence-based instructional practices for young children with autism and other disabilities. Retrieved from http://vkc.mc.vanderbilt.edu/ebip/social-skills-groups

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Overview Developing social skills is an important part of the lives of young children. Children begin to socialize during infancy and continue to strengthen their skills during preschool years. During this time, social skills may consist of gaining joint attention, initiating and responding, playing and sharing with peers, communicating wants andneeds, and following classroom rules.

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ทักษะชีวิตผ่านมุมมองผุ้ดูแล

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ทักษะชีวิตผ่านมุมมองผุ้ดูแล

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ทักษะชีวิตผ่านมุมมองผุ้ดูแล.pdf

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โดย พลเอก เอกชัย ศรีวิลาศ ผู้อ านวยการสานักสันติวิธีและธรรมาภิบาล สถาบันพระปกเกล้า www.elifesara.com ekkachais@hotmail.com ภาษากาย ( Body Language )

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Deciding on treatment choices for a child with autism can be overwhelming. Many different interventions and techniques are offered, from medications to diets, from vitamins to occupational therapy, from cognitive-behavioral techniques to biofeedback training. It can be difficult to decide what to try, and even harder to tell what is effective. How do you know when a treatment is working?

In this article, we offer some suggestions about what to consider as you evaluate treatments, and relate these back to research principles you can apply at home.

Suggestion #1: Do Your Homework

Learn all you can about the proposed treatment from the most trusted sources possible. Consult with professionals, and talk to other parents. What claims are being made about a certain treatment or intervention, and who is making them? What specific symptom is the treatment meant to target? What are its possible side-effects? How much time and effort does it require, and are these worth the benefit?

Be sure to ask people how they know what they know. You might ask a physician or therapist, "What clinical trials or other research-based evidence support the use of this treatment?" You might ask a parent who is enthusiastic about a certain intervention, "What changes in your child did you observe after you started this treatment? How long did it take for you to notice the change? Were there any negatives associated with this treatment?" Try not to put too much stock in other parents' enthusiasm if they've only just started something new. It's common for people to be enthusiastic at the beginning of any treatment. What is more important is how they feel about it after some time has elapsed.

As in all areas of modern life, beware of hype. Of course, you must pay something for most treatments, but if claims are being made by people who are trying to sell you something, take that into account. As a consumer, you have been constantly exposed to people who are working very hard to get you to buy everything from cars to weight-loss programs. Use the same instincts you have developed as a consumer in general to make judgments about autism treatments. Know that your desperation may be viewed by some as a business opportunity, proceed with caution, and temper hope with skepticism.

Suggestion #2: Know Your Baseline

Sometimes you've tried so many things in such rapid succession, you're beginning to forget what your child looked like when there were no interventions at all. Make sure you know where you started before you evaluate a new treatment.

For example, to know if a child is really having fewer tantrums, you have to have a good idea of how many tantrums there were before, not to mention how severe they were and how long they lasted. Everyone hopes for an intervention that eliminates a difficult behavior, but it may be helpful to know that an intervention has cut the difficult behavior in half. The same goes for behaviors you are trying to encourage, whether that is instances of joint attention or gains in language. To see if vocabulary is increasing, you have to know how many words your child knew before an intervention began.

Like a researcher, you can track where you started by taking notes and keeping good records. Taking plentiful videos of your child in his or her natural environment -- at home, at the park, or at school -- can also help you document what your child's behavior was at a certain point in time, and if it changed during or after an intervention.

Suggestion #3: Start One New Treatment at a Time

Imagine that, anxious to help your child, you start a new diet, a new medication, and a new therapy all during the same week. Your child is suddenly doing better!

That's the good news. The bad news is you don't know which of the interventions is responsible for the change. If anything goes downhill, you won't know which intervention is responsible for that negative effect, either.

It's best to start new treatments one at a time so that you can be clear on both the positive and negative impacts of that particular treatment.

You must also take into account how long any one treatment is supposed to take in order to have an effect. Does a medication have to build up in the system for three weeks before it achieves its desired effect? Then you will need to wait that long to make judgments about whether or not the medication is making a difference. It's best not to start other new interventions in the meantime if that can be avoided.

Suggestion #4: Take Natural Child Development Into Account

Human beings develop through a natural progression: from crawling to walking, from babbling to talking. Even individuals with developmental delays continue to make progress along this innate developmental trajectory.

When an intervention is used to address a developmental concern -- say, to improve speech and language -- it is important to recognize that a child would have continued to make gains, on whatever delayed time table, even without any intervention. The difficult part is determining if they gained more thanks to the intervention than they would have if left on their own.

Because autism is a developmental disorder, it is particularly important to keep this factor in mind when evaluating an autism treatment. Small gains made over a long period of time may be due less to a certain treatment and more to the natural unfolding of human development.

Suggestion #5: Be Aware of "Good Weeks and Bad Weeks"

Children with autism may have good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks, no matter what treatments they are on. Cycling through good and bad periods occurs in most diseases, and especially in developmental disorders like autism.

These natural ups-and-downs can make it difficult to discern the true effect of a treatment. If parents start their child on a new treatment when they are most desperate (that is, when their child's behavior is at its worst), there will be a tendency to see the child swing back towards improvement regardless of the treatment being tried because the child was about to cycle back "up" anyway.

The trick is to separate out how much improvement is due to this natural cycling towards a "good week" or a "good month" and how much improvement, if any, is actually due to the intervention.

If a parent looks back and realizes she has tried a series of different treatments that "worked for awhile and then wore off," it may be that she was experiencing the effects of this up-and-down cycle. A child started on an intervention at the worst point of a difficult period may have cycled back towards a better period of behavior, and so the parent believed that the intervention was working. As the child continued through the cycle to head back down into a period of increasingly difficult behavior, the treatment seemed to stop working, and the disappointed parent, again at the worst point in the cycle, decided to try something else, which also seemed to work, but only for awhile.

Over time, parents do develop a sense of their child's pattern of "good weeks and bad weeks." It's important to keep that pattern of ups and downs in mind when you assess any new intervention.

Suggestion #6: Keep Other "Time Effects" in Mind

Time of day, month, or year can impact how a person is doing, and so can warp measures of treatment effectiveness. The dark days of winter can lead some people to feel much more depressed or unable to cope, as can the misery of springtime allergies. For example, irritability associated with some women's menstrual cycles may impact the effectiveness of a treatment given at a certain time. Many children with behavior problems or issues of mood and attention may find the beginning of school, or a return to school after winter holidays, stressful.

A new treatment started during a child's bleak winter mood and right after the holiday break might not appear as effective as the same treatment started during the summer. Timing of an intervention can interfere with our assessment of true treatment effects.

Suggestion #7: Be Observant About Other Factors that Impact Treatment Outcome

There are countless other factors that interfere with the measurement of the true effectiveness of an intervention. For instance:

A child may like or dislike the teacher, doctor, or therapist providing an intervention. Similarly, their parents may like or dislike a care provider, and their attitude may impact the child's cooperation and outcome. Imagine a program that seems to help when Suzie, a sweet, empathetic OT, is the therapist, but doesn't work at all when Liz, a gruff, irritable OT, performs the same therapeutic steps.

Starting a new treatment may increase parents' hope and decrease anxiety, such that a mother and father get along better and deal with their child more consistently. The child may start having fewer tantrums, but this may be due to the parents' change in behavior, not to the treatment itself.

Who gives information on a survey or checklist often provides a very different picture of a child's status. Perspectives of mothers, fathers, and teachers may differ substantially from one another.

All these factors have the potential to mask the true effectiveness of a treatment or intervention.

So... How Do You Know What Works?

First of all, your awareness of all the factors listed above can be helpful. If your child tends to have two good weeks followed by two bad weeks, for example, you know not to celebrate the success of a new treatment until he's had four "better than the worst" weeks in a row. You may know that a certain time of year is always a low point, and so may wait to judge a new treatment's full effectiveness until that period is over. You may realize that increasing maturity may be a result of developmental gains, and not necessarily due to a current treatment. You may recognize that sometimes the person providing the treatment is just as important as the treatment itself, and look for a good match in teachers and therapists.

In addition, to some extent, you can do what researchers do to determine the true effectiveness of a treatment. You can try implementing some "research methods" at home.

Research at Home

The dilemmas a parent faces when trying to evaluate a treatment's effectiveness are actually very similar to those researchers face. Researchers, too, want to make sure that a treatment they are testing is actually doing something, that it doesn't just seem to do something because of other, unrelated factors. Working with your physician, you can apply principles that guide researchers when you are evaluating a new treatment.

Researchers often design a study so that there are at least two groups -- one receiving the treatment and one receiving either no treatment; a placebo; or a different treatment -- for comparison. They try to ensure that assignment to these groups is random to avoid bias. Parents can't set up different groups getting different interventions, but they can observe their child on and off a certain treatment.

