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Social Skills Training?

Jenny Butterfly

In my reading around and searching, I invariably come across paragraphs or even whole chapters that refer to the development of social skills and even training programmes to help with this process.  It's mentioned a LOT.  And yet, if I search for any such programme or coaching locally, I can't find any!

Am i looking in the wrong places?  Does such a thing actually exist or is it for each of us to piece together?  Would a formal coaching or training programme be of much help anyway?  What's the evidence base?

My 26 year old son often refers to his difficulties with social skills and would really like some help.  Where might I direct him? 

Parents

  • My ideal scenario:  A non patronising, person-centred, weekly course or class with numbers of, say, 15 or less, which operates a bit like introductory counselling/interpersonal skills courses but with an autism slant and for adults.  (My son could do with one for young adults with exercises appropriate to his age group but I can see the need for a good mix of participants and also for older adults for whom there doesn't seem to be much provision).

    It would involve working via whole group, small group, triad and dyad exercises with regular feedback and maybe some journalling and reflection in between sessions. 

    Some supplementary reading maybe.  Thinking about the recommendation of "How to win friends and influence people", I can see a role for a " book club corner" in which participants either read and share/discuss or perhaps prepare reviews.  If I were leading the group , I'd probably have a table with some self help classics as well as some autism-specific material.  

    Some out of class activities might also help.  Field work, so to speak, because experiential learning would be a strong part of the process.  

    Failing that, I think I'll just get him a unicorn for Christmas...

  • in reply to Jenny Butterfly

    Reading that, I think you should set up a class/course like that yourself! You seem to have good ideas and quite some knowledge.

  • in reply to Blank

    Thanks Blank.  I have a strong idea of the course I would have liked to have gone on in my late teens/early 20s.  It might have saved me a LOT of heartache.  

    My interest in self help spilled over into counselling, expert patient groups and charity work later in life so the course I'd run would be an amalgam of these approaches plus some autism-specific material.

    Alas, if I were running it my son would run a mile!  Sigh...

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  • in reply to Blank

    Thanks Blank.  I have a strong idea of the course I would have liked to have gone on in my late teens/early 20s.  It might have saved me a LOT of heartache.  

    My interest in self help spilled over into counselling, expert patient groups and charity work later in life so the course I'd run would be an amalgam of these approaches plus some autism-specific material.

    Alas, if I were running it my son would run a mile!  Sigh...

Children