Post on 23-Feb-2016
description
ADULT SOCIAL SKILLS
MERLIN L TAYLOR JR | PHD | CCC-SLP | BCBA-D | Aspie
A Learning Process
The AgendaTo 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.
Speech Words
SoundProduction
MeaningfulSegments
BuildingPhrases
Social Adaptation
Social Adaptatio
n
Social Adaptati
on
A.K.A. PRAGMATICS
What does it involve?
Social Adaptati
on
Social Adaptati
onCognitive
Development
SIMPLY:Ability to learn, problem solve, etc.
BUT IT’S COMPLICATED—Not synonymous with level of function
For an individual with ASD, level of function will in large part reflect social success!
Cognitive Developme
nt
Social Adaptation
BUT IT’S COMPLICATED—You want me to retrieve a bunch of words from memory, use these to formulate coherent and meaningful phrases, then produce these accurately and intelligibly—oh, and also guarantee that nobody is confused or offended? Sure.
Mental
Energy
SIMPLY:(kind of self-explanatory)
Social Adaptation
BUT IT’S COMPLICATED—Can vary across cultures, between individuals, and at different times.“Body language” can be very difficult to read.
Boundary
Awareness
(Spatial)
SIMPLY:Respecting “personal space,” etc.
Social Adaptation
BUT IT’S COMPLICATED—Invisible, intangible, sometimes irrational, rarely explicit and often poorly defined.
Boundary
Awareness
(Social)
SIMPLY:Respecting social roles and rankings
Social Adaptation
Boundary
Awareness
(Situational)
BUT IT’S COMPLICATED—No two occasions are exactly alike.
SIMPLY:Knowing what occasions warrant certain words and behaviors
Social Adaptation
SIMPLY:(kind of self-explanatory)
Self-Insight
BUT IT’S COMPLICATED—Proprioception—awareness of the physical self—is a key deficit in cases of ASD. Without body awareness, awareness of one’s own thoughts and emotions is highly problematic.
Social Adaptation
REALLY NOT SIMPLE AT ALL Inter
personal
InsightAnother word for
interpersonal insight is…
EMPATHY
Social Adaptation
Social Adaptation
Social Adaptation
Social Adaptation
Social Adaptation
Social Adaptation
Social Adaptation
Social Adaptation
FEAR
In anyone, fear can displace empathy.
FEAR
(For example:
Have any of you ever known a
clinician...
FEAR
…who cut himself off
from feeling anything for
his patients…
FEAR
…because he feared having to
grieve—and losing the respect ofhis fellow
professionals?)
FEAR
While profoundly affecting behavior,
fear itself is not a
behavior.
FEAR
Intensive drilling cannot actually
eliminate fear.
FEAR
This is well known
within the military.
We who live “on the
spectrum” experience the same fears as
everyone else…
FEAR
…only more so. FE
AR
In most—if not all—social situations
We fear failure (e.g.: failure to be understood)We fear ridiculeWe fear ostracismWe fear attackWe fear feelings we might not be able to controlWe fear being wrong when everyone else is rightIn short, we fear others and we fear ourselves.
Moreover
FEAR
Having a longer history of negative social experiences that give rise to and validate fears…
Moreover
FEAR
…having had more time to develop cognitive awareness of things to be feared (a significant reason why cognitive development is not a consistent predictor of social success)…
Moreover
FEAR
..and still having atypical sensory processing problems that put us at a disadvantage in many social environments (e.g.: crowded walkways;noisy workplaces; stores with old fluorescent lighting)…
FEAR
… we expend a considerable portion of whatever cognitive capacity and mental energy we possess just trying to control fear!
Nonetheless…..those who work with us—even (and especially) in clinical settings—so often expect us to surmount our fears in stride.Our experiences tell us otherwise: that often we surmount one figurative hurdle…
…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?
CAASPCommunityAdults withAutismServiceProgram
The CAASP ApproachMotto:
"By growing comfortable within ourselves, we grow comfortable with
others"
The CAASP ApproachCAASP 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 ApproachThis 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 ApproachIn 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 ApproachDuring 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 ApproachDuring 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 ApproachDuring 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 ApproachDuring 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 ApproachDuring the first few months of participation, CAASP participants are allowed and enabled to experience
Release in self-expression
The CAASP ApproachDuring the first few months of participation, CAASP participants are allowed and enabled to experience
Affirmation of what they have to say
The CAASP ApproachDuring 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 ApproachDuring 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 ApproachDuring 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 ApproachDuring 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 ApproachDuring 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 ApproachMethods
1. Discussiona) Personal interactionb) Mutual educationc) Exploring trustd) Adjusting sensitivities
2. Roleplaying exercisesa) Individual expressionb) Joint expressionc) Rehearsal and
preparation
The CAASP Approach
Personal interactionMutual education
From “Autistic Manifesto”I, often called a problemI have quite a problem:
How to raise a flower in asphaltOr a melon in mortarOr fish in a furnace
Or a mind in a rut of rote readingsSo you who would train
Please do train--your dogBut 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 healthmessage 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.
EASPElectiveAutism ofSocialPersona
When an Easpie leads an Aspie, both fall short of empathy.
SeriouslyDo 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?
SeriouslyDo 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?
SeriouslyDo 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?
SeriouslyDo 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?
SeriouslyDo 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?
SeriouslyNO—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.