Researchers may keep a study double-blind so that neither patients nor researchers know which of two groups is receiving a certain treatment or a placebo. This eliminates bias on the part of researcher and patient alike. Parents can ask a person who doesn't know when a child is on or off a treatment being tested to evaluate how the child is doing. A teacher, for example, who doesn't know whether a child is on or off a new medication, vitamin regimen, or special diet might fill out behavior scales at regular intervals. In effect, the teacher is "blinded" to the test. If she rates the child as much better during a period the therapy is "on," parents can have some confidence that the therapy is having a helpful effect. (What the interval is will depend on the treatment, how long it takes to have an effect, and how long that effect is expected to linger once treatment stops.)

Researchers may have a control group which receives a placebo instead of the intervention being tested so that they can separate out the placebo effect -- the effect of hope, faith, and positive expectations alone on a person's well being. Sometimes, parents can use a placebo, too. If you are trying to evaluate a new medication, for example, you could work with your physician to put your child on the medication some weeks, and on a placebo (such as a sugar pill), other weeks. If your child is old enough to have his own hopes and expectations for the medication's effects, you will be separating out the placebo effect from his own experience of the medication. In addition, by using a placebo, you might even keep one parent "blind" to when the child was on or off the real medication, and ask him or her to rate how the child is doing.

Knowing What Works: Becoming a Better Advocate

Families know their children better than anybody else. They know their strengths and their challenges. They know their "up-and-down" cycles. They know how they behave differently with different people or at different times of year. This parental insight, combined with an awareness of the pitfalls of treatment evaluation outlined here, will make you the best judge of how a new treatment is impacting your child. Such awareness will also better equip you to evaluate treatment outcome research and the claims of those marketing autism treatments.

Sharing What You Learn: Participating in IAN

The Interactive Autism Network (IAN) is collecting treatment data over the internet from parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). By participating in IAN, you can share your hard won experience regarding any treatment you have tried with researchers all over the world. As thousands of families contribute such data, researchers will be able to track what treatments are being used, and which ones families are finding helpful. There is so little useful outcome research on treatments in autism. By participating in IAN, you can change this.

To participate in IAN Research, register today at www.IANresearch.org.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the IAN team at researchteam@ianproject.org.

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Evaluating Treatments: How Do You Know When a Treatment Really Works?

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Deciding on treatment choices for a child with autism can be overwhelming. Many different interventions and techniques are offered, from medications to diets, from vitamins to occupational therapy, from cognitive-behavioral techniques to biofeedback training. It can be difficult to decide what to try, and even harder to tell what is effective.

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Yoga for Autism & Special Needs: Overview

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The Interactive Autism Network (IAN), a project collecting information online from families of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) throughout the United States, reports that more than 14% of participating children are taking part in a social skills group. This percentage is even higher for older children, and children with PDD-NOS or Asperger's syndrome. Such groups are intended to address the core social deficit in ASD by improving social understanding and interaction. What research has been done on such interventions? What do families report about their experience with social skills groups?
Please Note: These Findings Are Preliminary
The analyses presented here by the Interactive Autism Network are preliminary. They are based on information submitted over the Internet by parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) from the United States who choose to participate. They may not generalize to the larger population of children with autism spectrum disorders. The data have not been peer-reviewed -- that is, undergone evaluation by researchers expert in a particular field -- or been submitted for publication. IAN views participating families as research partners, and shares such preliminary information to thank them and demonstrate the importance of their ongoing involvement.

We encourage autism researchers investigating these topics to apply for access to the IAN database. Contact researchteam@ianproject.org
Social Interventions in Autism

An inability to process the social world is a key feature of autism. Researchers have worked to describe and understand the wide range of social deficits exhibited by people on the autism spectrum, including unusual eye gaze, impaired joint attention, and a lack of theory of mind, that is, an ability to attribute beliefs, intents, desires or other mental states to oneself and others, and to understand that these may be different in other people. How do "typical" people naturally establish eye contact, learn the "rules of conversation," or intuit what others know, feel, or intend? How are people with ASDs different? Knowing this is a first step to developing interventions that will help them compensate for what they lack: natural social connectedness and insight.

Many socially based interventions have been developed in the trenches, so to speak, by clinicians, therapists, and educators trying to find a way to assist their clients and students on the spectrum. After all, addressing social challenges can be critical to success at school, at work, or in the larger world. Improved social functioning can also lead to more and better relationships -- something that may have a direct impact on mental health by preventing the feelings of isolation and loneliness that many older children and adolescents with ASD express.
(To learn more about research on Social Skills Groups, read on. Or , if you prefer, to the section on the experience of families participating in IAN Research.)
The list of social skills programs and tools offered in schools and clinics is a long one, including:

Applied behavior analysis (ABA), which may help build the foundation for later social skills training by encouraging joint attention and creating an appreciation for the inherent value of social interaction.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which assumes that how we think, feel, and behave are intertwined; CBT makes use of cognitive strengths to help a person with ASD develop social and emotional understanding to improve behavior, relationships, and overall functioning.

Social Stories, in which everyday social situations -- and expected responses -- are presented in story form.

Social scripts, which provide scripted responses for a variety of social situations; generally, the scripts are "faded" once the child has used them to learn to more frequently and successfully initiate social interactions.

Teaching the "hidden curriculum," which makes explicit the unspoken social rules and meanings that so often elude a person with ASD.

Video modeling or other technology using software and/or virtual reality to teach social skills, such as recognition of complex emotions in face and tone of voice. (To read an article about one such project, see Transported to a World of Emotion by Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues.)

Many of the tools described can be used in the context of a social skills group. There is no single formula for what such a group consists of, but the general idea is to bring individuals together to learn social skills and to practice them together in real time (since learning something social will likely require human interaction). Exactly what is learned depends a great deal on the needs of the group. Younger children might focus on the social rules they would encounter at a birthday party, for example, while older individuals might focus on dating and relationships, or situations in the work place.

Social Skills Groups: What Does Research Tell Us So Far?

Research on the effectiveness of social skills groups, just like research on social skills interventions more generally, has been fairly limited. Research so far has consisted mostly of studies focused on a single social skills group. In other words, those working with individuals on the autism spectrum have described how a specific social skills group was organized, and have provided ratings of participants' skills before and after the intervention. Such studies provide a first glimpse into what techniques are being tried, and if they seem to have worked. If encouraging, they can point the way towards higher level, more complex, and more conclusive research.

An example of such a study comes from Texas A&M University. Researchers there set out to examine the effectiveness of an outpatient social skills group for children ages 6 through 9 with high-functioning autism. Only four children participated. Group instruction targeted specific social skills, such as greetings, conversation, and play skills. Following each of eight sessions, the children with autism were observed in play sessions with typical peers who had received some instruction on ways to interact with children on the autism spectrum. Unfortunately, even with the inclusion of typical peers as part of the intervention, parents reported that only greeting skills had improved in social situations outside of treatment. Still, the children who participated reported feeling they had more social support from classmates at school after those students had received training on how to interact with them -- a beneficial outcome, though not the one the study set out to measure.

In another study, eight adolescents with Asperger's syndrome or other high-functioning ASDs worked on nonverbal communication skills. Although the targeted skills did not improve much during the course of the group, friendships developed that seemed to outlast the formal group meetings. Considering that isolation, loneliness, low self-esteem, and even depression can affect adolescents and young adults with ASDs, it may be wise to target such outcomes as one purpose of group-based social skills interventions rather than considering them a side-effect.

Comparing two types of social skills groups is a more complex form of research than looking at a single group, and can provide more insight. Taking such an approach, Kroeger and colleagues set out to evaluate two very different social skills groups. One involved unstructured play; that is, the children had a scheduled time to get together and just play. The other involved direct social skills teaching using a video-modeling format. While children in both groups increased positive social behaviors, those in the direct teaching group made more gains.These findings provide evidence that group interventions can be effective regardless, but that they are most effective when delivered in a direct instruction format -- a finding "consistent with research that indicates repetition and intensity within a structured setting are critical components to teaching social skills to children with autism." (p 815)

Bauminger conducted a fascinating two-phase study on an individual vs. a group social skills intervention, both based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). In the first phase, children received individual CBT based social skills training. In the second phase, these same children, plus others who had not received individual training, took part in a group social skills program. Children who participated in the group intervention showed improvement in recognizing emotions and understanding others' perspectives. They improved in cooperative social interaction as well, at least within the context of the group. Unfortunately, these social interaction gains were observed beyond the group only for the children who had also received the individual intervention.
(To learn more about RCTs, read Gold Standard of Evidence: The Randomized Controlled Trial [RCT].)
It is interesting to note that the individual training had included components that were specifically intended to help the children generalize their new skills, that is, to help them apply them in settings other than the one where they learned them. Each child had met with a peer during school recess and at home to underscore skills learned during therapy, and parents had been urged to learn and emphasize the social skills lessons at home, too. The group intervention, in contrast, had not required practicing with peers or at home. The researchers concluded that building in such "beyond the group" practice might well be essential if children participating in a group intervention are to generalize their new skills to other settings and circumstances.

