September 13, 2021

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of the Autism Grown Up newsletter! Thank you all for joining us in this special little corner of the AGU community :)

For those who are new to AGU, welcome! We are an online non-profit & neurodiverse startup dedicated to getting everyone on the same page in supporting autistic people as they grow up and navigate adulthood. You can find us on our website, Instagram, Facebook, and on YouTube.

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Social Skills. No matter our role, we're pretty familiar with them as a core part of autism characteristics and perhaps day-to-day support needs.

For the month of September, AGU is bringing you our Teaching Social Skills - Done Right! series.

This week, we're talking about the basis of social skills teaching: the concepts that drive social skills teaching and strategies, and what to avoid.

Be sure to keep up with @autismgrownup on Instagram for more.

I hope you all have a great week, and we'll see you in your inbox next Monday!

Dr. Tara Regan, Executive Director

Last week, I shared some of the major lessons I’ve learned along my own social skills teaching journey, including the fact that a lot of social skills lessons, groups, curricula, major concepts driving the autism field, are really outdated and miss the point of social skills being an adaptable, context-based skill.

We all want to make sure we are doing right as a parent/caregiver, educator, and professional by the autistic people in our lives, so the goal here is not to shame you, but instead inform you of what to look out for in terms of teaching skills, especially for educators and professionals who are implementing these practices and sharing them with parent/caregivers & families.

Below, I’m going to be going over some of the concepts that drive most of these previous frameworks for social skills. 

The key concepts and phrases outlined are based on our work with autistics across the lifespan, their families, and continued research and reading in this area, and are not recommended. They are deficits-based, and instead we want to aim for strengths-based and identity-affirming supports. Autistic people do have challenges with social skills, however, it does not make them or their autistic traits lesser than a neurotypical's - which is the messaging of a deficits-based practice.

There are a multitude of social skills lessons, strategies, and groups out there that may look different, but these are the key things to look out for … in order to avoid. 

1. Lessening autistic traits

You may or may not see this exact phrasing in the description or summary of a social skills lesson, curriculum, or group. But you may be surprised at how it is hidden. For example, it may be hidden into the very fabric of how the lessons are organized, activities, or even the research surrounding a particular intervention. Studies around social skills groups and programs may study and report on “decreased autistic traits”. 

2. Neurotypical only focus

A lot of groups primarily focus on neurotypical practices for social skills: things like teaching eye contact and handshakes. 

We've even seen “teaching individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) ways to appropriately interact with typically developing peers.” What does appropriate even mean here?!

Finally, quick search on Google for 'social skills lessons autism" will reveal this list of activities. 

3. Disregarding the autistic brain and experience

If you see any lessons that focus on shaming an individual for how they interact in a conversation - that is a big red flag. Lessons and groups should be focused on building self-awareness around one's own social skills, including strengths, as well as others' strengths.

Social skills groups that include BOTH autistic/neurodivergent learners and neurotypical learners is not only representative of the life experience they will have outside of the group, but also places equal importance on both autistic/neurodivergent and neurotypical group members to learn from each other.

Learning social skills can be more vulnerable and stressful than learning an academic subject. Especially for an autistic person. It may be difficult to tell with a group or curricula in how to navigate any challenges along the way - hopefully, it would have a facilitator guide to equip them with how to be supportive and create a safe space. 
 

For individuals who need support with social experiences. We’ll be reviewing some ways and strategies you can implement at home, at school, in the clinic, in the community, etc. next week!

Direct Support Professional Week

September 12-18 is Direct Support Professional Recognition week!

Direct Support Professionals are the backbone of Medicaid and I/DD community-based services. They are the ones to make inclusion in the community happen on a day to day basis. We thank you! 

More to come on our social media channels to share more information about the needs of DSPs and how we need more funding from the federal and state levels to prevent growing turnover and increase training.

Read more here

Quick Word Board from the Calm Down Visuals set 

The phrase ‘use your words' can be a limiting strategy at best when a meltdown is afoot.  

When it comes to when our autistic students/children/teens' needs in the moment when they are escalating, it can be the most difficult thing to do. To have to come up with some abstract, expressive language is honestly even more exasperating and overwhelming. 

We love this Quick Word Board for all student stations (independent work, small group) and is handy to have with you or have on the student so they can quickly refer to it. 

We created this Quick Word Board for our Calm Down Visuals set and it's becoming a fast favorite.

Repeating Yourself A Lot?: What We’re Missing When We Give Directions

Do you ever find yourself saying this …

• Why didn't you remember?
• Didn't I tell you a hundred times...

I'll raise my hand here too - what we're doing is not working and we need to go back to the drawing board.

As we give directions for a task, activity, chore, etc. we need to think about how the autistic/ND brain works. What works for you - if you are NT, or even ND - may not work for the other person.

Here are several helpful strategies to navigate times when you are giving directions, but they're reaching a breakdown in communication with the autistic person in your life.