ADULT SOCIAL
SKILLS
MERLIN L TAYLOR JR | PHD | CCC-SLP | BCBA-D | Aspie
A Learning Process
The Agenda
To discuss the development of social skills in
individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
To talk about a work currently in progress at the
Transformations Autism Treatment Center
(TATC)
To engage in an exercise intended to simulate
some of what an adult (or adolescent) individual
with ASD can encounter in social situations.
Sound
Production
Meaningful
Segments
Speech
Words
Building
Phrases
Social
Adaptation
Social
Adaptation
Social
Adaptation
Social
Adaptation
Social
Adaptation
Cognitive
Development
Cognitive
Development
Cognitive
Development
Social
Adaptation
Mental
Energy
Mental
Energy
Cognitive
Development
Social
Adaptation
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
Mental
Energy
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
Cognitive
Development
Boundary
Awareness
(Social)
Social
Adaptation
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
Mental
Energy
Boundary
Awareness
(Social)
Cognitive
Development
Boundary
Awareness
(Situational)
Mental
Energy
Social
Adaptation
Boundary
Awareness
(Social)
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
Boundary
Awareness
(Situational)
Cognitive
Development
Self-Insight
Mental Energy
Social
Adaptation
Boundary
Awareness
(Situational)
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
Boundary
Awareness
(Social)
SelfInsight
Cognitive
Development
Interpersonal
Insight
Mental
Energy
Social
Adaptation
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
Self-Insight
Boundary
Awareness
(Situational)
Boundary
Awareness
(Social)
Interpersonal
Insight
EMPATHY
Cognitive
Development
Interpersonal
Insight
Mental
Energy
Social
Adaptation
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
Self-Insight
Boundary
Awareness
(Situational)
Boundary
Awareness
(Social)
Cognitive
Development
Interpersonal
Insight
Mental
Energy
Social
Adaptation
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
Self-Insight
Boundary
Awareness
(Situational)
Boundary
Awareness
(Social)
Cognitive
Development
Interpersonal
Insight
Mental
Energy
Social
Adaptation
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
Self-Insight
Boundary
Awareness
(Situational)
Boundary
Awareness
(Social)
Cognitive
Development
Interpersonal
Insight
Mental
Energy
Social
Adaptation
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
Self-Insight
Boundary
Awareness
(Situational)
Boundary
Awareness
(Social)
Cognitive
Development
Interpersonal
Insight
Mental
Energy
Social
Adaptation
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
Self-Insight
Boundary
Awareness
(Situational)
Boundary
Awareness
(Social)
Cognitive
Development
Interpersonal
Insight
Mental
Energy
Social
Adaptation
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
Self-Insight
Boundary
Awareness
(Situational)
Boundary
Awareness
(Social)
Cognitive
Development
Interpersonal
Insight
Mental
Energy
Social
Adaptation
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
Self-Insight
Boundary
Awareness
(Situational)
Boundary
Awareness
(Social)
Cognitive
Development
Mental
Energy
EMPATHY
Social
Adaptation
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
Self-Insight
Boundary
Awareness
(Situational)
Boundary
Awareness
(Social)
FEAR
FEAR
FEAR
FEAR
FEAR
FEAR
FEAR
FEAR
FEAR
In most—if not all—social
situations
We fear failure (e.g.: failure to be understood)
We fear ridicule
We fear ostracism
We fear attack
We fear feelings we might not be able to control
We fear being wrong when everyone else is right
In short, we fear others and we fear
ourselves.
FEAR
FEAR
FEAR
FEAR
…only to land in another cold, painful mess:
another friendship that ends in enmity
another acquaintanceship that
leads to victimization
another relationship that ends in broken
hearts—or broken bones—or rape
another workplace in which to blunder along
until asked (or forced) to leave
another school setting with majors in isolation
and conflict, and field trips to the main office
another treatment setting—mainly its
room that locks from the outside
another community setting that mainly offers
a courtroom, juvenile hall, and jail*
*especially if one has economic or ethnic
minority status in addition to having autism
WHOSE DISORDER IS THIS
ANYWAY?
CAASP
Community
Adults with
Autism
Service
Program
The CAASP Approach
Motto:
"By growing comfortable
within ourselves, we grow
comfortable with others"
The CAASP Approach
CAASP is committed to ensuring that social
maladaptation will never cause the confinement of
any participant to a social, occupational, or
academic situation beneath his or her level of
cognitive ability.
The CAASP Approach
This commitment sometimes may require providing
participants with assistance in the form of advocacy;
one of the objectives of CAASP, however, is to
develop self-advocacy skills in its participants.
The CAASP Approach
In any case, the underlying philosophy of CAASP
insists that if a participant is able reach a certain
level of self-actualization, then s/he be allowed to
live and work at that level.