When researchers review a number of studies addressing a similar treatment, they can begin to identify what seems to work across all of them. Reviewing five studies on social skills groups, for example, researchers at the University of Utah and the U.C. Davis M.I.N.D. Institute attempted to identify some "essential ingredients" for an effective social skills group. These central principles were:

Make the abstract concrete

Provide structure and predictability

Provide scaffolded language support (simplifying language and grouping children by language level)

Provide multiple and varied learning opportunities

Include "other-focused" activities (such that children always work in pairs or groups, and such that cooperation and partnership are encouraged)

Foster self-awareness and self-esteem

Select relevant goals (such that issues most central to ASD are those addressed)

Program in a sequential and progressive manner

Provide opportunities for programmed generalization and ongoing practice (so that the skills are used and useful beyond the group setting)

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(Note: Numbers do not add to 100% due to rounding.)
(Note: Numbers do not add to 100% due to rounding.)
(Note: Numbers do not add to 100% due to rounding.) (Key: GI = gastrointestinal; Allergic/Imm = issues involving allergic reactions or the immune system; Maladaptive = dysfunctional behaviors such as meltdowns or self-injury; Social = social skills of all kinds; Comm = communication; Stereotypy = stereotyped or repetitive behaviors; Exec Func = executive function; Neuro = neurological)
Susan Williams White and her colleagues reviewed fourteen studies on group-based social skills training programs. They concluded that clinicians and educators have developed and refined some social skills techniques, and have begun to organize procedures for various social skills programs in treatment manuals. (This is an important step, as it permits knowledge to be shared and research to be replicated.) What is needed next, they declare, are randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that will involve at least two groups for comparison, with participants assigned randomly to each, and with "blinded" participants and researchers.

Once a program's superior effectiveness can be demonstrated through a randomized controlled trial, studies can take place to show if it can be meaningfully conducted in settings outside of research centers, like schools or clinics. Such research is urgently needed.

In the meantime, thousands of children are participating in social skills groups on a regular basis. What do families participating in the IAN Research project report about their experience of social skills groups?

IAN Families Report on Social Skills Groups

IAN families have reported on 34,646 autism treatments, from vitamins to medications, from educational programs to diets. Of these treatments, 1,672 -- or 4.8% -- are some type of social skills intervention. In many cases, children are receiving more than one social intervention at a time. Of the 6,592 children whose parents have provided treatment data, 942 -- or 14.3%-- are taking part in a social skills group.

As might be expected, because social skills groups can be adapted to meet very different needs over the life span, children of all ages are participating in them (see Figure 1).

Social skills groups are also used by children of all autism spectrum diagnoses, although it appears they are used even more frequently to treat children with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger's syndrome (see Figure 2). As we have seen, many social skills techniques attempt to directly teach information about social or emotional aspects of life. This may mean they are most effective for children whose cognitive ability is a relative strength. It may also mean that this is an intervention offered to higher functioning, more verbal, later diagnosed children who may never have received intensive early intervention such as applied behavior analysis (ABA).

Targeted Symptoms

Approximately 700 parents have reported in detail on social skills groups. The symptoms parents told us they hope to target are fairly specific: communication and social functioning are uppermost (see Figure 3).

Funding Sources, Insurance, and Out-of-Pocket Cost

More than 60% of parents report their child's social skills group is funded by a public school, an early childhood program, or some other non-Medicaid program. Thirty-seven percent are receiving no public funding for the treatment at all (see Figure 4).

Those who enroll in a social skills group outside a public school or other public program generally have to pay out of pocket. Insurance rarely covers this treatment (see Figure 5).

The cost of this treatment varies. More than 60% report that the intervention cost them nothing, which makes sense considering it is around 60% who say they receive social skills group funding via a public program, like the local school. For the majority of the rest, however, the cost of participating in such a group is between $101 and $500 per month (see Figure 6).

Expectations, Risks, and Experience

As children embark on this therapy, many parents hope it will yield at least moderate improvement, though only 20% of parents expect "high" or "very high" levels of improvement (see Figure 7).

At the same time, the vast majority of parents feel there is no or very little potential risk involved with trying a social skills group (see Figure 8). (Low risk is an attractive aspect of any proposed treatment.)

Those who have reported on their experience with the treatment give it high marks, with 77% saying it led to improvement. Reports on how great that improvement was were varied, however, with 20% saying "minimal," 50% saying "moderate," and 30% saying "high" or "very high" (see Figure 9).

A word of caution: The information reported here reflects only parents' evaluation of current treatments. Because any treatment a child is currently receiving must be considered worthwhile by parents, we expect ratings to be fairly high at this point. As data are collected over time, and families can report on treatments they have dropped, there likely will be more negative reports, not just on this treatment, but on many treatments. Add to this the major impact of the placebo effect found in many autism treatment studies, and it is wise to take these findings as very preliminary and as yet incomplete.

Research on Social Skills Groups -- Next Steps

Many questions remain, of course. What were these social skills groups? What aspects of social functioning were they intended to improve, and how did they target these? How appropriate were interventions to developmental social-emotional level, and were children able to build on social skills as they laid social foundations, brick by brick? Were children able to generalize the skills they learned in these groups to other situations? To what extent do these groups simply function as support groups for the children, and to what extent do they truly improve social cognition and social functioning?

A great many children with ASDs are taking part in social skills groups, and much time, effort, and money is being devoted to these. It is therefore crucial that autism researchers identify promising group-based social skills programs, complete with manuals describing in detail how they should be conducted, and carry out randomized controlled trials to test their ultimate effectiveness.

Great strides have been made towards showing social skills groups can be an effective autism intervention. Unfortunately, we still have a great distance to go before evidence-based social skills programs are easily available to every school and clinic.

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IAN Research Findings: Social Skills Groups

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The Interactive Autism Network (IAN), a project collecting information online from families of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) throughout the United States, reports that more than 14% of participating children are taking part in a social skills group. This percentage is even higher for older children, and children with PDD-NOS or Asperger's syndrome.

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Social Skills Curriculum | Model Me Kids® Video Modeling - Model Me Kids, LLC

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Teach real-world social skills with Model Me Kids® video modeling. Flexible curriculum for autism and developmental delays | schools, therapy, and home.

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When my daughter with Asperger's was a junior in high school, she came home from school one day and said, "Um, something happened today and I am upset about it." She said a boy came up to her in chess club and started asking her questions and talking to her. She thought he was being invasive and said, "I felt like he was setting me up for something." Well, it turned out he was. He was trying to ask her out on a date. She had no idea what asking for a date would look like, and when it actually happened to her, she thought he was picking on her. We sat down and had what I thought was a pretty thorough discussion and all was well. Then one day she came home and said another boy had asked her out on a date! I said, "Oh wow! What's his name?"
She had no idea. Other than being in the same after-school club with him, she knew nothing about him. Oddly, she had actually agreed to go on the date with him, even though she didn't know his name. Clearly, we had much more work to do on the subject.

Social skills are increasingly important with age. Acceptable behavior from a 4-year-old is no longer acceptable in a 14-year-old. Start establishing appropriate behavior and habits earlier, rather than later, to avoid issues as your child gets older. For example, letting your child ride in a grocery cart when he's 5 or 6 looks OK (and prevents wandering!), but if you don't break that habit before too long, your 20-year-old, 200-pound son will still expect and demand to get in the grocery cart, even when he can't fit in it. And if you think you get stares when your 6-year-old is in the cart, just wait.

What are social skills?

Social skills are needed for anything from taking turns, to not interrupting conversations, to not telling "too much" truth (telling an overweight person that they arefat, for example), to conversational skills, to making and keeping friends. Kids with ASD don't learn intrinsically or pick up on social cues, verbal or nonverbal, like typical peers do, so they must be taught. Behavior differences may become more visible when kids become teens, and social conventions become more complex. In the teen years, typical peers are often less accepting of 'different' behaviors, so ASD kids are often ostracized and bullied, making it harder for them to fit in, at a time in their lives when fitting in feels all-important to most teens.

Real-life situations and the forgotten basics

Most ASD kids don't pick up on social cues or understand unstated social rules. To protect teens, it's important to consider and teach social norms. "The Hidden Curriculum" by Brenda Myles and Jeb Baker's "Preparing for Life" are great books that address many social norms that kids should know how to handle, such as:

Closing the stall door in a public bathroom

Whether to accept rides from friends who can drive (somemay not have good intentions)

Anticipating things that can happen when driving, like carjacking or being pulled over by a police officer who doesn't understand autism.

Body language

Dealing with anxiety

How to find, make and share new friends

Whether, when, and where to share personal information

"Friends" taking advantage of your child

While it's not feasible to consider and teach your child about every single possibility, anticipating and breaking down common situations for your teen can reduce anxiety. Do your best to think through every step. When I talked to my daughter about dating, I didn't suggest to her that knowing someone's name is a prerequisite for dating. It's easy to assume a teen knows certain unwritten rules, but in reality they often need to be explicitly discussed and taught, step by step.

