Social Skills for Teenagers and Adults with Asperger Syndrome: A Practical Guide to Day-to-day Life

210 Pages·2008·0.54 MB·English

by  Nancy J.

SOCIAL SKILLS
for
TEENAGERS ADULTS
AND
ASPERGER
with
S Y N D R O M E
bythesameauthor
HintsandTipsforHelpingChildrenwithAutismSpectrum
Disorders
UsefulStrategiesforHome,SchoolandtheCommunity
DionE.BettsandNancyJ.Patrick
ISBN:9781843108962
of relatedinterest
ASelf-DeterminedFuturewithAspergerSyndrome
SolutionFocusedApproaches
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ForewordbyBillO’Connell,DirectorofTraining,FocusonSolutions
ISBN:9781843105138
AspergerSyndromeandSocialRelationships
AdultsSpeakOutaboutAspergerSyndrome
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ISBN:9781843106470
AspergerSyndromeandEmployment
AdultsSpeakOutaboutAspergerSyndrome
EditedbyGenevieveEdmondsandLukeBeardon
ISBN:9781843106487
TheCompleteGuidetoAsperger’sSyndrome
TonyAttwood
ISBN:9781843104957hb
ISBN:9781843106692pb
RevealingtheHiddenSocialCode
SocialStoriesTMforPeoplewithAutisticSpectrumDisorders
MarieHowleyandEileenArnold
ForewordbyCarolGray
ISBN:9781843102229
N A N C Y J. PAT R I C K
A Practical Guide to Day-to-Day Life
SOCIAL SKILLS
for
TEENAGERS ADULTS
AND
A S P E RG E R
with
S Y N D R O M E
JessicaKingsleyPublishers
LondonandPhiladelphia
Firstpublishedin2008
byJessicaKingsleyPublishers
116PentonvilleRoad
LondonN19JB,UK
and
400MarketStreet,Suite400
Philadelphia,PA19106,USA
www.jkp.com
Copyright©NancyJPatrick2008
Allrightsreserved.Nopartof thispublicationmaybereproducedinanymaterialform
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Applicationsforthecopyrightowner’swrittenpermissiontoreproduceanypartof this
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Libraryof CongressCataloginginPublicationData
ACIPcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryof Congress
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
ACIPcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
ISBN9781843108764
ISBNpdf eBook9781846428449
PrintedandboundintheUnitedStatesby
Thomson-Shore,7300JoyRoad,Dexter,Michigan,UnitedStates,48130
This book is dedicated to the teenagers and
adults with Asperger Syndrome who only
want to be understood and understand.
Acknowledgements
Iwouldliketoacknowledgemyhusband,Bill,forhisloveand
steadfastsupportforourthirty-threeyearsofmarriage.Iwant
to acknowledge my three children—Craig, Scott and
Blair—for making life exciting and worth living. I want to
acknowledgemysweetgrandsonCraigforkeepingmeyoung.
Additionally, I want to thank Laura Gardner, my research
assistant,forherencouragementandhelpfulresearch,Kathryn
Siconolfi and Steven Collier for their marvelous stories and
MessiahCollegeforprovidingstudentandfacultygrantsthat
helped facilitate this writing project.
Contents
Introduction: Asperger Syndrome and the
Experiences of Teens and Adults 9
What is Asperger Syndrome? 13
Experiences of Teens and Adults with
Asperger Syndrome 16
1. A Social World 42
What are social skills? 42
What are communication skills? 47
How are social skills and communication skills related? 54
Steps to increase social competence 55
2. Friends and Family 60
Acquaintances 60
Family 67
Friends 73
Dating 80
Marriage 85
Parenting 91
Strangers 95
3. Health and Medical 102
Nutrition, fitness and sleep 102
Mental healthcare 108
Healthcare 113
4. Living Arrangements 119
Living at home, supported living, and independent
living 119
Self-care 124
Home care 127
Budgeting and financial management 130
5. Education, Training, and Employment 133
Career and vocational assessment 133
College, technical institutes and apprenticeships 138
Finding employment 144
Keeping a job 146
6. Adaptive Tools 151
Assistive technology 151
Direct instruction 154
Effective listening 154
Eye gaze 156
Fix-up strategies 157
Lists 158
Note-taking 159
Role-playing 159
Scripts 160
Self-assessment 160
Self-determination 161
Self-disclosure 162
MYJOURNAL 164
GLOSSARY 198
REFERENCES 200
SUBJECTINDEX 205
AUTHORINDEX 208