| Making friends is a skill. It takes confidence and | | | | 3. Prepare your child with skills that reciprocate |
| intuition. And in some cases it takes time and help. | | | | and encourage friendship. Listening to the other |
| Our kids and adults who have Asperger | | | | person's feelings and sharing your belongings are |
| Syndrome or Autism need extra help in picking up | | | | two skills that build trust and lasting friendship. |
| the subtle steps. | | | | 4. Find entertaining ways to work on skills. The |
| Following are six ways you can work with your | | | | social problem scenarios in your childrens' |
| kids to help them grow confidence and | | | | entertainment are great for case studies. The TV |
| competence with their peers in social settings: | | | | shows and movies your kids love are great |
| 1. Identify very specifically the social skills your | | | | material for brainstorming strategies and solutions. |
| kids most need to learn. If your child tends to get | | | | Practice in role play.Make it a game. Be the |
| into arguments with peers about what they will | | | | characters. Find entertaining ways of working on |
| do together, you have an opportunity to teach a | | | | skills. |
| problem solving skill. In this case the skill will be | | | | 5. Encourage your kids to go places where they |
| 'negotiating differences with friends'. | | | | are more likely to meet friends with whom they |
| 2. Break each social skill into its own little set of | | | | have common interests. If your child loves comic |
| sub-skills. Bite off only what your child can easily | | | | books, he will have a built in topic to talk about |
| chew on. If the primary social skill you want to | | | | with the kids from the comic book club. |
| teach is 'how to approach a friend to get | | | | 6. Help them identify the peers who would be the |
| together on the weekend', the sub-skills can | | | | right friends for them. They may not agree and |
| include: "Who will you approach?" "When is a good | | | | you may have to let them go forth and |
| time to ask?" "Where can you plan to be | | | | experience disappointment. Don't judge, but do |
| together?" "What will be your suggestions about | | | | use those experiences to help them explore how |
| what you and your friend will enjoy doing | | | | to choose who they spend time with. |
| together on Saturday?" | | | | |