Growing up and moving on

When your child who seems to have no interest in anything or anyone, you throw a HUGE party the day your child shows an interest or joy in a character, game, toy, or activity. You go out and buy one in every color and a spare just in case the original gets lost, and you do it gladly. It's great because you can use the new toy as a motivator for almost anything you want your child to do, and it calms them down when stressed. Those are all good things.

The problem comes over time, when your 3-year-old who eats, sleeps and breathes Teletubbies turns into a 16-year-old who still eats, sleeps and breathes Teletubbies.
Socially, your 16-year-old may want very badly to make friends, but that may be impossible without age-appropriate toys or interests. Other 16-year-old kids won't be interested in Teletubbies; even if Teletubbies enjoy a brief resurgence, you cannot base a friendship on Teletubbies, no matter how much you try.

It's very helpful for parents when kids have a reliable interest. However, exposing your child to new toys, new things, new places, and new activities will help you grow your child's interests with age. I'm not suggesting you take away all of their favorite things the day they turn 12, but as parents you should be opening their world up to experiences that will help your child grow up as the child grows older. Have faith in your kids that regardless of functioning level, they can be open to change.

No, the world does not revolve around you

One aspect of autism (the word autism literally means "to one's self") that can be aggravating to others and can act as a barrier to lasting friendships is apparent self-centeredness or selfishness. For example, when your teen gets a snack and doesn't ask anyone else if they would also like a snack or offer to share, the teen appears inconsiderate. Talking on and on about a topic that is clearly only of interest to the teen can also be off-putting to peers. Lack of consideration forothers can affect all aspects of your teen's life.Successful social thinkers consider the points of view, emotions, thoughts, beliefs, prior knowledge, and intentions of others. Teaching this skill is a must for teens.
Books, videos and curricula by Michelle Garcia Winner
Who provides training?

There is no formal education or certification required to teach social skills. Instruction can come from a variety of people, including educators, speech therapists, psychologists, occupational therapists, counselors, and parents themselves. Regardless of who teaches the skill first, parents must also teach and reinforce these skills at home and in the community.

Social skills can be taught everywhere. Include them in IEPs, practice them at home and in the community, and incorporate them in treatment plans with private therapists. Group programs like summer camps, after-school clubs, and standalone programs at local agencies serving people with disabilities also provide opportunities to develop social skills. Local psychologists or social workers may offer social skills groups for teens, or they can provide referrals to one. Extended School Year (ESY, aka summer school) is another opportunity for social skills training, since academic demands may be lighter.

No matter how many people you have teaching your teen social skills, unless skills are reinforced in daily life, across all situations, they will not be retained. Parental involvement is crucial because no one else interacts with your child in all aspects of their life, except YOU. Others can learn from watching you. Be the example for siblings, aunts, grandparents, and other friends and family by setting high standards for social skills. Social skills are a necessary part of developing self-esteem and can determine your child's success in many aspects of life.

Helpful tools
Social Stories
Single-themed narratives present social conventions to the child with ASD in the form of a brief story. For example, if the child has trouble on the swing set, a social story might explore this situation in detail, introducing the concepts of taking turns and asking a classmate to play. Ideally, the story is written from the first-person perspective of the child and sympathizes with difficult aspects of the situation (e.g., "It's hard to wait my turn when I want to ride on the swing now") and usually stresses the positive aspect of the situation or the correct way to act.

Comic Strip conversations

Otherwise known as storyboarding, comic strip conversations act as a graphic organizer to help teens visualize a situation from a second- or third-person perspective. This technique is also a useful tool to help teens develop episodic memory, or the ability to retell past events.
Video modeling
Video can be used to present both preferred and undesirable behaviors for a particular situation. Children of any age tend to enjoy watching videos, and since children with autism are often visual learners, video modeling is an excellent tool to show teens the appropriate way to act or respond to a situation. It can be very fun if the child knows the people in the video, and if the child can be in it too.
Role-playing
Role-playing involves acting out social interactions that the child with ASD might encounter at school or in the community. For example, an instructor might use role-play to teach teens how to respond to peers when they're asked to join an activity.

Peer groups

Peer mentors in the child's class can encourage your teen to interact with others. With the right guidance, mentors can also model socially appropriate behavior and show their support to the teen with ASD in unstructured school situations. This also helps typical peers to get to know the teen with ASD, and accept the teen as a peer and maybe even as a friend.

Visual Prompts

A sign on the refrigerator or pantry that says, "Ask if anyone else would like something" can remind your teen to be considerate. This worked well for my daughter.

Therapies

Therapies like Floortime/DIR/Play therapy and RDI (Relationship Development Intervention) utilize social skills training in their practice.

Life skills vs. social skills

Life skills, or independent living skills, are often included with social skills in treatment plans or IEPs. They should be viewed differently from social skills, since life skills are pertain to self-care, rather than social behavior. Examples of life skills are doing laundry, preparing food, bathing, shopping, paying bills, working, etc. Life skills can also be written into IEPs or treatment plans, but should be distinguished from social skills.

Resources

Model Me Kids videos demonstrate social skills by modeling peer behavior at school, on a play date, at a birthday party, on the playground, at a library, at the dentist, restaurant, and more. Real children model and narrate each skill. DVDs for ages 2-17.
Model Me Kids' Social Skills Lesson Plans Conover Functional Skills System Six tips to teach social skills and help kids make friends
The social skills training project utilizes a primarily cognitive-behavioral approach to teach social skills to children, adolescents, and adults who have social-communication difficulties.

TeacherVision has resources that are packed with techniques and strategies to help students with autism and their peers learn to interact with each other. These resources include teacher-initiated and student-initiated techniques that help build social skills and teach academic subjects to children with autism. Printables too.
Sample social skills IEP goals IEP Goal databank Teaching Social Skills in the Language Arts Curriculum, a middle school teachers guide Indiana University Autism Materials An Introduction to Social Stories Social Thinking
Books on Social Skills

The Social Skills Picture Book Teaching play, emotion, and communication to children with autism by Jed Baker

Social Skills Picture Book for High School and Beyond by Jed Baker

Preparing for Life: The Complete Guide for Transitioning to Adulthood for Those with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome by Jed Baker

Playing it Right! Social Skills Activities for Parents and Teachers of Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Including Asperger Syndrome and Autism by Rachael Bareket

Building Social Relationships: A Systematic Approach to Teaching Social Interaction Skills to Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Other Social Difficulties by Scott Bellini

Writing and Developing Social Stories by Caroline Smith

The Social Success Workbook for Teens: Skill-building Activities for Teens With Nonverbal Learning Disorder, Asperger's Disorder, & Other Social-skill Problems by Barbara Cooper

Super Skills by Judith Coucouvanis

The New Social Story Book, Revised and Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition: Over 150 Social Stories that Teach Everyday Social Skills to Children with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome, and their Peers by Carol Gray

My Social Stories Book by Carol Gray

Comic Strip Conversations by Carol Gray

Navigating the Social World: A Curriculum for Individuals with Asperger's Syndrome, High Functioning Autism and Related Disorders by Jeannie McAfee and Dr. Tony Attwood

Incorporating Social Goals in the Classroom: A Guide for Teachers and Parents of Children With High-Functioning Autism and Asperger Syndrome by Rebecca A. Moyes

Social Skills for Teenagers and Adults with Asperger Syndrome: A Practical Guide to Day-to-day Life by Nancy J. Patrick

The Hidden Curriculum: Practical Solutions for Understanding Unstated Rules in Social Situations by Brenda Smith Myles

Social Skills Games

http://social-skills-games.com
http://www.superduperinc.com/search/search.aspx
http://www.linguisystems.com/
http://www.parentingscience.com/social-skills-activities.html

Summer Camps for Social Skills

http://www.mysummercamps.com/
http://wmoore.net/therapy.html
http://www.iser.com/camps.html
http://www.kidscamps.com
http://www.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=ntl_directory_camprec
http://www.jcccamps.org
http://www.aspergersyndrome.org/

Related Teenagers with ASD Articles
Teens - Introduction and Article Links Teens - Social Skills Teens - Life Skills Teens - Puberty: What to Expect, Seizures, Anxiety, Sexuality Teens - Biomed with an Older Child Teens - How to Start the GFCFSF Diet with an Older Child Teens - Self-Advocacy and Self-Esteem Teens - Keeping Your Teen Safe Teens - Transition IEPs Teens - Testing for Adolescents Teens - Extracurricular Activities Teens - Driving Teens - Siblings Teens - Preparing for College Teens - Been There, Done That: Advice from Parents

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Teens with ASD: Social Skills - Talk About Curing Autism (TACA)

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When my daughter with Asperger's was a junior in high school, she came home from school one day and said, "Um, something happened today and I am upset about it." She said a boy came up to her in chess club and started asking her questions and talking to her.

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Children and adults with autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder, have problems with communication and social skills. Speech-language pathologists, or SLPs, can help.

