How does socialization matter to children and young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)? How do these young people feel about themselves, and how do others treat them? What can we do to change things around, so that the world is a better place for all of us? These are important questions that should concern everyone.
There is a growing body of research on how all children and adolescents develop their identity (Erikson, 1968; Marcia, 1966); however, very little research has been done on this subject in people with ASD. Through my clinical work with children and young people with ASD I have often dealt with issues of socialization that are related to identity formation, but I have never had the opportunity to discuss these issues in depth with other professionals working in this field.
The problem of children with ASD
What does socialization mean? Socialization refers to the process of learning what society expects from us – how we should behave, think or feel. We all learn these things through our interactions with parents, siblings, teachers and other important figures in our lives. We learn about values, traditions and common-sense ideas by listening to others. Our parents want us to be well-behaved, so they teach us rules about what is allowed and not allowed. They give us instructions on how we can behave in different situations – for example at school or at a party. They socialize us by telling us they love us and show it through their affection, as well as encouraging us to be independent and self-reliant.
These processes can occur naturally if we have parents or carers who attend to our needs and respect our individuality. If they pay attention, give unconditional love and support us in a variety of social contexts, we can learn all the things that society expects from us. We become well- adjusted children who gradually learn how to behave in different situations and what our rights are.
In another kind of situation, a child may come from an environment where his or her needs have not been met, or where he has been subjected to violence, abuse or neglect. Here the child’s development may be impaired – for example, if he is unable to form relationships or behave in acceptable ways within society. This does not necessarily mean that the child has an ASD diagnosis. He may have other disadvantages that affect his socialization process, including cognitive disabilities and language impairments.
The term “socialization” is used broadly here to encompass the learning processes that prepare us for social interaction, so it includes all types of informal and formal education (psychological, academic and practical) as well as training in work-related activities. Generally speaking, people with ASD generally need more help with socialization than other children – both in terms of learning appropriate behavior and in terms of learning how to behave appropriately in different social contexts.
Social skills training for children with ASD
There is a wide range of techniques used to improve the socialization skills of children and adolescents with ASD. Socialization strategies can be used when the child is very young (0-3 years) or older (5-18 years). They can be divided into two main groups:
Structured learning;
Unstructured learning.
Structured learning includes techniques that are systematic, planned and organized (Santrock, 1998). One example of structured socialization training is applied behavior analysis (ABA) – a method based on operant conditioning or instrumental learning techniques. ABA can be used in structured learning to teach children how to behave appropriately in different social contexts. There are different types of ABA techniques, but they all involve breaking down tasks into measurable units (for example, “John made eye-contact during the conversation”), rewarding the right behaviors and ignoring undesired ones.
Unstructured learning experiences include techniques that are not planned or systematic. For example, taking a child to the park, zoo or cinema is an unstructured way of helping him/her to learn how to behave appropriately in different social situations. Unstructured learning can also include role-playing and imaginative activities that children and their parents do together (Siller and Sigman, 2002)
Parents can also encourage their child to socialize with other children or adults outside the family. This kind of practice is known as “parallel play”, where children are together but do not interact (Asper, 2000). For example, they may play alongside each other on computers, building blocks, etc.
Social skills training programs that combine structured and unstructured activities are likely to be the most successful. These include ABA, Social Stories™ (Gray, 2000) and peer-mediated interventions (Yoder and Stone, 2006).
Educational programs for children with ASD
ABA was developed by Ivar Lovaas in the 1960s. It involves breaking down behaviors into small, teachable units and rewarding the right behaviors to encourage positive routines. It can be very effective if used correctly by a therapist who has had specific training in using ABA techniques.
Social Stories™ are short stories parents write for their children, explaining social situations from the child’s perspective (Gray, 2000). Social stories show how other people will react, and what the child can do to respond appropriately. They are a structured learning program which uses both behavioral and cognitive techniques.
Peer-mediated interventions involve pairing a child with ASD with a typically developing peer to model appropriate social behaviors, reinforce new skills and teach verbal and nonverbal communication (Yoder and Stone, 2006).
Santrock (1998) provides a thorough review of the use of social skills training with children and adolescents. He concludes that these programs can be very effective, but they require both structured and unstructured activities, as well as parental involvement. Social skills training programs should include teaching people how to respond correctly to various “triggers” (for example, greeting an adult). They should also teach children how to use effective verbal and nonverbal communication.
Social skills training programs need to be well-defined, planned and systematic. If the child is taught how to behave in a particular social situation, he/she should also learn to generalize the skill to other similar social situations (Siller and Sigman, 2002). This generalization is an important part of social skills training programs.
Here is a quick review: Socialization learning methods include unstructured and structured activities that children do with their parents or peers. Both techniques can teach children how to behave in different social situations and encourage positive routines. However, most experts recommend combining structured and unstructured activities in socialization learning programs. Social skills training is a type of structured approach and can be very successful, but it needs to include both behavioral and cognitive techniques (Siller and Sigman, 2002).