I propose that we try to teach them body language and tone as well as their scripts. An actor has to be intentional about how his body looks and his voice sounds. That is just the ticket for an Asberger's child. And the theater gives you scripts.

Social skills deficits and excesses are a defining aspect of mental retardation (MR). Research indicates that there is an established relationship between social skills and maladaptive behaviors. A number of studies demonstrate that the social competence of individuals with MR and comorbid psychopathology can be enhanced with social skills training. However, to design an effective training package, an accurate assessment of adaptive and social functioning must first be conducted. Unique problems arise when assessing social skills in individuals with severe and profound MR(i.e., individuals often have limited verbal repertoires). Thus, a clinician must often rely on observable behavior and caregiver report rather than self-report. The three most common methods for assessing social skills are behavioral observations, role-playing, and checklists. These assessment strategies will be discussed, as well as suggestions for future research.

Students on the high end of the autism spectrum exhibit deficits in their ability to utilize appropriate social skills across a variety of contexts; however, standardized tests are usually not sensitive enough to identify the significance of these deficits. Social skills are a behavioral manifestation of social cognition. The I LAUGH Framework will be introduced to summarize areas of social cognition that are generally weak and impacts students? abilities to comprehend and participate in academic assignments as well as socially relate with others. A 5-step approach to assessment will be reviewed to more fully provide information regarding the origin and nature of students' social cognition and related skills. Informal assessment tools will be defined and described.

Social skills education services.

A skill-based deficit exists when a student has not learned how to perform a given behavior. A performance-based deficit exists when the student possesses a skill but doesn't perform it under the desired circumstances.

Social competence involves many components. Accurate social understanding and appropriate social behavior require input and output from the brain's visual, auditory, sensory, motor, cognitive, and language systems. Thus, achieving social competence is one of the most complex tasks our brain encounters.

Qualitative data is legitimate and can be gathered through various means. Individuals will differ in terms of how effective they are in specific situations, with specific partners, and as the mental and emotional demands of situations change.

Based on earlier studies, an adult's imitations of the behaviors of children with autism lead to increased social behavior in the children. The present study explored the effects of repeated sessions of imitation. Twenty children were recruited from a school for children with autism to attend three sessions during which an adult either imitated all of the children's behaviors or simply played with the child. During the second session the children in the imitation group spent a greater proportion of time showing distal social behaviors toward the adult including: (1) looking; (2) vocalizing; (3) smiling; and (4) engaging in reciprocal play. During the third session, the children in the imitation group spent a greater proportion of time showing proximal social behaviors toward the adult including: (1) being close to the adult; (2) sitting next to the adult; and (3) touching the adult. These data suggest the potential usefulness of adult imitative behavior as an early intervention.

A program for children who have difficulties making friendships. The object is to make sure the child is included in activities and feel a part of a group. A facilitator is required. A social map is prepared for the child with the child's help.

Just like socially competent students, children and youth with autism differ in a number of ways. Similarly, schools and classrooms have unique characteristics, attitudes, and norms. Accordingly, programs for facilitating social interactions between socially competent students and pupils with autism must accordingly vary with circumstances, situations, and needs. Educators must consider many options to stimulate interactions between these groups. For instance, peer tutoring may be more appropriate in some settings and with certain students than others. Similarly, some students will be more responsive to antecedent prompting than others. Selecting social interaction procedures based on individual subject, setting, and other salient variables increases the likelihood of successful outcomes.

This article explores how high-functioning children with autism navigate in the social world, specifically how they orient in the realm of norms and standards. In particular, this investigation focuses on rule violations episodes and sheds light on how these children account for their (mis)conduct and position themselves in the moral framework. This analysis shows that high-functioning children with autism can actively engage in discourse about norms and transgressions in an initiatory capacity, thereby displaying a mastery of social rules as a guide for appropriate conduct and interpretation of others' behavior. Furthermore, this article argues that these social skills are linked with the ability to operate with sequentially based understandings: Prior courses of action constitute for the autistic children the fundamental source for reaching an understanding of the normative mechanics of everyday life, and subsequently for constructing their own lines of conduct and themselves as moral agents.

The ball represents the conversation itself. We used a physical ball and by passing it to the person who would speak next, it demonstrated the idea that a conversation involves more than one person.

Creating algorithms for social interactions helps greatly in getting along in the neurotypical world. Social algorithms can be constructed with others, or depending on the situation, by the person on the autism spectrum theirselves.

