Teaching Autistic Teens To Make Friends

Teaching Autistic Teens To Make Friends

Can the skills of making friends really be taught? The answer seems to be yes. In a study appearing in the April edition of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, UCLA clinical instructor of psychiatry Elizabeth Laugeson and colleagues report that in comparison with a control group, the treatment group taking the class significantly improved their overall social skills and interactions with their peers. "Although, typically, developing teens often learn basic social rules through observation of peer behavior and specific instruction from parents," Laugeson said, "adolescents with autism spectrum disorders often require further instruction. You can read more about this study by clicking above.

"It's hard enough to be a teenager," she said, "but it's harder still for adolescents with autism because they typically lack the ability to pick up on all the social cues most of us take for granted — things like body language, hand gestures and facial expressions, along with speech inflections like warmth, sarcasm or hostility. "Lack of these basic social skills may lead to rejection, isolation or bullying from their peers. And sadly, that isolation can carry into their adult life."

Many of these skills need to be directly taught. Preferably in a group context where teens with autism spectrum disorder / Aspergers can practice and observe others practicing these skills (and do it in a protected environment) or individually. If the teen needs to work on these skills one-to-one because there are no groups or they have difficulty working in a group, there is still that option. If, however, individual training is used it is critical that parents become involved in knowing what skills are being taught, how they are cued, and how they can help with homework...using these new skills in a wide variety of environments. That's how they become part of your child's daily lives.

In this group study Laugeson and her colleagues developed a social skills class called PEERS (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills), to give high-functioning teens with ASD a set of specific social skills. In it they worked on issues such as: "How do you have a successful get-together with someone? How do you go up to a group of teens and join their conversation? What do you say as a comeback when someone teases you? Without these core social skills, it becomes very difficult for teenagers to make and keep friends."

In the study, 33 teens with ASD — 28 males and five females — attended the PEERS classes. All the participants had a previous diagnosis of high-functioning autism, Asperger's Disorder or Pervasive Developmental Disorder–Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). The teens met once a week for 12 weeks; each session lasted 90 minutes. Instruction was conducted in a small-group format, with seven to 10 teens, using established strategies for teaching social skills to adolescents with ASD. How could you get a class like this going in your school? First, contact the school's support teacher. If that doesn't work, go to the principal. Failing there many lower mainland districts have ASD or "Autism Teams." Ultimately, if your school doesn't have the skills or ability to put together such a program you should ask for a consultation with the "POPARD Partner," this is the individual who works with the Provincial Outreach Program for Autism and Related Disorders (POPARD). They often provide training, support and consultation to schools and individual teachers in developing these "social learning" groups. Here in BC we are more likely to call such a group a "social learning" group as the issue at hand isn't simply not knowing a specific social skill (although our student most likely doesn't), instead it's a matter of understanding the nature of social reciprocity. The give and take of language and communication involving emotion and meaning. (See books by Michelle Winner on "Social Learning" through my website at http://www.relatedminds.com/autism or directly through Amazon.ca

As part of the study this article is about parents were required to attend separate, concurrent sessions where they were provided direct instruction and guidance to support their child's development. Honestly, if someone is treating your child for deficits in social awareness and not seeing you on a regular basis to review and teach skills...something is missing in the program.

"Parental involvement was mandatory and important," said Laugeson, associate director of the UCLA Parenting and Children's Friendship Program and director of the Help Group–UCLA Autism Research Alliance. "Other research has shown us that parent involvement can have significant positive effects upon children's friendships, both in terms of direct instruction and supervision, as well as supporting a child's development of an appropriate peer network."

Please, take a moment to read the article. One of the problems in the field of autism/ASD/Aspergers is that we really don't have solid research proving that what we do brings about change. Often it is obvious to those doing the work, but it's good to see some basic science going on to back up our day to day practice in the field.