Social skills are an important tool for anyone to have; children with autism have difficulty with this skill. They tend to be cognitively unaware of any social interactions, as they cannot simply learn through play. Children with autism will not initiate play, they will have no or limited eye contact, be unable to understand personal space, all of which hinders their ability to form friendships. For a child with autism they need to be taught these skills.
There are several ways to teach a child with autism social skills; I will discuss these, with the first being social stories. Social stories are short stories that show the social skill, demonstrate the social skill, provide a consequence good or bad. An important note: social stories always need to start off positive, have a negative or a lesson, then end on a positive result. The social story should not be a negative experience, it should leave the child feeling rewarded and confident.
Social stories can be done in a couple of ways; they can be done with pictures, either from the Picture Exchange system, real photographs, or for older children they can be written. I prefer both pictures and written together. Providing both forms of media will help the child learn the written word and pictures can help support the idea. Another important note; keep your social stories short and to the point. You do not want to ramble on. Name the skill, name what the negative behavior is and the consequence, name the appropriate social skill and end on a positive effect. These should be incorporated throughout the child's day, whenever possible. Use any moment as a teachable moment.
Having these social stories compact and portable is an affective way to use them during any situation. To do this you will need key rings, hole punch and a laminated social story. Once the stories are done this way you can attach them to a key chain which the child or yourself can carry. This idea is great for reminders for the child to practice certain skills when they need. If the child is very young then the caregiver will need to carry the social story and intervene when appropriate, and remind the child with the story by role playing or modeling.
Modeling is another fantastic way to help a child with Autism learn social skills. By modeling a particular social skill the child has an opportunity to learn by repetition and interaction. The adult should explain with words and pictures to help reinforce the skill that needs to be mastered, by the adult following the child throughout their day and intervening when necessary providing the appropriate language and eye contact. An example of this could be during recess; if the child with autism wants to play on a swing, the adult needs to remind the child to ask politely for a turn, and respond accordingly when the other child answers. The behavior that we are trying to avoid is the autistic child grabbing the swing, or pushing the other child off. Using words and pictures to reinforce the appropriate behavior will help encourage good turn taking and social interaction with peers.
Social interaction with peers is a very difficult skill for a child with autism. Children with autism would rather resort to their own world where they are able to feel safe. In order for peer interaction to take place, you first want to "buddy up" the autistic child with someone who will be a friend to them. By observing the classroom you will soon be able to determine who would be a good buddy. Once this buddy has been found, inviting them into the autistic child's world is key. For example if the autistic child goes to a Sensory Room or has Sensory Breaks during the day, inviting a friend to come along is a great way to promote peer interaction. Having a buddy at recess is another way to help with socially appropriate responses. Once this peer relationship has been established you may find that most children will see the autistic child as a friend and playmate. Having the "buddies" know the rules and helping their classmate with social skills works extremely well. These children will eagerly help the autistic child learn; you may also find that the autistic child will listen more to their peers to the adults that are working with them.
All of these ideas are very important for an autistic child. We want our children to have friendships, learn what is socially appropriate and become a functioning member of society. So in order for a child with autism to learn these skills, and obtain the benefits from having meaningful relationships in their lives, we need to start as early as we can with intervention. Of course all of these ideas need to be monitored by an adult. All of these interventions can be changed or tweaked to suit the child. In the end all we want is for the child to be successful!