Social Skills Assessment for Autistic Teens
Deficits in social skills are well pronounced during teenage years when children are trying to fit into social groups. Social skills are therefore a major issue for autistic teens. Rick Nauret argues that it is possible to improve social skills during adolescence for autistic teens through proper assessment and training. Although autistic teens have some unique and excellent capabilities, they cannot use them or help others with these skills as required, because they lack the necessary social skills to interact with peers.
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Social Skills Among Autistic Teens
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Most autistic teens cannot speak or express their basic needs or wants. In addition, they have other social skills deficits that make it difficult to relate with peers. Although each autistic teen is unique in his disorders, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association shows that generally autistic teens have difficulties making friends, do not like being held or touched and maintain poor eye contact with objects and people. They put exaggerated focus on a subject or object that interests them and demonstrate poor social skills. They also cry, get angry, giggle and laugh at inappropriate times.
Importance of Assessment
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Accurate assessment of social skills in autistic teens is important because each teen has unique problems that call for unique solutions. Assessment is the basis for social skills training, and this begins by evaluating the present level of social functioning. This enables the assessor to identify the reasons for the teen̵7;s preclusion from starting and maintaining social relationships. It is important to develop training strategies that are relevant to the needs of the autistic teen, otherwise they will not yield the expected results. Assessment is necessary to establish the teen̵7;s unique strengths and interests. According to new findings from the Koegel Autism Center in Rick Nauren̵7;s article, focusing on these unique strengths can enhance social skills of autistic teens and enable them to form strong relationships.
Methods of Assessment
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There are different methods of assessing social skills for an autistic teen. According to Dr. Bellin, an assessment should combine observation, interview and standardized measures. It is, however, important for the parent to frequently seek recommendations from the health provider because universal assessment techniques may not diagnose the teen̵7;s disorder effectively. For instance, a teen may have a problem acquiring a skill, while another has a problem applying the skill that she already knows.
Training
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Training of social skills, according to Indiana Resource Center for Autism, depends on diagnosis obtained from assessment. Social skills deficits can either stem from a lack of knowledge or understanding of the skill or from an inability to apply the skills ̵1; performance deficits. The assessor can choose to use peer mentors for training, activities involving thoughts and feelings, social stories, social skills strategy, video modeling, behavioral rehearsal -- or role-playing -- and accommodation and assimilation. Each strategy is applicable according to the autistic teen's individual needs, identified during the assessment.
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