Enhancing social skills in autistic children
For the vast majority of autistic children social skills ARE either missing or NEED improving.
This is due to the triad of autistic impairments or social skills deficits, which ARE common to autism to varying degrees
The triad of autistic impairments or social skills deficits affect how the child on the spectrum acts, re-acts, thinks and behaves.
Methods for enhancing social skills in autistic children ARE generally visual. This is because most children on the spectrum ARE visual learners and thinkers and will tend to use language secondary.
Visual supports for autism such as: social skills stories, picture communication cards, visual schedules and flash cards etc ARE visual supports which can be introduced simply and need NO formal training to use.
Characteristically children on the spectrum find visual supports for autism beneficial. Social skills stories ARE short descriptive visual supports which describe a skill or situation in terms of the relevant social cues.
The social story looks much like a comic script, using images/pictures and short precise pieces of text. The social story is always from the point of view of the child on the spectrum, using first person text in short sentences.
The social story answers the “wh” questions: who, what, Why, where, and when as well as “HOW” and should also offer an insight wherever possible into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others which is an area of marked weakness in most autistic children.
Social skills stories CAN be used for a wide variety of situations or skills such as: asking questions, calming down, hygiene issues, self-help skills and so on…
For many children on the spectrum visual supports for autism ARE invaluable and can be treated like visual plans or frameworks to help them cope with and learn skills and behaviours which cause stress and anxiety.
To learn more about visual supports for autism like social skills stories, picture communication cards, visual schedules and flash cards as well as other visual supports visual http://www.autismsocialstories.com
Tags: autistic children, autistic impairments, child on the spectrum, children on the spectrum, enhancing social skills in autistic children, for autism, on the spectrum, picture communication cards, social skills deficits, Social skills stories, social story, supports for autism, triad of autistic impairments, visual supports for autism