Social Skills and Autism

Does your child with autism have a difficult time making friends at school or on the playground? Does he/she have a hard time interacting with peers or understanding body language and tone of voice? Please know your child is not alone.One of the biggest challenges people on the autism spectrum can face is communication. Some kids experience delays in speech development, while others have difficulty understanding jokes, teasing, or sarcasm. Social skills are not intuitive, which can sometimes make forming friendships and fitting in much harder. That's where social skills support comes in. Have you been searching for strategies to help promote social skills success? Whether your family is new to an autism diagnosis or you have been managing autism for years, The Best of Autism Parenting Magazine: Social Skills and Autism is for YOU. Author and autism advocate Temple Grandin once told me she considers social skills not only crucial for forming and building relationships but also necessary for gaining independence. Diagnosed with autism as a toddler, Grandin said autistic children should learn to play with others (sharing, taking turns, pretend play), talk to others, manage emotions, and discover ways to solve problems. When a child with autism develops social skills, he/she can form meaningful friendships, communicate, and gain vital life skills. Kids with autism do want to communicate and make friends, but they don't always know how to do it in a way that all people can understand. Finding the resources you need to help your child gain social skills can be tough. Our extraordinary group of writers has tackled this topic in myriad ways over the years. To create a comprehensive resource for our autism families, we have compiled our top social skills articles from nearly 100 Autism Parenting Magazine issues. Take a look as our writers have covered ways to help your child with autism foster independence, techniques to create social opportunities, and tips on making a trip to the doctor more comfortable for your child. We also have articles focusing on ways to enhance social interactions, manage executive functioning skills, and tips on how to use social stories to foster communication.Teaching social skills can become a simple, everyday experience for your family. As you read this special issue, you will discover ways your family can work on social skills while playing video games, such as Minecraft, or when playing simple board games together. Including siblings when working on skills is also an essential part of development, and it helps to build relationships. Video Self-Modeling provides another excellent opportunity for your child to practice ways to respond when meeting new people. Several articles in this issue are devoted to teens and young adults as they, in particular, can always use communication strategies. Perhaps your child would benefit from attending a social skills class or joining a group? Or maybe it would be helpful to learn ways to improve phone and workplace manners? And of course, dating advice is covered in this issue as well. This special compilation contains advice from Annette Nu ez, PhD, Marcia Eckerd, PhD, Dorian Townsend, PhD, Melissa M. Root, PhD, Debra Moore, PhD, Jamie E. Carter, PhD, Randy Kulman, PhD, Sharon Link, PhD, Katherine Walton, PhD, Rachel B dard, PhD, Angelina M., MS, BCBA, LMFT, Elizabeth Sautter, MA, CCC-SLP, Monica C. Hudnall, MA, CCC-SLP, Maria Johnson, MA, CCC-SLP, LMFT, Brett J. Novick, MS, LMFT, CSSW, Sarah Kupferschmidt, MA, BCBA, Mallory Griffith, MA, CCC-SLP, Ahna I. O'Shaughnessy, MA, Lori Granieri, MA, Gabi Morgan, MS, L-ABA, Lisa Timms, MS, Special Education, Kim Barloso, Tali Berman, Deb Marcello, Alan D.D, Sam Flatman, Kirt Manecke, Marc Zimmerman, Casey Wimsatt, Annie Eskeldson, Leanne Strong, Betti Wilson, Dawn Potter, Rachel Jackson