Challenges for people with ASD include:
Communication functions: intent and frequency -purpose of communication and how many messages to communicate at a time
Discourse management: turn allocation, topics, repair of conversational breakdowns (clarification needed ie repeating, rephrasing, explaining)
Register variation: politeness, social recognition -how communication changes depending on who you talk to
Presumptions: perspective-taking, rules of conduct (quantity, quality, relation, manner)
Paralinguistics: Prosody -communication of meaning of words through tone of voice- as well as gaze, gestures, proximity.
Social Behaviours: conventional gestures such as hands signs that have meaning ie. thumbs up for "good", facial expression, or social actions and behaviors (not staying on the phone during dinner etc.)
When I read some of these challenged I immediately think of a student with ASD I had that definitely needed help with social skills and communication. When she was invited to play, she wouldn't decline an invitation politely. A social story could be utilized to teach this as well as explicit instruction on reading facial expressions and body language.
This same student is also working on understanding the importance of turn allocation and proximity. She will say something to someone but not be anywhere near them. This could be taught through direct instruction and then practiced through modeling and self-monitoring.
Austim Awareness's Social Communication Disorder and How it's Treated Has some helpful tips for working with students on social pragmatics and also describes the differences between social communication disorder and ASD.
No comments:
Post a Comment