The CAASP Approach
During the first few months of participation, CAASP
participants are allowed and enabled to experience
Apprehension regarding a new experience with new
people, and the lack of a rigidly structured classroom
format
The CAASP Approach
During the first few months of participation, CAASP
participants are allowed and enabled to experience
Surprise regarding their own ability to function in
such a novel environment
The CAASP Approach
During the first few months of participation, CAASP
participants are allowed and enabled to experience
Struggle to find words and phrases adequate to
discuss matters that they might not ever have
discussed elsewhere
The CAASP Approach
During the first few months of participation, CAASP
participants are allowed and enabled to experience
A natural mix of feelings with regard to fellow
participants (including TATC staff)
The CAASP Approach
During the first few months of participation, CAASP
participants are allowed and enabled to experience
Release in self-expression
The CAASP Approach
During the first few months of participation, CAASP
participants are allowed and enabled to experience
Affirmation of what they have to say
The CAASP Approach
During the first few months of participation, CAASP
participants are allowed and enabled to experience
Dismay and disbelief as they recognize ways
wherein they have socially sabotaged themselves in
the past
The CAASP Approach
During the first few months of participation, CAASP
participants are allowed and enabled to experience
Anger and resentment as they recognize ways
wherein others have socially sabotaged them in the
past
The CAASP Approach
During the first few months of participation, CAASP
participants are allowed and enabled to experience
Reassurance and relief as they reconsider and
roleplay past experiences and engage in creative
post hoc problem-solving
The CAASP Approach
During the first few months of participation, CAASP
participants are allowed and enabled to experience
Hope as they increasingly recognize their own
potential for successful social engagement
The CAASP Approach
During the first few months of participation, CAASP
participants are allowed and enabled to experience
Empowerment as they fulfill that potential in
structured and unstructured experiences.
The CAASP Approach
Methods
1. Discussion
Personal interaction
b) Mutual education
c) Exploring trust
d) Adjusting sensitivities
a)
2. Roleplaying exercises
Individual expression
b) Joint expression
c) Rehearsal and preparation
a)
The CAASP Approach
Personal interaction
Mutual education
From “Autistic Manifesto”
I, often called a problem
I have quite a problem:
How to raise a flower in asphalt
Or a melon in mortar
Or fish in a furnace
Or a mind in a rut of rote readings
So you who would train
Please do train--your dog
But teach me you may-If I may teach you
Taught not trained.
The CAASP Approach
Exploring trust
Self and Others: Degrees of
Understanding and Readiness to Connect
Self and Others: Degrees of
Understanding and Readiness to Connect
Self and Others: Degrees of
Understanding and Readiness to Connect
Self and Others: Degrees of
Understanding and Readiness to Connect
Self and Others: Degrees of
Understanding and Readiness to Connect
Self and Others: Degrees of
Understanding and Readiness to Connect
And now a public health
message for my fellow
BCBAs
Attention BCBAs!!!
AUTISM MAY BE CONTAGIOUS! h
Are you emotionally withdrawn—
exhibiting no human feeling toward
your clients?
Are you compulsive—inflexibly following very specific
therapeutic routines?
Do you habitually speak in obscure jargon
(e.g.: Using such words as “manding” for
“asking”)?
If you have answered “yes” to two or
more of the above questions, then you
might be an Easpie.
EASP
Elective
Autism of
Social
Persona
When an Easpie leads an Aspie,
both fall short of empathy.
Seriously
Do behavior analysts, speech pathologists, and
other professionals model effective social skills for
an adult or adolescent on the autism spectrum by
Speaking in the presence of that individual as if
s/he were not in the room?
Seriously
Do behavior analysts, speech pathologists, and
other professionals model effective social skills for
an adult or adolescent on the autism spectrum by
Perseverating on a topic well after that individual
has signified understanding and is ready to move
on to another topic?
Seriously
Do behavior analysts, speech pathologists, and
other professionals model effective social skills for
an adult or adolescent on the autism spectrum by
Getting right up into the individual’s face?
Seriously
Do behavior analysts, speech pathologists, and
other professionals model effective social skills for
an adult or adolescent on the autism spectrum by
Consistently interrupting instead of listening to the
individual?
Seriously
Do behavior analysts, speech pathologists, and
other professionals model effective social skills for
an adult or adolescent on the autism spectrum by
Addressing the individual using flat, choppy,
condescending, or even singsong intonation?
Seriously
NO—they instead unwittingly imitate autistic verbal
behavior (maladaptive behavior at that)—and
OFTEN THIS IS DUE TO THEIR OWN FEAR.
(Clinicians, what do we fear?)
Ultimately
It is the courage to connect
that is contagious.
Thank you.
[email protected]
SUBJECT LINE: PPT