To set up and develop an intervention programme; To enhance social interaction and understanding in groups of children and youngpeople with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD).

Social relatedness and interpersonal behaviors must be assessed, deficit areas targeted, and interventions planned and implemented. Student social skills improve most rapidly and are maintained over time when intervention is organized and consistent.

People who come to Springboard have a wide range of learning disabilities or Asperger's syndrome, a type of autism that impairs social and communication skills. Many members, while not developmentally delayed, have impaired intellectual functioning, speech patterns, and social skills. It is a group that, as one counselor says, ''falls between the cracks" between those with developmental disabilities and the world at large.

Excerpted from the Teacher's Guide, Last One Picked ... First One Picked On, Learning Disabilities and Social Skills

A classroom-based program for young children 3-5 years of age exhibiting problems with social-communication and social relationships. Our Classroom uses developmentally appropriate intervention and follows the SCERTS Model

Every report I see on this list indicates that AS kids rarely do social things successfully, even when doing things together. That is certainly true of the few failed groups of AS young adults I've recently learned of. Drawing AS kids together always seems more strongly motivated by parents' concern and desires than those of the participants. It isn't that the kids part as enemies; they just remain the strangers they've always been, often to themselves as well as others.

Integrated Play Groups, a peer play intervention model designed to address the unique socialization and play needs of children with autistic spectrum disorders.

The purpose of this article is to review current thinking about young children's peer relationships and offer ideas and practices that teachers can suggest to parents concerned about their children's social development.

When I speak, I am doing a million calculations in my head, trying to determine the likelihood of each statement being offensive, trying to conceive of every possible scenario in which my statement would be inappropriate...

The strategy for teaching friendship skills using children's literature has four parts: the use of children's literature; direct instruction of steps to follow; practice in the natural environment; and evaluation of the lesson and skills.

The key elements were: a climate of acceptance, mutual liking between the two students, and positive attitudes toward the child with a disability.

A public service to help promote social understanding between individuals with autism spectrum disorders and those who interact with them in the home, school, workplace, and community.

Excerpt from the book. Focuses on compliments frequently used in daily communications and identifies 10 guidelines that govern their use.

No amount of inappropriate behaviour can possibly justify what really happens to ASD children in schools. Anecdotes range from constant shoving in corridors, held head-down in toilets, locked in cupboards, kicked, punched, beaten unconscious, hanged on the school gate to running the gauntlet in gym changing rooms (practically universal). A favourite appears to be to surround the ASD child with a group of at least four and engage in whatever taunting is most likely to elicit the most satisfactorily terrified response. Note that it is never a one to one engagement here. The odds are always 4 to 1 or worse.

The small group setting provides opportunities to use more naturalistic activities focusing on specific aspects of language development, as well as the development of conversational and peer interaction skills.

These skills will require at least some general know how, common sense, and understanding of social structure because socializing is not always predictable.

FC speakers are just like all other people in their dreams of having many close and loving friendships. They have, however, some problems in making those dreams real. The purpose of this article is to share thoughts that the two of us have had about our friendship and what we have learned from it. It is partly based on our personal experiences, but we hope to raise issues that are common ones for many people.

The rules that teachers think you know without being taught are called the hidden curriculum. Here are some hidden curriculum rules that teachers might think YOU know. I hope these help you out in school!

At the same time that the social component is often the most challenging for hyperlexics, it is also the area where parents get the least help. Many school officials think it is beyond the scope of inclusion.

Rates various friendship skills. (Link defaults to homepage; go to Papers section.)

Our work together focuses on the explicit teaching of tools and techniques for improving the students' social communication with peers and adults, as well as strategies for adapting to more complex life and social situations.

Relationships follow a chain of CHOICE - BEGINNING - DEEPENING - ENDING - CHOICE that is never ending. The closer to the beginning of the cycle that you have problems, the harder it is for you to develop the rest of the chain.

A naturalistic study of six naturally occurring friendships among preschool-aged children with and without disabilities in inclusive settings was conducted with the children, their parents, and teachers. Data were collected through participant observations and interviews. Descriptive field notes, a fieldwork journal, and transcribed interviews were inductively analysed. Analysis uncovered descriptions, meanings, and revealed various perspectives regarding the friendships studied including those of the children, parents, and teachers. The friendships are described as typical and portray characteristics that are common among friendships during the preschool-age period. The friendships were dynamic and changed throughout the course of the study. Several factors influenced the formation of the friendships including: similarity in play styles; the opportunity to engage in similar activities; similar knowledge and interests; proximity; and parental factors. Implications for further research are discussed.

