This coming Sunday evening, March 17th, 2013 between 7pm-8pm CST (8pm-9pm EST) we will be having an online "Case Management Consultation" to answer questions about behavioral therapy or treatment funding issues related to Autism. Please take a moment to look at the question below, and the answer, that have been offered as an example of the "Case Management Consultation". We hope that YOU will take the time to leave us a question, in the comment section below, about something to do with behavioral therapy or treatment funding issues related to Autism. We will choose two or three of the questions, that have been submitted by our readers, to answer during the online "Case Management Consultation"...so, make sure that YOU get your question in TODAY!!
Don't miss out on having an Autism related question, that you might have on behavioral therapy or treatment funding issues, answered during the "Case Management Consultation" this Sunday evening, March 17th, 2013 between 7pm-8pm CST (8pm-9pm EST). Saturday afternoon, I will be posting instructions on how to join us for the online meeting. If you would like me to send you a reminder email, please send me an email request titled "Case Management Consultation" to Lorrie@AutismOklahoma.org!
Steve BorgmanFebruary 26, 2013 at 11:14 AM
I'd like to know what some of the best resources and techniques he's found to teach friendship building, social skills building, and dating skills to individuals on the spectrum. And how does one know when to accept that those resources have limits, depending on the degree of "hardwiring" the individual may have that mitigates against picking up those skills.
Steven KossorFebruary 27, 2013 at 8:57 PM
The best way to help a child with an autism spectrum disorder to develop social skills is through structured peer play activities. The peers should be close in age to the child, and relatively “neurotypical” so that they can provide direct encouragement toward the development of more age-appropriate communication skills by modeling them. Stanley Greenspan devoted a substantial body of his professional career toward helping parents to improve the interpersonal relationship skills of their children and is a terrific resource for professionals who want to integrate “peer play” (one of Greenspan’s primary intervention modalities) into treatment plans for children. As children get older, their interests change and it becomes necessary to provide greater assistance/structure during peer interactions if the child hasn’t developed a basic understanding of “personal space” issues (older children respond more negatively and aggressively to invasions of personal space, so a child must learn the basic limits of personal space relatively early in life). Every child is born with an internal set of tolerances for sensory experience, including human closeness. When a child is overwhelmed by sensory experiences, their tolerance for other people usually decreases, because other people are more often suppliers of sensory experience rather than shields against it. It is important to understand the child’s “sensory tolerances” (hardwired preferences for sensory experience) and not overwhelm those tolerances in the course of providing socialization training or other learning experiences.
Don't miss out on having an Autism related question, that you might have on behavioral therapy or treatment funding issues, answered during the "Case Management Consultation" this Sunday evening, March 17th, 2013 between 7pm-8pm CST (8pm-9pm EST). Saturday afternoon, I will be posting instructions on how to join us for the online meeting. If you would like me to send you a reminder email, please send me an email request titled "Case Management Consultation" to Lorrie@AutismOklahoma.org!