SOCIAL SKILLS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

WHAT ARE WE DOING TODAY?

• Introductions

• Welcome to Holland handout and discussion

• What is Autism?

• Signs and symptoms of autism

• Social skills development of children

• What can you do to help?

• Discussion for questions, comments, and concerns

WELCOME PARENTS AND PROFESSIONALS!

Lets take a minute to introduce ourselves.

WHAT IS AUTISM? “Autism is a brain-based disorder that involves disrupted social and

communication development, along with the presence of stereotyped patterns of behaviors and interests.” (Landa & Garrett-Mayer, 2006)

Autism (say: aw-tih-zum) causes kids to experience the world differently from the way most other kids do. It's hard for kids with autism to talk with other people and express themselves using

words. Kids who have autism usually keep to themselves and many can't communicate without special help. –KidsHealth.org

Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and is the result of a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain, impacting development in the areas of social interaction and communication

skills. Both children and adults with autism typically show difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions, and

leisure or play activities. – Autism Society of America

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS• Lack of appropriate eye gaze

• Lack of warm, joyful expressions

• Lack of response to name

• Lack of showing gestures

• Lack of coordination of nonverbal communication

• Repetitive movements with objects

• Repetitive movements or posturing of body, arms, hands, or fingers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuWWie1DlJY

SOCIAL SKILLS OF TYPICALLY DEVELOPING

OF CHILDREN Enjoy pretending to play different characters with adults and

other children

Enjoy playing with children of the same age, perhaps showing and telling another child about a favorite toy

Talk about interests and feelings about the past and future

Sharing toys with other children

Giving positive attention to others

Requesting information for others about their activities

Contributing to ongoing discussions among peers

SOCIAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT OF

AUTISTIC CHILDREN Appears disinterested or unaware of other people or what’s going

on around them

Doesn’t know how to connect with others, play, or make friends

Prefers not to be touched, held, or cuddled

Doesn’t play "pretend" games, engage in group games, imitate others, or use toys in creative ways

Has trouble understanding or talking about feelings

Doesn’t seem to hear when others talk to him or her

Doesn't share interests or achievements with others (drawings, toys)

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Teach students to associate different facial features with emotions. Use sorting cards to match facial expressions to emotional words, or identify the nonverbal emotional message from real photos.

Rehearse skills needed for appropriate social interactions, either conversations or large group skills, individually or in small groups. The instructional focus of these initial sessions should include maintaining eye contact during conversations, learning social greetings, and maintaining social interactions.

Practice newly learned skills with puppets, peers, or adults prior to having students use their new skills in an unstructured social situation, like the cafeteria or recess.

Provide explicit instruction and reminders of conversation etiquette. Students need frequent reminders about their body position (e.g., too close or too far), maintaining personal space, face position and expression (e.g., looking away or inappropriate facial expression), and voice tone or pitch (e.g., bossy or condescending; inside or outside voice).

-National Education Association: The puzzle of Autism

ACTIVITIES Social stories- Helps children to learn how to play with other kids

through stories Relational Activities- encourage children to reference other

people’s facial expressions Board games with multiple players encourages social skills and

communication skills Singing, music, and dancing Sensory integration- outdoor play sets/playgrounds, sensory bins,

chase or tag games, swinging, etc. Encourage discussion with animated gestures and facial

expressions Imitation and modeling

-Autism.lovetoknow.com

DISCUSSION This is the time to share your stories, thoughts,

feelings, questions, comments, concerns, etc.

REFERENCES

Katz, L.G. & McClellan, D.E. (1997). Fostering children’s social competence: The teacher’s role. NAEYC Publications.

Landa, R. & Garrett-Mayer, E. (2006). Development of infants with autism spectrum disorders: a prospective study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 47 (6) 629-638

National Professional Library (2006) The Puzzle of Autism. National Education Association.

Autism: http://autism.lovetoknow.com/Main_PageAutism symptoms and early signs: http://helpguide.org/mental/autism_signs_symptoms.htm

Autism Symptoms: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuWWie1DlJY

Autism Society: http://www.autism-society.org/

KidsHealth: http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/brain/autism.html#

The First Year: http://www.firstsigns.org/index.html