The present article presents a social skills training model that assists families and professionals in the delivery of social skills instruction.

A guide to the right manners and behaviors in common social situations, with straightforward instructions and clear demonstrations.

Results showed that whereas normal 9-11 year old children were skilled at detecting faux pas, children with AS or HFA were impaired on this task. Some patients with AS or HFA were able to recognize faux pas but still produced them.

The social world does not have to be a confusing and frustrating place. We need to help them to see patterns and to see that there is some sense to be made of all of this.

Identify the triggers or what causes the behaviors to occur and try to modify them where possible; systematically teach strategies to use when a child is faced with those situations and /or feelings.

Teaching my child to find and keep friends is the most important gift I can give him in life.

To this end, coming out of this most basic difference in social ability and social connectedness or defined disconnectedness it is my hope that the system and parents of children with AS will stop believing and insisting on trying to normalize the autism/asperger's out of their children. We are born the way we are for good reason.

Review of numerous studies of social skills.

This article reports on the setting up and running of two social skills groups within the Bedfordshire and Luton Community NHS Trust. Groups were established in response to an increase in referrals of 'socially disorganized' children to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), and a lack of local services to meet these children's needs. As a pilot project, outcome measures were used preand immediately post-group in an attempt to assess the short-term impact of the intervention and parents response to the initiative. Results were encouraging with children and parents expressing support for the experience, and positive changes in behaviour were reported. Some of the difficulties involved in running such groups in a busy clinical service are discussed.

Social skills are the cognitive, behavioral and communication skills necessary to have successful interpersonal interactions. They can be broken down into input, organization, output and self monitoring skills.

This study draws upon naturalistic ethnographic data to expand current understandings regarding the socio-communicative capabilities and challenges of children with autism spectrum disorders in mid-childhood.

When we observe and examine the social play and friendship skills of children with Asperger's Syndrome, we first asses whether there is a delay in the conceptual stage of friendship. (Link defaults to homepage; go to Papers section.)

If a problem is social, then the action needs to be social.

This article discusses the difficulty with which children with social disabilities establish and maintain friendships, as well as the significance of this difficulty within the school setting.

There are striking mismatches between psychological understanding as evidenced in experimental tasks - including, centrally, false belief tasks - and social skills as evidenced in daily life.

Individuals with autism can and do develop sustained social attachments. It is possible to consider their capacity for interpersonal relationships as a source of therapeutic gain in the educational setting.

Authoritative parenting works better than most other parenting styles in facilitating the development of social competence. High levels of nurturance combined with moderate levels of control help adults be responsible child rearing agents.

Subjective feedback offered overwhelming support in favor of both the sibling support group and the social skills group.

The child should ultimately be able to reflect and have an insight into his thinking process.

Social skills are a collection of isolated and discrete learned behaviors. Social competence refers to the smooth sequential use of these skills in an effort to establish an ongoing social interaction.

The right hemisphere is connected with visual-spatial, mathematical, and social intelligence, and that dysfunction in the right hemisphere can lead to the cognitive, social, and emotional symptoms of NLD.

Working in groups provides an opportunity to develop skills and understanding in meaningful contexts, particularly as the peer group proves to be facing similar challenges.

Demonstrates the effectiveness of audiotaped scripts and script fading for children with autism who are nonreaders.

As children get older they tend to separate into two groups. For one type of child the teacher can jerk open the front door; and for the other type, the teacher must sneak quietly through the back door.

from Syracuse Community-Referenced Curriculum Guide

In order for individuals with learning disabilities to learn these skills, they must have be taught them through the use of a specialized instructional sequence that focuses on social performance.

How Not to Feel Stupid When You Know You're Not; Breaking the Low Self-Esteem Cycle; Stacking the Deck: Four Aces of Self-Esteem; Anger and Frustration; No More Pity Parties; etc.

Poor social functioning and limited play are characteristic of children with autism. Increasingly, education for children with autism is provided within mainstream settings, but given their particular difficulties, the adequate provision of educational services in such settings is challenging. This study presents observational data of the play behaviour and social interaction patterns of 10 children with autism in mainstream kindergartens and primary school playgrounds. The target children differed significantly in terms of their play and social interactions from typically developing children in the same settings. The adequacy of the provision of services for children with autism in mainstream provision is discussed.

