|
Dear Readers,
This book came out of my experiences working
with individuals with autism spectrum disorders,
their families, and school teams. In many cases,
I saw that while everyone knew the importance
of teaching social skills, little attention
was paid to finding opportunities to practice
and generalize them. Consequently, while a lot
of good work went into teaching social skills,
these efforts were never translated into skills
being used outside of the group room.
In addition, I noticed a number of individuals
whose social functioning was particularly successful
and found it seemed related to the frequency
with which they were interacting with others
in situations that provided enough structure
and support.
This book builds on the importance we attach
to inclusion and integration and on the essential
need for opportunities to generalize social
skills. It starts with the goal of creating
a variety of regular social experiences in which
the individual will successfully participate,
practice his social skills, and enjoy himself.
I look at ways to assess social situations to
see how difficult they may be for a given individual.
I then outline how to design social opportunities
as well as how to make adaptations and provide
supports within social opportunities to ensure
success. This includes extensive discussion
of using adult interventions, peer mentors,
group-based strategies, and extracurricular
activities.
We need to get better at providing social opportunities
that work for individuals with autism spectrum
disorders. Such situations provide the practice
they need to be able to generalize. But just
as important, when structured appropriately,
such social opportunities are enjoyable for
the individual, building his social motivation,
and enjoyable for the typical peers, building
their desire to spend time with the individual.
In short, it becomes a "win-win" for
everybody involved.
I hope you find the book helpful!
Sincerely,
Jim Loomis
James' Favorite AAPC Titles:
|
Meet James Loomis
Search
