Frequently Needed Answers

People with autism WILL almost certainly have a lack of social interaction skills such as reduced responsiveness or disinterest in other people.

They may appear arrogant, rude and be unable to communicate effectively with others. This is due to “The Theory of Mind”, which affects how people with autism interact, communicate, thinks, act and react to those around them.

For example some of the autistic characteristics can include:

Children on the autism spectrum; will not normally adopt the anticipatory posture or raise their hands to be carried or picked up.

Children on the autism spectrum are not normally cuddly babies, in-fact most babies with autism will stiffen or resist being held, they normally avoid snuggling up. They will normally prefer to be held facing outwards with their back to the person holding them.

Infants with autism will sometimes not recognize their own name or be inconsistent in recognizing it.

Probably the most noticeable autistic characteristic is a lack of eye contact, a typically developing child will give and maintain eye contact, Infants with autism will look away quickly and avoid eye contact.

A typically developing child may stare into the mother’s eye noticing their own reflection, Infants with autism will show no interest in their reflection and choose not to stare or maintain any eye to eye contact.

Generally children on the autism spectrum will not pay much attention to the typical growing up games like peep-a-boo and pat-a-cake, preferring solitary play.

A distinct lack of social interaction skills can be the first alarm bell for many parents of a child with autism.

All children on the autism spectrum WILL have impaired autism social skills, this is a fact however the degree of autism social skills will vary dependent on the individual.

Treatments for autism social skills development can be affective, in helping your autistic child better cope and manage their behaviors, thoughts and feelings. One such way is introducing autism social skills resources such as visual intervention strategies.

Probably the most popular visual intervention strategies are autism social skills stories. These are an excellent proven technique for assisting Infants with autism with the development of social skills. Helping to promote and maintain autism social skills.

Autism social skills resources like: Autism social skill stories provide the autistic youngster with support and an understanding by answering the ever important “wh” questions who, what, where, why and when as well as “HOW”. As well as giving an insight into the thoughts and feelings of others and try to explain what they can expect from other as well as what others will be expecting of them.

Introducing autism social skills stories early is going to be beneficial; however social stories are flexible and can be introduced at any point.   

Typically most infants with autism prefer repetition and sameness and will not like any changes to routines or patterns. By introducing social stories you can help the child feel more comfortable with skills and routines making things feel more routine which will reduce stress and meltdowns.

Autism social skills stories HELP teach social skills like using the bathroom, good eating habits, respecting personal space, transitions like starting preschool or school, as well as other skills like saying Hi and thank you and accepting changes to routines.

All helping your autistic youngster to be being accepted within their own peer group as well as within today’s society…

To download autism social stories visit one of our many sites all specializing in autism and asperger social skills stories as well as offering friendly support advice and help

www.autismsocialstories.com

Play is believed to be an essential element in the development of any child. It is believed that through spontaneous play and exploratory play children begin to make sense of the world around them.

In preschool infants with autism the ability to learn through play is missing, this is common in autism and mainly due to the child’s autistic social skills deficits.

Generally most children with autism spectrum disorder have issues with social interactions, due mainly to social skills deficits which are present in all autistic individuals.

For parents of children with autism, “play” may look very different to that of a typically developing child.

An example of “play” that may be presented by an autistic infant could be, the child who loves cars, but the only thing he really enjoys doing with the cars is spinning the wheels. Or maybe your autistic infant loves Lego, but all he really does is line up or sort the Lego into colours.

Research suggests that through play children learn social skills such as sharing, cooperation and taking turns. It is also believed that through play children learn social and communication skills, build friendships and self-esteem.

Therefore parents of children with autism wanting to improve the play skills in their autistic infant, can benefit from using autistic tools and methods that help with teaching and improving social and communication skills. For example it is widely believed that visual supports such as visual support cards, PECS and social stories have great benefits.

For many parents with preschool infants with autism social stories are already a good resource. Social stories are used as a visual framework for any skill or behaviour that needs improving or mastering such as “play skills”

A social story is a short visual representation that uses first person language and follows a specific formula. Social stories were first developed by therapist Carol Gray to help her communicate with the children she was working with.

Since then social stories have evolved and are now widely used as a tool to help parents and teachers teach and improve social and communication skills in children with autism spectrum disorder.

A social story can be quickly and easily adapted to suit and child, a social story should be written by parents or professionals that have been properly trained to write them.

To find out how social stories can help improve play skills in children with autism spectrum disorder as well as how to implement and use social stories with preschool infants with autism visit:

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/preschool

Alternatively social stories for children with autism can be found at: http://www.autismsocialstories.com

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/school

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/potty