Autism and Social Skills: Strategies for Teaching Social Skills to Children with ASD

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects communication, social interaction, and behaviour. Children with ASD often struggle with social skills we use to interact with other people, including communication, empathy, self-awareness, and self-regulation.

It can make it difficult for them to form and maintain friendships, build relationships, and navigate social situations. However, there are strategies that parents and educators can use to help children with ASD improve their social skills.

Teaching Social Skills to Children with ASD

There are several strategies that parents and educators can use to help children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) improve their social skills. These strategies include:

1. Role-Playing

   Role-playing is a technique that can be used to help children practice social skills such as initiating and maintaining a conversation, sharing, and taking turns.

   Here are some tips for using role-playing with children with ASD:

   • Choose Relevant Scenarios: Choose scenarios that are relevant to the child's life and social goals. This can help to increase the child's motivation and engagement in the role-playing activity.

   • Use Visual Aids: Use visual aids, such as pictures or written scripts, to help the child understand the scenario and their role in the role-playing activity. This can help to reduce anxiety and increase confidence in the child.

   • Provide Positive Feedback: Provide positive feedback to the child throughout the role-playing activity. This can help to reinforce positive social behaviours and increase the child's motivation to practice these skills.

   • Gradually Increase Difficulty: Gradually increase the difficulty of the scenarios as the child's social skills improve. This can help to challenge the child and promote further skill development.

   • Encourage Generalisation: Encourage the child to apply the social skills learned in role-playing to real-life situations. This can help to increase the child's confidence and independence in social situations.

2. Peer-Mediated Instruction and Intervention

   Peer-mediated instruction and intervention involve training typically developing peers to work with children with ASD to improve their social skills. Peers can be trained to model appropriate social behaviours, provide feedback, and reinforce positive social interactions.

How Does PMII Work?

PMII typically involves a series of structured sessions in which children with ASD and their typically developing peers engage in social and academic activities together. During these sessions, the typically developing peers are taught specific strategies for interacting with the children with ASD. These strategies may include:

• Modelling appropriate social behaviours

• Providing verbal prompts and feedback

• Using visual supports to facilitate communication

• Reinforcing positive social interactions

The sessions are usually led by a trained professional, such as a speech-language pathologist or an occupational therapist, who provides guidance and support to both the typically developing peers and the children with ASD. Over time, the children with ASD begin to generalise the skills they have learned in the PMII sessions to other settings and interactions with their peers.

1. Visual Supports

   Visual supports, such as picture schedules and social scripts, can be used to help children with ASD understand social situations and appropriate social behaviours. Different types of visual supports can be used to support children with ASD.

   • Picture Schedules: Picture schedules are visual aids that show the sequence of activities in a given routine or schedule. These schedules can help children with ASD to better understand and anticipate what will happen next. Picture schedules can be used in various settings, such as school, home, and therapy sessions.

   • Social Stories: Social stories are short narratives that describe social situations and appropriate social behaviours. These stories can help children with ASD to understand social situations and learn appropriate social skills. Social stories can be used to teach children about different social situations, such as going to a birthday party, having a playdate or attending school.

   • Visual Timers: Visual timers are visual aids that can help children with ASD to better understand the passage of time. Visual timers can help children to manage their time better and understand how much time is left for an activity or task.

   • Visual Supports for Communication: Children with ASD often struggle with communication. Visual supports such as picture communication cards, communication boards and visual prompts can help them to communicate better. These visual aids can help children to express their needs, wants, and feelings more effectively.

   • Visual Supports for Behavior: Visual supports can be used to help children with ASD to manage their behaviour. Visual supports such as a behaviour chart or token board can help children to understand the consequences of their behaviour and can provide positive reinforcement for appropriate behaviour.

   • Visual Supports for Social Skills: Visual supports can be used to teach children with ASD social skills such as initiating conversations, reading body language and understanding social cues. Visual supports such as social stories, picture prompts and videos can help children to learn social skills in a more visual and concrete way.

2. Social Skills Groups

   Social skills groups provide a structured environment for children with ASD to practice social skills with their peers. Social skills groups can be led by a trained professional, such as a speech-language pathologist or occupational therapist, and can provide opportunities for children to practice social skills, such as initiating and maintaining a conversation, sharing, and taking turns.

3. Parent Training

   Parent training can be an effective way to improve social skills in children with ASD. Parents can be taught strategies for supporting their child's social development, such as how to encourage social interactions and how to provide positive reinforcement for appropriate social behaviours.

4. Video Modeling

   Video modelling involves showing children with ASD video clips of appropriate social behaviours, such as initiating conversations and maintaining eye contact. This technique can help children with ASD to learn social skills in a more visual and concrete way.

5. Sensory Integration Therapy

   Sensory integration therapy can be helpful for children with ASD who have difficulty processing sensory information. This therapy can help children to regulate their sensory input, which can improve their ability to engage in social interactions.

Implementing Social Skills Strategies

When implementing social skills strategies, it is important to take into account the individual needs and abilities of the child with ASD. Strategies should be tailored to the child's strengths and weaknesses and should be implemented in a way that is meaningful and engaging for the child.

In addition, it is important to provide ongoing support and reinforcement for children with ASD as they work to improve their social skills. Positive reinforcement, such as praise and rewards, can be used to reinforce positive social behaviours and encourage children to continue to practice their social skills.

Improving social skills is an important goal for children with ASD. With ongoing support and reinforcement, children with ASD can develop the social skills they need to thrive in social situations and build strong, lasting relationships. If your child is dealing with autism, book an appointment with our specialists to learn more about its management.