Present to help people with autism spectrum disorder improve their competencies so they can lead better, and more independent lives. One of these is social skills training, which aims to make autistic people confident enough to easily navigate social customs and meetups.
What is Social Skills Training?
Social skills training (SST) applies to a wide variety of instructional methods and interventions. The most effective type is when the therapy is evidence-based or uses scientific principles such as those associated with applied behavior analysis (ABA). The goal of SST is to equip people with the tools they need to be socially confident and competent. Social skills training or SST can address three main challenges people on the autism spectrum face by equipping them with the necessary ability to overcome these challenges easily:
Social Communication
This involves encouraging autistic people to have the confidence, verbal communication skills, and vocabulary to contribute to a conversation, initiate and maintain a discussion, refuse or accept any offerings, and convey their preferences.
Social Understanding
By focusing on social understanding, people learn the nuances of social gatherings such as facial expressions that convey one’s feelings; appropriate versus inappropriate responses in a particular context; and understanding the difference between sarcasm, humor, and seriousness.
Social Interactions
This aspect involves teaching people common conventions of how to behave in a social meeting, such as shaking hands when greeting, or opening the door for someone and so on. While training should never force someone to do something that makes them feel uncomfortable, knowledge is power when it comes to understanding other peoples’ motivations as well as social niceties. It involves learning how to greet new people and people with whom they are familiar, and generally learning how to work with people they do not like. It can also address the distinction between greeting children, elderly people, people with titles such as the Governor, friends, and family members.
IsAdult SST Different from SST with Children or Adolescents?
Therapists in SST assess the unique needs of each individual, depending on their age and ability, and the sort of social gatherings in which they are likely to find themselves. They then make a customized therapy plan tailored to address the client’s individual needs. This is crucial to ensure SST will be helpful for that particular person, as people on the autism spectrum have different experiences and abilities. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to therapy, and plans must be customized for each patient to achieve positive therapeutic outcomes and address their particular goals and desires.
What is the Goal of Social Skills Training?
Since no man is an island, and social interaction is an inevitable part of life even for the most introverted people, it is important to have at least basic social skills to maneuver through life and ensure your needs are met.
Social skills training sessions are designed with some of the following outcomes in mind:
- Improving communication skills, such as verbal and nonverbal communication, turn-taking, not interrupting others, listening, and giving responses that are likely to benefit the individual’s relationship with their social partner.
- Refining social interaction skills such as portraying an affect that represents your feelings, understanding when someone is coming in for a hug or knowing when to offer a handshake, and recognizing the concept of personal space.
- Instilling the ability to listen, comprehend what others are saying and feeling, and then responding accordingly.
- Identifying social cues, the context of the conversation and situation, jokes, and serious talks, and having the ability to initiate and maintain conversations in all of the various types of social situations in which the individual may find themselves.
- Boosting self-regulation skills and knowing how and when to express feelings, and learning to control emotions or express them in a way that gets their needs met and maintains a relationship with their social partner.
Overall, the main objective is to increase knowledge and awareness of what responses the autistic person is likely to get given their social behavior so that they can make decisions on how they want their social interactions to manifest no matter the environment.
What are the Common and Effective SST Techniques?
First, it is important to note that no technique or strategy works with everyone, so a qualified therapist (such as a Board Certified Behavior AnalystⓇ or Speech Therapist) is necessary to ensure treatment is appropriate and successful. Social skills form a broad umbrella that encloses multiple competencies required to become socially confident and successful. SST uses various techniques to develop these skills in people with autism. Which technique is most suitable and effective depends on the autistic person’s learning style, developmental age, and the type of skills they need to focus on in the training, as well as their desires, goals, and commitments.
The following table encloses SST techniques with some examples to illustrate everyday applications
Participating in social skills groups to rehearse and practice social skills through activities designed to imitate natural social contexts.
Becoming a member of a weekly community in which people practice social skills such as speaking, listening, maintaining eye contact, and regulating raw emotions through structured activities.
These are just some SST examples, but as you can see, there are various SST techniques present and a BCBA̭Ⓡ, Speech Therapist, or Social Skills trainer will know which technique will be the most effective for each autistic individual based on an initial assessment.
Conclusion
Social skills are necessary to maneuver through the different stages of life when interacting with other people., Whether in an academic, professional, or personal domain - without social competency, it is difficult to excel at any of these. SST is a well-structured approach to help autistic individuals develop social skills and improve their social proficiency by utilizing various techniques. Like autism itself, SST is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and customized plans have to be curated for each individual to make this therapy effective and enjoyable.
