When we think of teaching "social skills" to teenagers with High Functioning Autism (HFA) and Asperger's (AS), we often think of discrete skills involving verbal communication.  While these skills are indeed very important, many of our teens struggle with non-verbal body language that can make them "stand out" before any talking even takes place.  Because the majority of communication in our society is non-verbal, we need to focus first "what to do with your body" in a given social situation, before we get to "what to say" in the situation.  As teachers and parents, it is important that we "break down" non-verbal social situations (such as joining a group), directly teach our teens the steps, provide plenty of opportunities for practice through role-play, and give feedback to the teens.

Book of the Week: How To Be Yourself in a World That's Different : An Asperger's Syndrome Study Guide for Adolescents/ Yuko Yoshida. General editor, Lorna Wing; translated by Esther Sanders. A guide for teens on coping with Asperger's syndrome provides information on research, describes how the condition manifests, and suggests strategies for how to deal with specific problems.

This book is in the SESA Library. You may search the library catalog via the SESA website, or contact Anne directly by email at afreitag@sesa.org or by phone at 907-334-1301.