September Mini Institute

Social Skills and Autism

   What are social skills? Everyone uses them everyday. These are skills that we use at work,
play, school, day care, grocery store, etc. Without appropriate social skills, individuals are often
identified as having behavior problems. Social skills allow an individual to initiate and maintain
positive social relationships. Through social skills, we learn to recognize and manage emotions,
develop caring and empathy for others, establish positive relationships, and make responsible
decisions.One of the largest deficits for individuals on the Autism Spectrum is their ability to
understand and interact in the social world.

   These individuals have difficulty recognizing that others may act, think, and feel differently than they do. By understanding these challenges, we can then make accommodations for our students.
Social characteristics of children with ASD include:

  • Inconsistent use of non-verbal behavior
  • Difficulty understanding social “rules” and relationships
  • Difficulty with spontaneously sharing experiences
  • Lack of social reciprocity
  • Unconventional/inappropriate methods of interactions
  • May have lack of eye contact
  Individuals with ASD typically lack “Theory of Mind”. This is identified as not understanding why people do what they do. They have difficulty understanding their own behaviors. They
cannot predict another person’s behaviors and have difficulty reading others intentions or point
of view.
  Impaired joint attention is typically present in young children with ASD. This skill should
develop between 5-6 months of age. Impaired joint attention is identified as impaired imitation
and reciprocal play skills. The inability to read subtle social cues of others, such as facial
expressions and emotions. Inability to have a reciprocal conversation. To teach social skills, several steps must be followed. These steps will assist in the identification, intervention, and monitoring progress of the social skill targeted. You must first identify the social skill functioning of the child. How to they use their current social skills with others? Identifying if the skills has been learned, but performance is still a challenge, or if the skill must be taught and practiced. Teaching and implementing the social skills in a variety of ways and settings is important to generalize the skill. The progress should be monitored, in order to identify if the interventions are working.
  The individual must have been taught the social skill that is being monitored. Without this being taught in a variety of settings or activities, the practice and performance piece may be missing. Social skills must be practiced so the performance of the skill will be learned and generalized.
  A variety of interventions may be used. These are part of the visual supports needed for individuals with ASD. Visual supports may be with objects, photographs, computerized drawings, and/or words. The presentation of the visuals are dependent on the cognitive level of the individual. If the child is reading, then maybe only words. If the child is not reading, then pictures with words is recommended. If the child has not learned that objects and pictures are representing the same object, then they are at the object level moving to the photograph level.
  Once the type of visuals are identified, then the use of strategies may begin. These would
include Social Stories, Visual Schedules, visual sequence strips, video modeling (discussed in the
November blog). These may be developed to teach a new skill, to teach a daily routine (ie tooth
brushing), or teach a daily routine at home or school.
  Social stories are used to provide a visual with words to teach a skill. These should be written in a positive manner. Pictures may be added to the story to help with the understanding. Social stories are often written in response to a troubling situation or skill that has been difficult to learn. When writing a social story, there are specific types of sentences to use. These are: descriptive (Sometimes at school we have fire drills.), perspective (Children like to play outdoors at recess.), directive (I will try to stay calm when I am frustrated.), affirmative (When the teacher is talking, the students will be quiet.), partial (Other kids will feel happy when I say hello.) When writing, describe the social behavior, rather than the expectations. Write in first person perspective, with positive descriptions of appropriate behaviors. Social stories may be reviewed multiple times daily or sometimes just before the specific event.
   Another strategy to use may be comic strip conversations. The student will write and draw
characters having a conversation. Conversation and thinking bubbles will be used over the
characters. This is often a good way for the teacher or adult to see how the child is interpreting
a situation.
   Power cards are also a visual support that incorporates a preferred character or special
interest of the student. These teach appropriate behaviors and are written with positive
wording. The power card will identify how the child may use the strategy to solve a problem.
These will be small and may be mobile.
   The 5 point scale will break down the areas in 5 categories to identify the emotions and
behaviors of the child. The scale is visual and reduces abstract ideas to simple numbers. Older
students may help write the appropriate behaviors for the 5 different areas. This may be used
individually or for an entire classroom.
   Using the variety of strategies for social skills with individuals with ASD, is very successful.
The success depends on the consistency and availability to the student. The adults must use
these daily and consistently as a tool to teach Social Skills. The team for the child may work
together to develop visual supports. The team will use these daily in a variety of settings to
encourage social skill learning and practice.

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