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can social skills be taught?

longman

I keep coming across claims that people with Asperger's Syndrome or HFASD can be taught or shown how to overcome social/communication difficulties. 

This seems to be what underpins help given to people on the spectrum in special schools or learning disability support in mainstream. Or all these consultants who offer training in social skills to school age children (for a fee) because what they achieve by a long arduous process that sorts socialising at school will somehow magically resolve socialising as an adult in an adult world.

It also seems to underlie the assumption that you grow out of it. Hence transition isn't a big issue for abler children who will magicly transform into social butterflies by 18 or 21.

Which is again why so little has been done to better understand the needs of adults. Adults with socialising problems it seems were children who didn't learn their social skills lessons at school and are now paying the price for their indolence and ingratitude. Once "taught" how to conquer social interaction its all your fault if you don't magically get over the rest.

I just wonder what research underpins the confidence that this kind of social coaching in school years has any long term value. Because surely for all the claims made, there has to be evidence. If this was medication or cosmetics there would have to be a substantial body of evidence. Where is the substantial body of evidence that people on the spectrum can be taught social skills for life?

I personally, at the abler end, without a diagnosis (as diagnosed late in life) found ways round formal social interaction by finding out why I got into trouble, finding people who were understanding enough to help me, and then learning the right things to say on cue, which took me decades. But it is still hard work and I still make mistakes.

Even so I still lose credibility if there's background noise, where I lose coherence, or there are two many cross-overs in the dialogue, or I'm unwell or flagging, or I blank out.

And that's only with formal conversation. As it gets less formal, less language based more gestures, nods and inflexions based I lose out rapidly. OK I was self-taught, maybe if I had been "coached" when younger I might have been better at it. But I cannot find published evidence that "coaching" of social skills works long term. It might produce short term benefits for young people in their immediate social contexts, but the root causes haven't been resolved, and there needs to be research that substantiates claims it works long term.

As I have already said, if this was medication or cosmetics there would have to be a substantial body of proof. I don't see why autistic spectrum "cures" don't seem to need a body of proof. At the moment there's just a lot of uncorroborated quackery going on.

I do feel NAS has a duty to pursue (or at least demand) scientific evidence for autism "cures".

No-one should be permitted to claim they can coach social skills unless they can provide proof of long term benefit, into adulthood. The impression that someone can be egged on to manage in a few short-lived social settings is not scientific corroboration of efficacy.

I just think it is time we had some science to this, and science we could see.

Parents

  • Well in many other contexts including disability, social background etc there are long term studies that look at people's progress from childhood into adulthood and beyond.

    They may review annually or every three of five years, but they look to see whether different circumstances affect people's prospects. It is only by collecting such data that you can determine whether changes in economy or society have impact or whether treatments for a medical condition or disability are effective.

    There's one on TV that looks at the progess of children born twenty or thirty years ago that looks every few years at how they are getting on. Many others are carried out using quantitative data rather than film.

    Where are these studies in autism? If they exist at all do they stop at 18 or do they go much beyond? Goodness knows the condition has been around long enough to build up a considerable database.

    Social coaching is "sold" using testimonials, bit like the way pills used to be sold in the 18th and 19th century. Nowadays most medications are demonstrated by lengthy and rigorous testing. Asperger/Autism cures are being marketed by the dozen, based on little more convincing evidence than those so-called dentists on television reading stiltedly from the autocue which toothpaste dentists recommend. Is that really sufficient aunthentification of "cures" that may not have any lasting or meaningful outcomes beyond someone's wild assertions.

    Also because of the myths these claims create, that's certainly a factor in making it hard to explain why so many adults have difficulties.

    It really is very long overdue that autism can provide tested valid methods of helping people move forward.

Reply

  • Well in many other contexts including disability, social background etc there are long term studies that look at people's progress from childhood into adulthood and beyond.

    They may review annually or every three of five years, but they look to see whether different circumstances affect people's prospects. It is only by collecting such data that you can determine whether changes in economy or society have impact or whether treatments for a medical condition or disability are effective.

    There's one on TV that looks at the progess of children born twenty or thirty years ago that looks every few years at how they are getting on. Many others are carried out using quantitative data rather than film.

    Where are these studies in autism? If they exist at all do they stop at 18 or do they go much beyond? Goodness knows the condition has been around long enough to build up a considerable database.

    Social coaching is "sold" using testimonials, bit like the way pills used to be sold in the 18th and 19th century. Nowadays most medications are demonstrated by lengthy and rigorous testing. Asperger/Autism cures are being marketed by the dozen, based on little more convincing evidence than those so-called dentists on television reading stiltedly from the autocue which toothpaste dentists recommend. Is that really sufficient aunthentification of "cures" that may not have any lasting or meaningful outcomes beyond someone's wild assertions.

    Also because of the myths these claims create, that's certainly a factor in making it hard to explain why so many adults have difficulties.

    It really is very long overdue that autism can provide tested valid methods of helping people move forward.

Children
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