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Every child on the autism spectrum is unique, with different strengths and needs at different ages. It is the family's challenge to cobble together an individualized treatment plan based on a wide variety of options, from speech and language therapy to applied behavior analysis, from medication to special diets.1 One intervention many families consider is social skills training. A lack of intuitive social ability is a hallmark of autism. Social skills training is aimed at addressing the challenges that result, and often plays a central role in treatment plans. But what does "social skills training" mean? What is it intended to achieve? And what research has been done so far to demonstrate whether it works?

Social blindness

The issue of social impairment is complex. Even those who deal with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) every day can find it difficult to explain these social deficits to someone unfamiliar with them. Often people are not consciously aware of their own ability to instantly process social cues, interpret people's intentions, or choose responses, let alone able to picture what it would be like to live without this ability. To imagine another disability, such as blindness, might be easier. We can put ourselves, at least to some degree, in the shoes of a person who has lost his or her sight. But a social disability?

What if we had to learn social rules that everyone else seemed to already know? What if we had to work at understanding complex emotions, in others and ourselves? What if even this understanding didn't help us to know what to do when we felt empathetic, embarrassed, or jealous? What if we had to struggle to figure out what another person knew, or felt, or thought, and how he or she might behave as a result? What if, no matter how much of this social dance we learned, it just kept getting more complex with every passing year?

This is what it is like to be socially blind. This is what it is like to have an ASD. Recognizing that, how do parents, teachers, and clinicians help? One way is through social skills training.

The complexities of the social self

A catchall phrase for social skills training might be "teaching a person how to navigate social reality" -- a goal so complex and multifaceted it is truly mind-boggling.

Given our limited knowledge of the field of social development in general, and of how this developmental process goes awry in autism in particular, researchers can find themselves on the outside of autism looking in. One of the starting points has been to build a list of external signs that help characterize the social impairment of ASD: poor eye contact 2 ; a lack of interest in initiating social interactions 3 ; a lack of understanding of emotions and how they are expressed 4 ; and a literal interpretation of nonliteral language, such as figures of speech, metaphors, and sarcasm. 5

One logical approach to treatment might be to break down social skills into their components and then teach these basic skills in a stepwise fashion. However, looks can be deceiving and what at first appears to be a "basic skill" can turn out to be incredibly convoluted, making it difficult for a caregiver to teach and for a person on the spectrum to apply to new situations. Take the social skill of "greeting" others. As Myles and Simpson (2001) 6 explain:
"A greeting...is a social skill that is thought to be simple. However, further analysis shows this skill, which most take for granted, to be extremely complex. How a child greets a friend in the classroom differs from the type of greeting that would be used if the two met at the local mall. The greeting used the first time the child sees a friend differs from the greeting exchanged when they see each other 30 minutes later. Further, words and actions for greetings differ, depending on whether the child is greeting a teacher or a peer.... [G]reetings are complex, as are most social skills."
These skills build upon prerequisite skills, many of them beginning in infancy. 7 A child with ASD may need social skills training throughout childhood and into adulthood, layer by layer, with basic skills leading to higher-level skills, which in turn branch out into the most complex skills required of adults living and working in the community. Clearly, social skills training needs will vary at different developmental stages. A 4-year-old with ASD may need to learn basic social rules such as sharing toys, for example. However, years later he or she may be more concerned with fitting in with friends, getting a first date, or developing a sexual relationship.

One thing is certain. Social skills are crucial to success in the classroom, the workplace, and the community. They also are essential to interpersonal success -- to friendship and romance. This means they matter not just in terms of achievement, but also in terms of mental health. In contrast to the stereotype that people with ASDs lack the desire for person-to-person connection, many children and adolescents on the spectrum long for social acceptance and social interaction with others. High-functioning individuals with ASD may express loneliness as early as elementary school, with their sense of isolation often intensifying during adolescence. 8,9

Intervention is definitely necessary...but do we know how to do it?

Smorgasbord of 'social skills' treatments

Despite the enormous difficulty involved, clinicians, teachers, and others "in the trenches" have developed techniques aimed at improving the social understanding and functioning of individuals with ASD. Before discussing these, however, we should mention a treatment that can be an important precursor to programs, tools, and techniques thought of as "social skills training": early intensive behavioral interventions.

Early intensive behavioral treatments, such as applied behavior analysis (ABA), are often used with young affected children to help put development, especially social and language/communication development, back on track. They are based on the psychobiological notion that brain structure and experience are interconnected, especially during infancy and early childhood. 10,11

If something fundamental goes awry in the autistic brain, and so interferes with early social interaction and experience, the reverse also will be true. That is, the continuing development of the "experience-expectant" brain will be negatively affected when crucial social experiences do not occur.12 Neurological development, already gone wrong, will be even further derailed when an infant on the autism spectrum fails to focus on human faces and voices 13 or to seek out his or her parent's gaze.14 Both the "give" and the "take" of parent-infant interaction will not occur as they were meant to, and so the brain -- wired and waiting for certain input -- will suffer from never having received it.

In Early Behavioral Intervention, Brain Plasticity, and the Prevention of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Geraldine Dawson describes how early intensive behavioral treatments can help "guide brain and behavioral development back toward a normal pathway." 15 For example, if a toddler with autism is completely uninterested in social interaction, preferring to look at inanimate objects rather than people, ABA can help that toddler learn to find pleasure or reward in gazing at a human face. The more social interaction becomes valued, the more eye gaze, joint attention, and other fundamental social skills can be nurtured, encouraged, and built upon, opening the way for various types of social skills training.

The sheer number of social skills interventions and programs offered in schools and clinics is daunting, but here we will introduce a few of the better-known strategies.

Social Stories™ and Comic Strip Conversations. These resources use stories and drawings to build social understanding.

Social Stories are brief, personal stories written for children to help them understand social situations. 16,17,18 The story describes the situation, with the child's and others' feelings and/or thoughts as key elements. Possible social responses may be included, in a positive way, to help the child understand a social situation or cope with a stressful encounter. Say a child with ASD was invited to a classmate's birthday party. At the party, he or she walked over and opened one of the birthday girl's presents, and negative consequences ensued. Following the party, the parent and child could write a Social Story. The story could describe the setting, describe the characters watching the child with ASD tear the paper off the birthday girl's present, and explain what the birthday girl may have been thinking, what the other children attending may have been thinking, and what the child with autism remembers thinking. In the end, the story could relate options for socially desirable behavior in the situation. The aim is to increase insight and help guide future behavior.

Comic Strip Conversations involve "drawing" conversations to help the child learn the social rules that others learn more naturally. Bubbles representing a conversation can bump into or overlap one another to illustrate "interrupting" and "thought" bubbles can show others' thoughts during conversation. For example, a child with ASD who takes offense at a peer's comment, "You can't catch me!" can be shown that the peer may not have been rejecting, but trying to start a fun game of chase.

Hidden Curriculum. These strategies involve directly teaching "unspoken" social rules.

The "hidden curriculum" refers to a set of social rules or guidelines that most people understand intuitively. 19 These are the rules that everybody seems to pick up naturally, that everybody just knows. However, individuals with ASD do not pick up these rules naturally, and these rules need to be taught directly to them. A child who does not intuit or know these rules is at risk for social isolation.

For example, most older children know the signs which signal that someone has claimed a seat in the classroom. But an older child with ASD is likely to overlook the signs: a jacket slung over the back of the chair or a book positioned in the seat. The repercussions of "stealing" someone else's seat are likely to leave the child with ASD mystified and rejected.

In the book The Hidden Curriculum, 20 the authors outline possible teaching strategies and list numerous unwritten social rules ranging from the somewhat simple, such as only the birthday girl or boy opens the presents, to the more subtle, such as just because a person is nice to you one time doesn't mean he or she is your "best friend."

Social scripts. 21 This strategy involves teaching "scripts" for common social situations.

In a social scripts intervention, sometimes used to assist individuals with ASD to initiate social contact and conversation, the child learns a scripted question or phrase such as, "Did you like playing on the swing today?" The child initially uses a support, such as a reminder card with the script available to read, and then is gradually weaned from this support until he or she can use the question or phrase spontaneously. 22

Computers and other technology. These interventions involve using videos, software, or virtual-reality programs to teach complex social skills, such as recognition of emotions in facial expressions and tone of voice.

Videos can be used in any number of ways, such as having a child watch him- or herself performing a social task or role-playing a social situation and then analyzing what went right and what went wrong. They can be especially helpful for teaching children with ASD how to interpret body language because the action can be stopped or slowed down on the video and discussed. A child who has learned the component skills of greeting visitors may be helped by a video showing how all the component skills come together to form the integrated behavior in an actual social situation. 23,24,25,26

Researchers in the United Kingdom have developed an animated series, The Transporters, which aims to teach reading of facial emotions to preschoolers with autism, while a computer program entitled Mind Reading: The Interactive Guide to Emotions is geared toward children who can use the computer effectively. 27 (See IAN's Transported to a World of Emotion.)

