1. Encourage facilitation of visually scanning the entire face. Take particular attention in having children look at the eyes of another person. It is important that this skill is not forced. You could encourage the child to look at the color of another person’s eyes. Encourage eye contact through the concept of anticipation. Have the child look to you during a game in order to obtain eye contact in anticipation of the next step and next answer. Give time so the child can look at you to receive the next step of the game or obstacle course (Amy Lynch Power Point, 2009).
Rationale: According to the Deruelle article children with ASD scan the bottom of the face, using a local processing strategy. Typically developing children look at the eyes and interpret the whole picture.
2. Emotional expression and intonation is important during communication and interaction. Without these skills, children can be viewed as disinterested. Have a child practice expression of intonation related to feelings. For example, practice “I am excited!”, “That is fun!”, or “I prefer not to play now.” Have the child work toward emphasizing emotions. Encourage this to be incorporated at home. In addition, have the child interpret other’s feelings. A group setting or bringing a friend to therapy can facilitate this skill.
Rationale: Children with ASD tend to learn social skills cognitively. They often have problems interpreting social exchanges. These skills need to be addressed because the children are not aware of their deficits or how to fix them independently (Miller-Kuhanceck).
3. Social modeling can be used to improve social interaction skills. Try using a videotape of the child interacting with another child. Friends can be videotaped in order for it to be more personalized. I have used videotaping with success with other skills. It appears effective since the local processing skills are so superior and children are often intrinsically motivated to watch a video. Then these skills should be practiced in a natural environment.
Rational: Children with language impairments have difficulty establishing and maintaining relationships. Some students may not do well in a social setting and general programs may not meet the specific needs of that child. The video clips can give a child an opportunity to look at different emotional expressions and spend time discussing these in order to work toward mastery on interpretation (Brinton, 2004).
4. Using social thinking is a strategy that incorporates the understanding of the why in social interactions skills. It helps children realize that others have separate thoughts. Encourage the child to consider other’s emotions in a social setting. This mindset is different than social skill training and is found to have better generalization. Social thinking encourages children to “think with your eyes” and that equals thinking.” This helps emergence of social growth.
Rational: According to the Crooke article, by teaching children with ASD and HFA to consider the why it promotes the core principles of social learning. The use of this strategy promotes generalization of these concepts into various social situations. Overall, this may be an effective technique to increase positive social behaviors.
Also, inspired by the Brinton article, it is clear that social issues take time and dedication to improve social interaction. Factors that led to successes were the adolescent’s motivation, family support, and the child’s ability to learn another person’s perspective. I hope this will help to incorporate social goals, activities for emotion and face processing, and the awareness of the importance of these issues. By addressing these issues it can lead to increased self-worth and success in a person’s life.
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