Social Development and ASD Students

1. Social Development and ASD Students Rosemary Cullain Ph.D.

2. Typical Social Development • Level 1: Tuning In • (Birth) • Emotional Attunement • Social Referencing • Excitement Sharing • Simple Games

3. ASD Social Development • Problems with emotional attunement And become overwhelmed by stimulation. • Seldom view their parents as sources of meaning in their world. • Seldom initiate joint attention • Not competent in excitement sharing

4. Typical Social Development • Level 2: Learning to Dance • (6 months) • Learns rules, roles, structures of experience sharing. • Variety • Synchronized actions • Observing and regulating to coordinate

5. ASD Social Development • Rules, roles, and structures are not fluid. • Individuals with ASD perceive social fluidity not as potential sources of joy and excitement but as overwhelming foreign environments.

6. Typical Social Development • Level 3: Improvising and Co-Creating • (one year) • Constant Co-variation • Fluid Transitions • Improvisation • Co-Creation

7. ASD Social Development • ASD more comfortable with static systems than with fluid systems • Improvising and co creating are part of a fluid social system • Systems that don’t rely on specific rules, sequences and a clear outcome are meaningless for ASD individuals.

8. Typical Social Development • Level 4: Sharing Outside Worlds • (18 months) • Perception Sharing • Perspective Taking • Unique Reactions • Adding Imagination

9. ASD Social Development • Difficulties with • Understanding other’s perceptions (Theory of Mind) • Different reactions to events, places, or people. • Imaginative play, or thoughts

10. Typical Social Development • Level 5: Discovering Inside Worlds • (30 months) • Sharing Ideas • Enjoying Differences • The Inside and Outside Worlds • Primacy of Minds

11. ASD Social Development • Enjoyment not obtained by sharing or integrating ideas with a social partner. • Intolerant of different ideas or themes in social interaction • Can’t view internal reactions as different than external reactions • Experience sharing very hard

12. Typical Social Development • Level 6: Binding Selves to Others • (48 months and older) • Unique Selves • Belonging to Groups • Pals and Playmates • Enduring Friendships

13. ASD Social Development • Do not see meaning in relating to others to better define self • Membership in groups is not enjoyable • More comfortable to play alone than to try to play with others • Seldom have enduring friendships

14. Assessment of Social Development • Most children with ASD are missing critical parts of skills in Level l • There are clinical programs to assist with directly teaching these missing parts (RDI) • In school more important to recognize how their social development is different • Plan social demands around those differences and teach when you can

15. Level One Example Teach child to visually scan adult actions and reactions (use video) Teach child to reference adults when uncertain or anxious Teach visual cues that child can recognize as a sign to shift attention Teach simple games and model excitement for the child to imitate.

16. Level 2 Example • Teach child to carry out coordinated interactions • Teach child to perform his role in a coordinated interaction • Teach child to time himself to coordinate this interaction • Teach regulating in a social interaction. • Teach methods to communicate to maintain coordination in social interaction

17. Level Three Example • Multi step level involving: • Co-variation (novelty) • Fluid transitions • Improvising • Co creation

18. Level 3 Teaching Ideas • Teach how to enjoy things that are new. (Co-variation) • Use chained activities that culminate in a single activity (Fluid Transitions) • Teach how to collaborate with a group (Improvised Actions) INVOLVE THE CHILD IN A GROUP

19. Level 4 Teaching Ideas Multi step level involving: • Joint attention • Perspective Taking • Unique Reactions • Imagination

20. Teaching Ideas for Level 4 • Provide opportunities for child to practice visual and/or verbal sharing with his peers. (joint attention) • Facilitate interaction for the child to seek out differences between his and a social partner’s perceptions. (perspective taking)

21. Sample Activities • Level 1: Turn Taking Games • Level 2: Mirror Games • Level 3: Cooperative Games • Level 4: “Sharing” Games

22. Learning Objective Review • Learn typical social development levels • Learn differences in ASD social development • Learn teaching ideas for each level • Learn sample activities for each level. Next topic: Interventions for Sensory Differences