Meanwhile, researchers in Alabama have successfully demonstratated that a computer-based social skills program called FaceSay helps children with both low and high functioning autism improve their ability to recognize emotions and to interact socially. It also helps children with high functioning autism to recognize faces. (In this program, "avatars," which are animated photos of real people, interact with the children as they play skills-focused games.)28 Similarly, researchers in Texas have experimented with using virtual reality to set up practice social interactions for high-functioning individuals on the autism spectrum. 29 Even socially interactive robots are being designed. 30

Social skills groups. These groups offer an opportunity for individuals with ASDs to practice social skills with each other and/or typical peers on a regular basis.

Some social skills groups consist solely of children with ASD while other groups have a mix of participants, children with ASD along with typically developing children. Often these groups use a variety of techniques and tools, including those discussed in this article.

The good news: There are many social skills interventions to try.
The bad news: Research on these treatments and their effectiveness has so far been limited.

Social skills training: Limited research

Social skills training is often overlooked by those measuring use of autism treatments, but we do have some evidence that these treatments are quite common. Green and colleagues identified Social Stories as the fifth most frequently used autism treatment in their Internet survey of parents of children on the spectrum.31 The IAN Research survey, also conducted via the Internet, found that 14% of participating families were using social skills groups as part of their child's current treatment plan. This increased to more than 20% for 8- to 12-year-olds and to more than 25% for children with Asperger's syndrome. (Look for the Interactive Autism Network's upcoming report to read more about what families participating in the IAN Research Project report about their experience of social skills groups.)

Clearly, social interventions are widely used, especially for children who are older and/or higher functioning.

Unfortunately, we are only beginning to investigate whether social skills training is effective. Evaluating social skills programs, like evaluating other psychosocial, behavioral, and educational treatments carried out in clinics and schools, presents different (and perhaps more complex) challenges than evaluating a medication. Still, such evaluation is crucial, considering that core features of autism are currently treated with only psychosocial, behavioral, and educational interventions, not with medical or biological ones. 32

So far, much of the research on social skills training has been based on the observations of clinicians, educators, or other practitioners who implemented a specific social skills intervention with a small number of children, later evaluating whether it seemed to improve skills. Several researchers have reviewed collections of such studies in order to identify common problems or limitations, point out promising strategies, and make recommendations for future research. 33,34,35,36

Unfortunately, when social skills programs have been examined as a whole, evaluation of their usefulness has not always been encouraging. After reviewing 55 research studies on school-based social skills programs for youth with ASD, for example, researchers at Indiana University found such programs to be only minimally effective. 37 "The results of the meta-analysis are certainly hard to swallow," the lead researcher, Scott Bellini, said, "but they do shed some light on factors that lead to more beneficial social outcomes for children with autism." 38 The team identified some major problems with existing programs, including low dosage -- the children did not receive many hours of social skills training. (Considering the intensity recommended for ABA and similar early interventions, it may be that social skills training needs to be much more intensive than it is now.) Another issue identified was the need to provide the intervention in the child's natural setting, meaning the classroom, rather than in a "pull-out" setting; treatment in naturalistic settings appeared to be more effective. Also mentioned was the need to ensure that a program, once planned, was carried out as intended. If this did not occur, a poor outcome might be the result of poor implementation, not poor design.

A common problem with social skills research itself was lack of a common definition of what the treatment was actually targeting. Which social skills, defined and characterized how? Measured how? Matched to which children, with what level of ability and what needs? Sample sizes were often very small, and those evaluating effectiveness were not "blinded" to prevent their biases and hopes from influencing their assessment of the program's worth. Few used comparison groups so that researchers could distinguish improvement due to an intervention versus improvement due to simple growth and maturation. Few followed up, in the short or long term, to see if any skills gained were retained. 39

On the more positive side, researchers looking at social skills efforts so far have been able to identify some elements that seem to contribute to a worthwhile social skills program. Based on their review of five studies, for example, Krasny and colleagues offered the following "essential ingredients" for social skills programs: 40

Make the abstract concrete

Provide structure and predictability

Provide scaffolded language support (simplify language and group children by language level)

Provide multiple and varied learning opportunities

Include "other"-focused activities (with children always working in pairs or groups, and with cooperation and partnership encouraged)

Foster self-awareness and self-esteem

Select relevant goals (such that issues most central to ASD are addressed)

Program in a sequential and progressive manner

Provide opportunities for programmed generalization and ongoing practice (so skills are applied outside group setting)

Similarly, Williams White and her team, having reviewed 14 studies, identified a number of "promising strategies": 41

Increase social motivation (foster self-awareness and self-esteem; develop a fun and nurturing environment)

Increase social initiations (use strategies such as making social rules concrete, for example, "stay one arm's length away from the other person")

Improve appropriate social responding (use modeling and role-playing to teach skills)

Reduce interfering behaviors (reinforce positive behaviors by, for example, maintaining behavior charts and reinforcing desired behavior with stars)

Promote skill generalization by orchestrating peer involvement, using multiple trainers, involving parents in training, providing opportunities to practice skills in naturalistic settings, and assigning "homework" -- having children practice between sessions

Some common themes appear to be emerging. One of these is the need to foster self-awareness and self-esteem as part of a social skills intervention, because these are so linked with social motivation and social awareness, not to mention mental health.

Another key issue is the need for these interventions to require interacting with other people, and as many varied people as possible. One-on-one direct teaching or therapy can be an important part of social skills training, but to truly practice a social skill requires creating a social situation, or making use of a preexisting one.

Also noted is the need to focus on making sure skills are generalized, that is, used in other contexts. Individuals on the autism spectrum tend to become "stuck," learning a skill in a certain setting and then not perceiving its relevance out of that context. Making sure new social skills are practiced and used far beyond the clinic or school setting is crucial to a social skills training program's success.

Where do we go from here?

Acknowledging that social skills research is still in its infancy, researchers have begun to make recommendations for next steps. Some useful techniques and tools have been created; now they need to be refined. In addition, the development of manuals detailing how a specific social skills program is to be carried out, and how teachers, therapists, parents, and clinicians are to be trained, is essential. Unlike a medication, which you just give on a prescribed basis, a psychosocial intervention requires a program that can be communicated to those who will provide it, and that can be implemented again and again in the same way.

As programs become better defined and tested on a small, pilot scale, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) will become possible. RCTs are the gold standard for research, allowing comparison of a specific intervention to a different intervention or to no intervention at all. (For a discussion on the topic of RCTs, see IAN's Gold Standard of Evidence: The Randomized Controlled Trial [RCT].)

For example, researchers might take 100 children ranging from ages 8 to 10 with high-functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome, randomly assigning them to the regular school program or to that plus a new social skills training group that is going to meet daily for a number of weeks or months. The teachers or therapists leading the groups would be trained to carry out the social skills program precisely as set forth in a manual (such that personal variations of the program did not interfere with the research). Before the trial began, the research team would decide how to measure the outcome based on the program's goals. Outcome measures might include the number of social initiations a child makes, the number of conversations in which a child is able to take conversational turns (instead of launching into a too-long monologue), or measures of loneliness, maladaptive behavior, or life satisfaction. At the end of the program, it should be clear whether children who received the new program did better than those who did not. Once a program is proven effective, the next challenge will be to move it into the wider community, and to make sure it can be implemented just as effectively in regular public schools or local clinics where there is no research team to oversee it. 42,43

The research community, for its part, is very much aware of what next steps are required. There is reason to hope that there will come a time when we will have a much better sense of which specific social skills program, implemented in what way, will be most beneficial for which individuals on the spectrum. For now, parents, teachers, and therapists rely on the knowledge and programs that have been developed "in the trenches," hoping what they are doing is the most effective strategy, and that they will soon have more guidance to go on.

Please rate the helpfulness of this article:

1. Interactive Autism Network. (2008, November 12). IAN Research Findings: Treatment Series. Retrieved January 15, 2009.

2. Matson, J. L., Matson, M. L., & Rivet, T. T. (2007). Social-skills treatments for children with autism spectrum disorders: An overview. Behavior Modification, 31(5), 682-707. View Abstract

3. Matson, J. L., Matson, M. L., & Rivet, T. T. (2007). Social-skills treatments for children with autism spectrum disorders: An overview. Behavior Modification, 31(5), 682-707. View Abstract

4. Williams White, S., Koenig, K., & Scahill, L. (2007). Social skills development in children with autism spectrum disorders: A review of the intervention research. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(10), 1858-1868. View Abstract

5. Williams White, S., Koenig, K., & Scahill, L. (2007). Social skills development in children with autism spectrum disorders: A review of the intervention research. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(10), 1858-1868. View Abstract

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9. Paul, R. (2003). Promoting social communication in high functioning individuals with autistic spectrum disorders. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 12(1), 87-106. View Abstract

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11. Quartz, S.R., & Sejnowski, T.J. (1997). The neural basis of cognitive development: A constructivist manifesto. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 20, 537-596. View Abstract

12. Greenough, W. T., Black, J. E., & Wallace, C. S. (1987). Experience and brain development. Child Development, 58(3), 539-559. View Abstract

13. Osterling, J. A., Dawson, G., & Munson, J. A. (2002). Early recognition of 1-year-old infants with autism spectrum disorder versus mental retardation. Development and Psychopathology, 14(2):239-51. View Abstract

14. Mundy, P. (1995). Joint attention and social-emotional approach behavior in children with autism. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 63-82.