Children with autism or Asperger's Syndrome even when linguistically competent display poor pragmatic skills, which lead to deficits in socialisation resulting in social isolation and depression.

Excerpt from Rourke, Byron P. Treatment Programme for the Child with NLD, November, 1994.

Many of the social issues that children experience are language related. Our goal is to set up direct teaching situations to practice development of social skills, then generalize them during developmentally appropriate activities.

Many children and adults with PDD's find themselves ostracized due to barbaric manners, inability to tackle the back-and-forth of playground conversation, and difficulty in reading common social cues. It's not their fault�

Three principal goals guide our services: 1. To provide relevant social skill instruction that will generalize into daily routines. 2. To make socializing fun so that students want to socialize. 3. To help "typical" peers and professionals become more understanding, accepting, and engaging of those with social difficulties.

Research suggests that SST alone is unlikely to produce significant and lasting change in psychopathology or global indicators of social competence. Rather, SST has become a widely accepted component of multi-method approaches to the treatment of many emotional, behavioural and developmental disorders.

Children with good social skills have more opportunities for positive interactions with their peers, and enhanced ability to benefit from academic and prevocational training.

A key to academic and social success for children with autism is an integrated and collaborative effort among all team members. It requires skilled assessment, IEP development, and implementation of intervention strategies. Inclusion also plays a vital role in determining the success of integrating social skills in the curriculum for children with autism. The teacher's ability to implement and coordinate the activities is another critical variable.

Children go to school for a living. School is their job, their livelihood, their identity. Therefore, the critical role that school plays in the child's social development and self-concept must be recognized.

Why do we tend to teach social skills backwards? Instead of consistently teaching our kids manners, many of us wait until they do something wrong and then correct them.

Results indicated that the frequency of appropriate initiations and responses did increase and that these changes were socially valid (a) as measured by expert ratings of change and (b) in comparison to typical peer-to-peer social behavior.

Being able to take turns, whether it is in a game or in any social setting, is a basic way of interacting socially. While it seems like a very simple and easy task for a neurologically typical person, for a person with autism this can be a complex skill.

Well-liked children are better able than other children to read and respond to peers' emotions. Disliked children may misinterpret peers' emotions, leading to difficult interactions and eventual rejection by peers.

Normal childrens' conception of friendship changes over time and it is notable that children with autism and Asperger's Syndrome often have an immature and unusual definition of friendship. (Link defaults to homepage; go to Papers section.)

Normal childrens' conception of friendship changes over time and it is notable that children with autism and Asperger's Syndrome often have an immature and unusual definition of friendship.

Designed to be presented to classes of students in the elementary and middle grades. Adaptations are made for older classes. This article contains lesson plans and a list of supplies that you will need.

Understanding Friends is designed to be presented to classes of students in the elementary and middle grades.

Methods of social skill instruction that include drill and practice or role-playing do not fit what we know of how children with ASD learn. Social skill lessons are successful because they are used in naturally occurring situations.

If home is where the heart is, then home for a dozen people with Asperger Syndrome could be a 16-acre island blessed with lush gardens and rolling green hills. The island is called "Brigadoon," but unlike its literary namesake, this place is real -- or real enough in a 21st century way. "Brigadoon" belongs to a public virtual world called "Second Life," a popular online 3-D environment frequented by tens of thousands of users.

I did not learn the concept of personal space in the "normal" way. Instead, it gave me problems throughout my early years. I was constantly getting in trouble for "rude" behavior toward my peers (mostly) and generally didn't understand what was rude about my behavior. I did not emotionally "feel" the effect of being "too close for comfort" the way my peers did. Ultimately, I figured out what the problem was intellectually, and adopted the same overcautious approach to peronal space that I have toward risky tasks like driving that require motor skills. I am now very timid about approaching other people at all, unless I know them well. I give people more than ample personal space. This is a shame, because, by nature, I'm a hugger. But it is necessary for social survival.

Since persons disabled by autism often have difficulty generalizing from one setting to another, social skills training at the actual job site might be necessary to maximize the likelihood of useful skill acquisition.

The checklist provided in this digest includes attributes of a child's social behavior and preschool experience which teachers should examine every three or four months.