Social Skills for Teenagers with Developmental and Autism Spectrum Disorders

Laugeson, Elizabeth A.; Frankel, Fred

"This book provides a very comprehensive, down-to-earth manual for an innovative social skills intervention for teens with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their parents. With a strong theoretical perspective and a quickly developing empirical base, the book moves the potential provider from screening to goals to activities to measuring progress, providing detailed information at each step, and even case studies, that provide a sense of what such a program means to an individual teenager. The combination of teen- and parent-directed parallel programs is particularly unique in social skills programs and offers opportunities to involve the whole family in these very positive endeavors." - Catherine Lord, Director, University of Michigan Autism and Communication Disorders Center (UMACC) and Professor of Psychology, Pediatrics and Psychiatry, USA"Laugeson & Frankel have done the field a great service in developing the PEERS program for friendship and social-skills training for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. The book has a clear and practical curriculum; many techniques and example exercises are described lucidly; it combines work with teens and their parents; and they have begun to develop an evidence-base through conducting a series of randomized controlled trials." - Tony Charman, Chair in Autism Education, Institute of Education, London, UK"Based on scientifically sound research and insightful clinical acumen, this book provides the how-to for successful social-skills groups. Laugeson and Frankel should be commended for writing a digestible book of immense interest to a wide readership." - Connie Kasari, Professor of Education and Psychiatry, UCLA, USA

• Preface. Part I: Introduction. Part II: Preparing for Treatment Screening. Part III: Treatment Sessions. Session 1: Introduction and Conversational Skills I – Trading Information. Session 2: Conversational Skills II – Two-way Conversations. Session 3: Conversational Skills III – Electronic Communication. Session 4: Choosing Appropriate Friends. Session 5: Appropriate Use of Humor. Session 6: Peer Entry I – Entering a Conversation. Session 7: Peer Entry II – Exiting a Conversation. Session 8: Get-togethers. Session 9: Good Sportsmanship. Session 10: Rejection I – Teasing and Embarrassing Feedback. Session 11: Rejection II – Bullying and Bad Reputations. Session 12: Handling Disagreements. Session 13: Rumors and Gossip. Session 14: Graduation and Termination. Case Examples. List of Key Terms. Appendix. Assessment Measures. Session Materials.