15. Dawson, G. (2008). Early behavioral intervention, brain plasticity, and the prevention of autism spectrum disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 20(3), 775-803. View Abstract

16. Gray, C. (2000). The new social story book. Arlington, Texas: Future Horizons, Inc.

17. Hagiwara, T., & Myles, B. S. (1999). A multimedia social story intervention: Teaching skills to children with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disorders, 14(2), 82-95. View Abstract

18. Quirmbach, L. M., Lincoln, A. J., Feinberg-Gizzo, M. J., Ingersoll, B. R., & Andrews, S. M. (2008). Social stories: Mechanisms of effectiveness in increasing game play skills in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder using a pretest posttest repeated measures randomized control group design. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(2), 353-361. View Abstract

19. Myles, B. S., Trautman, M., & Schelvan, R. L. (2004). The hidden curriculum: Practical solutions for understanding unstated rules in social situations. Shawnee Mission, KS: Autism Asperger Publishing Co.

20. Myles, B. S., Trautman, M., & Schelvan, R. L. (2004). The hidden curriculum: Practical solutions for understanding unstated rules in social situations. Shawnee Mission, KS: Autism Asperger Publishing Co.

21. Weiss, M. J., & Harris, S. L. (2001). Teaching social skills to people with autism. Behavior Modification, 25(5), 785-802. View Abstract

22. Weiss, M. J., & Harris, S. L. (2001). Teaching social skills to people with autism. Behavior Modification, 25(5), 785-802. View Abstract

23. Charlop, M. H., & Milstein, J. P. (1989). Teaching autistic children conversational speech using video modeling. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 22(3) 275-285. View Abstract

24. LeBlanc, L. A., Coates, A. M., Daneshvar, S., Charlop-Christy, M. H., Morris, C., & Lancaster, B. M. (2003). Using video modeling and reinforcement to teach perspective-taking skills to children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 36(2), 253-257. View Abstract

25. Kroeger, K. A., Schultz, J. R., & Newsom, C. (2007). A comparison of two group-delivered social skills programs for young children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(5), 808-817. View Abstract

26. Golan, O., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2006). Systemizing empathy: Teaching adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism to recognize complex emotions using interactive multimedia. Development and Psychopathology, 18(2) 591-617. View Abstract

27. Baron-Cohen, S., Golan, O., Wheelwright, S., & Hill, J. J. (2004). Mind reading: The interactive guide to emotions. London: Jessica Kingsley.

28. Hopkins, I.M., Gower, M.W., Perez, T.A., Smith, D.S., Amthor, F.R., Casey Wimsatt, F., & Biasini, A.L. (2011). Avatar assistant: Improving social skills in students with an ASD through a computer-based intervention. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, [epublished ahead of print]. View Abstract

29. Phillips, A. (2008, January 15). Asperger's therapy hits Second Life. ABC News. Retrieved January 15, 2009.

30. The AuRoRA Project: Introduction (n.d.). Retrieved January 15, 2009.

31. Green, V. A., Pituch, K. A., Itchon, J., Choi, A., O'Reilly, M., & Sigafoos, J. (2006). Internet survey of treatments used by parents of children with autism. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 27(1), 70-84. View Abstract

32. Lord, C., Wagner, A., Rogers, S., Szatmari, P., Aman, M., Charman, T., et al. (2005). Challenges in evaluating psychosocial interventions for autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35(6), 695-708. View Abstract

33. Rao, P. A., Beidel, D. C., & Murray, M. J. (2008). Social skills interventions for children with Asperger's syndrome or high-functioning autism: A review and recommendations. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(2), 353-361. View Abstract

34. Bellini, S., Peters, J. K., Benner, L., & Hopf, A. (2007). A meta-analysis of school-based social skills interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders. Remedial and Special Education, 28(3), 153-162. View Abstract

35. Williams White, S., Koenig, K., & Scahill, L. (2007). Social skills development in children with autism spectrum disorders: A review of the intervention research. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(10), 1858-1868. View Abstract

36. Krasny, L., Williams, B. J., Provencal, S., & Ozonoff, S. (2003). Social skills interventions for the autism spectrum: Essential ingredients and a model curriculum. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 12(1), 107-122. View Abstract

37. Bellini, S., Peters, J. K., Benner, L., & Hopf, A. (2007). A meta-analysis of school-based social skills interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders. Remedial and Special Education, 28(3), 153-162. View Abstract

38. Indiana University, News Room. (2007, June 25). Study: Social skills programs for children with autism are largely ineffective. Retrieved January 15, 2009.

39. Rao, P. A., Beidel, D. C., & Murray, M. J. (2008). Social skills interventions for children with Asperger's syndrome or high-functioning autism: A review and recommendations. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(2), 353-361. View Abstract

40. Krasny, L., Williams, B. J., Provencal, S., & Ozonoff, S. (2003). Social skills interventions for the autism spectrum: Essential ingredients and a model curriculum. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 12(1), 107-122. View Abstract

41. Williams White, S., Koenig, K., & Scahill, L. (2007). Social skills development in children with autism spectrum disorders: A review of the intervention research. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(10), 1858-1868. View Abstract

42. Williams White, S., Koenig, K., & Scahill, L. (2007). Social skills development in children with autism spectrum disorders: A review of the intervention research. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(10), 1858-1868. View Abstract

43. Smith, T., Scahill, L., Dawson, G., Guthrie, D., Lord, C., Odom, et al. (2007). Designing research studies on psychosocial interventions in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(2), 354-366. View Abstract

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Social Skills Interventions: Getting to the Core of Autism

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Every child on the autism spectrum is unique, with different strengths and needs at different ages. It is the family's challenge to cobble together an individualized treatment plan based on a wide variety of options, from speech and language therapy to applied behavior analysis, from medication to special diets.1 One intervention many families consider is social skills training.

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เรื่องราว-หมอฟัน

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ผลของโปรแกรมการฝึกทักษะครอบครัวสำหรับผู้ปกครอง

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ผลของโปรแกรมการฝึกทักษะครอบครัวสำหรับผู้ปกครอง

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Training Parents of an Adolescent with Autism

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Training Parents of an Adolescent with Autism

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การฝึกทักษะสังคม

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การฝึกทักษะสังคม

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Copy of example of NMA project thirakorn

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R parent training programs-noncompliant behaviors

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A review of parent training programs targeting noncompliant behaviors for ASD

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Social Skill Builder Video Modeling Software | My Community

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My Community teaches children and young people appropriate social behaviors, interactions, expectations and safety precautions with various peers and adults in their community. Social Skills in Neighborhood and Community Settings. Age 5 - 15.

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3 Things That Make the Hidden Curriculum Hard to Understand

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The hidden curriculum is a slippery thing because so many parts of it are dependent on the context and situation in which the behavior happens.

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To download and print this resource, click on THIS LINK HERE.

To download the PowerPoint version of this resource (to project or show on computer), click here: Relating to Girls, PowerPoint Version

Boys with Asperger's / High-functioning autism face special challenges in understanding and relating to girls

In this blog post, I offer some basic background on issues affecting teenage boys on the autism spectrum pertaining to their relationships with girls, and then I provide some social skills teaching materials for mental health professionals, teachers and speech-language pathologists to use in their work.

Problem 1: Difficulties understanding the interests and perspectives of girls and women

Children on the autism spectrum have challenges with "theory of mind," that is, understanding what other people might be thinking. This presents particular problems when a boy with high functioning autism is dealing with individuals of the opposite gender. (It is hard enough, after all, for males who do not have autism).

Problem 2: Difficulties with verbal and nonverbal elements of communication

With regard to nonverbal communication, when interacting with girls, boys on the autism spectrum have a tendency to make mistakes with eye contact and personal space. Eye contact errors fall into two categories. First, many boys with high functioning autism find it very difficult to look into the eyes of other people when they are talking. This can cause them a lot of anxiety and break their concentration. Second, boys who are attracted to girls might not understand the negative social impact of staring at girls in a conspicuous manner. Personal space errors can occur when a boy on the autism spectrum gets too close to a girl or touches her in an unwanted manner.

With respect to verbal communication, boys with high functioning autism face many challenges when communicating with girls. They might wish to compliment a girl, but they may not understand the unwritten social rules about bluntly complimenting a girl's attractive features. Boys on the spectrum might find it overwhelmingly difficult to find common ground in conversation with a girls, and boys might consequently fall back on their preferred interests in conversation.

