Social skills are one of the areas a child with Autism will have the most trouble in. It is an area a lot of people have problems with but when you complicate it with the communication deficits it is even more difficult. Social skills are a combination of verbal and non-verbal cues which require interpretation.
Children with Autism have problems with communication and do not even seem to realize that there are social rules. When you figure social rules change for different environments and different people it is even more confusing. Another consideration is that different social skills work better for different people.
Then there is the whole issue of non-verbal communication. Typical people can tell by the tone of a voice or the look on someone’s face whether they are sincere, cynical, or making fun of a person. This is extremely difficult to teach a child with Autism.
There are different techniques that can and are successfully used to teach people with autism the social rules. There are also different ways to teach social skills. Many people with Autism can and do learn the way to navigate through these situations. Techniques, to compensate for the lack of non-verbal understanding, is also a possibility for parents and professionals that work with children with Autism. Continue reading ‘The Relationship Between Social Skills and Autism’ »