I’m a member of the National Association of Special Education Teachers, a US-based trade group that offers trainings, certifications, and does a bit of lobbying. They use the medical model, as do most industry groups, so I take what they send with a grain of salt.
The current issue of NASET’s Autism Spectrum Disorder series focuses on social skills and ASD. It was written by Melanie Tempest. No information is provided about the author or their authority on this issue.
The abstract reads: “Social skills are a core deficiency of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), characterized by delay or lack of joint attention, social communication, social-emotional reciprocity and play. Many studies have researched the effectiveness of social skills training in early intervention, school and clinical settings, focusing on using one interventionist mediator agent either parent, peer or teacher. The results of these studies have shown that social skills training can be effective. However, the studies have not looked at generalizing and maintaining these behaviors across environments and social partners. The objective of this literature review is to examine the effectiveness of the interventions from the perspective of the mediator agent; parent, peer or teacher and the effect of that intervention on generalization of acquired social skills. Results indicate that further research is warranted on combining the three approaches; parent, peer, teacher intervention so that acquired social skills can be generalized across multiple environments.”
As I read the piece, I couldn’t help but think about a student of mine who is autistic. He’s 16 years old and prefers his own company. Other teachers will often comment about his lack of social skills. I asked him for his thoughts about classroom socializing - something it seems his other teachers failed to do before generalizing about his behaviours. His reply was simple but profound. He said, “I’m just not into socializing right now.”
His answer speaks to the lack of student agency in these discussions and in the interventions. My student is able, but just isn’t interested. He said that he finds his classmates to be unprepared to engage in serious conversations and deep work. He notes that he can engage in banal small talk, but doesn’t like to and doesn’t want to if it’s not necessary. He also pointed out the disconnect between the classroom group work that seems so “necessary” and the fact that all assessments are solo affairs. Obviously, my student does not have an intellectual impairment.
What do you think about his response? What would you do? Let me know in the comments below.
I agree that the goals of much training involve ideas that may not fit. When coaching my adult bro w ASD I watched for his involvements and suggested actions to develop those, for minimum indications of his goodwill rather than general engagement. Eg, when a peer taught him to play Wii games, to give her a card when she returned from hospital episode. This affirmed interest. Other episodes supporting view of both sides, and how misunderstanding could happen, and how to consider improvement while affirming actual relationship even if limited .
I agree that the goals of much training involve ideas that may not fit. When coaching my adult bro w ASD I watched for his involvements and suggested actions to develop those, for minimum indications of his goodwill rather than general engagement. Eg, when a peer taught him to play Wii games, to give her a card when she returned from hospital episode. This affirmed interest. Other episodes supporting view of both sides, and how misunderstanding could happen, and how to consider improvement while affirming actual relationship even if limited .