Problem 3: Difficulties with appearance and hygiene

Right around the time that boys on the autism spectrum may be first feeling attraction to girls, they are in the process of taking over numerous self-care tasks from their parents. Consequently, many teenage boys with ASD have problems with hygiene, attire and grooming. They may have dirty and unkempt hair. They may bathe infrequently or inadequately. Likewise, they often neglect dental hygeine. They may select clothing based on comfort or habit rather than fashion. All of these problems present enormous liabilities when relating to young females, who, compared to young males, are more inclined to be aware of hygiene, smell and appearance.

Problem 4: Fundamental challenges finding compatible romantic partners

Autism affects far more males than females. This, unfortunately, puts young men on the autism spectrum at a statistical disadvantage. Males with autism do, of course, often date and marry females who are not on the spectrum. However, young men with autism often have a special affinity for young women on the spectrum - but relatively few of these females with ASD are out there.

A note about young gay people on the spectrum:

In our work with young men with autism, we of course come into contact with males who are attracted to males. Please be aware that you can modify the materials below to address the needs of this population. And, by the way, there is a terrific, short autobiography by a man with Asperger's who happens to be gay - Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammett.

How to use the free materials provided in this post:

The image below shows the teaching panels as they might appear if you placed them on the wall in a bulletin board fashion. You could also bind them together to create a simple, nine-page book.

The image below shows several of the cards. You can use these in individual, group or small class-size interventions. Here are some suggestions. First, you could arrange the cards into three piles by card type. Then, you could, by roll of dice, have participants pick from one of of three card types (roll of 1 or 2, or 3 or 4, or 5 or 6 determines which card is selected). Alternatively, shuffle the cards and have participants select them an random.

About role playing in the "Act it out" cards:

The majority of guidance counselors, psychotherapists, special education teachers and speech-language pathologists are females. Working with boys who are trying to learn to relate to girls, you have certain practical advantages if you are female. This allows you to play the role of the "girl" in the role plays I have set up in the "Act it out" cards.

About the "Fix the Thought" cards:

Here is a suggestion on how to use these cards. Introduce these cards by saying something like this: "Certain thoughts and beliefs can lead to all kinds of upsetting emotions and make these bad feelings much worse. If you can notice them and fight them, you can feel less upset." Then, you, the adult, can try holding the card over your head and say, "Let's pretend I am a person having this thought." Then, you act out the role of someone having the thought, and ask the participants to give you advice and tell you what better alternative thoughts you might try.

An interesting YouTube video you may wish to check out

Adults with autism have posted many worthwhile YouTube videos in which they discuss romantic relationships and give advice. Here is one very good one - skip the first 3 minutes and then learn from him how he has dealt with issues such as understanding females, conversation skill, eye contact and the question of whether or not to disclose one's diagnosis. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qmT89Kynf0&feature=related

Other blog posts by me on related topics, with free downloads:

Picture worksheets on talking to sisters and mothers For boys with ASD, understanding females often starts at home.

To review the materials, see the images below.

TO PRINT OUT THE RESOURCE IN PDF FILES, PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK AT THE TOP OF THIS POST.

I wish you well in your work helping boys on the autism spectrum to understand and relate to females. By the way, if your organization wants to receive training on using social skills training materials to for children on the spectrum, I provide workshops nationwide. to learn more, please follow THIS LINK.

Joel Shaul, LCSW

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Helping teen boys with high functioning autism to relate to girls: Card game activity and social skills teaching materials

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In this blog post, I offer some basic background on issues affecting teenage boys on the autism spectrum pertaining to their relationships with girls, and then I provide some social skills teaching materials for mental health professionals, teachers and speech-language pathologists to use in their work.

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ทักษะสังคมวัยเรียน

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ทักษะสังคมวัยเรียน

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Review and Critique of 16 Major Parent Education Programs

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There are many parent education programs available for Extension professionals. How does a busy Extension professional decide which is best for h

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To download and print this resource, click on THIS LINK HERE.

To download the PowerPoint version of this resource (to project or show on computer), click here: Relating to Girls, PowerPoint Version

Boys with Asperger's / High-functioning autism face special challenges in understanding and relating to girls

In this blog post, I offer some basic background on issues affecting teenage boys on the autism spectrum pertaining to their relationships with girls, and then I provide some social skills teaching materials for mental health professionals, teachers and speech-language pathologists to use in their work.

Problem 1: Difficulties understanding the interests and perspectives of girls and women

Children on the autism spectrum have challenges with "theory of mind," that is, understanding what other people might be thinking. This presents particular problems when a boy with high functioning autism is dealing with individuals of the opposite gender. (It is hard enough, after all, for males who do not have autism).

Problem 2: Difficulties with verbal and nonverbal elements of communication

With regard to nonverbal communication, when interacting with girls, boys on the autism spectrum have a tendency to make mistakes with eye contact and personal space. Eye contact errors fall into two categories. First, many boys with high functioning autism find it very difficult to look into the eyes of other people when they are talking. This can cause them a lot of anxiety and break their concentration. Second, boys who are attracted to girls might not understand the negative social impact of staring at girls in a conspicuous manner. Personal space errors can occur when a boy on the autism spectrum gets too close to a girl or touches her in an unwanted manner.

With respect to verbal communication, boys with high functioning autism face many challenges when communicating with girls. They might wish to compliment a girl, but they may not understand the unwritten social rules about bluntly complimenting a girl's attractive features. Boys on the spectrum might find it overwhelmingly difficult to find common ground in conversation with a girls, and boys might consequently fall back on their preferred interests in conversation.

Problem 3: Difficulties with appearance and hygiene

Right around the time that boys on the autism spectrum may be first feeling attraction to girls, they are in the process of taking over numerous self-care tasks from their parents. Consequently, many teenage boys with ASD have problems with hygiene, attire and grooming. They may have dirty and unkempt hair. They may bathe infrequently or inadequately. Likewise, they often neglect dental hygeine. They may select clothing based on comfort or habit rather than fashion. All of these problems present enormous liabilities when relating to young females, who, compared to young males, are more inclined to be aware of hygiene, smell and appearance.

Problem 4: Fundamental challenges finding compatible romantic partners

Autism affects far more males than females. This, unfortunately, puts young men on the autism spectrum at a statistical disadvantage. Males with autism do, of course, often date and marry females who are not on the spectrum. However, young men with autism often have a special affinity for young women on the spectrum - but relatively few of these females with ASD are out there.

A note about young gay people on the spectrum:

In our work with young men with autism, we of course come into contact with males who are attracted to males. Please be aware that you can modify the materials below to address the needs of this population. And, by the way, there is a terrific, short autobiography by a man with Asperger's who happens to be gay - Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammett.

How to use the free materials provided in this post:

The image below shows the teaching panels as they might appear if you placed them on the wall in a bulletin board fashion. You could also bind them together to create a simple, nine-page book.

The image below shows several of the cards. You can use these in individual, group or small class-size interventions. Here are some suggestions. First, you could arrange the cards into three piles by card type. Then, you could, by roll of dice, have participants pick from one of of three card types (roll of 1 or 2, or 3 or 4, or 5 or 6 determines which card is selected). Alternatively, shuffle the cards and have participants select them an random.

About role playing in the "Act it out" cards:

The majority of guidance counselors, psychotherapists, special education teachers and speech-language pathologists are females. Working with boys who are trying to learn to relate to girls, you have certain practical advantages if you are female. This allows you to play the role of the "girl" in the role plays I have set up in the "Act it out" cards.

About the "Fix the Thought" cards:

Here is a suggestion on how to use these cards. Introduce these cards by saying something like this: "Certain thoughts and beliefs can lead to all kinds of upsetting emotions and make these bad feelings much worse. If you can notice them and fight them, you can feel less upset." Then, you, the adult, can try holding the card over your head and say, "Let's pretend I am a person having this thought." Then, you act out the role of someone having the thought, and ask the participants to give you advice and tell you what better alternative thoughts you might try.

An interesting YouTube video you may wish to check out

Adults with autism have posted many worthwhile YouTube videos in which they discuss romantic relationships and give advice. Here is one very good one - skip the first 3 minutes and then learn from him how he has dealt with issues such as understanding females, conversation skill, eye contact and the question of whether or not to disclose one's diagnosis. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qmT89Kynf0&feature=related

Other blog posts by me on related topics, with free downloads:

Picture worksheets on talking to sisters and mothers For boys with ASD, understanding females often starts at home.

To review the materials, see the images below.

TO PRINT OUT THE RESOURCE IN PDF FILES, PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK AT THE TOP OF THIS POST.

I wish you well in your work helping boys on the autism spectrum to understand and relate to females. By the way, if your organization wants to receive training on using social skills training materials to for children on the spectrum, I provide workshops nationwide. to learn more, please follow THIS LINK.

Joel Shaul, LCSW

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Helping teen boys with high functioning autism to relate to girls: Card game activity and social skills teaching materials

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In this blog post, I offer some basic background on issues affecting teenage boys on the autism spectrum pertaining to their relationships with girls, and then I provide some social skills teaching materials for mental health professionals, teachers and speech-language pathologists to use in their work.