Social Skills Classes, Cogntive-Behaviorial Therapy, etc...

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I'd like to hear some differing opinions on the subject. I've talked to those who've had positive experiences and felt that it helped them navigate the NT world while still keeping their passions while I've talked to others who've had negative experiences with therapists who tried to take away their special interests and tried to force them to become NT against their will (e.g. telling their parents not to allow the kid to talk about their interest, punishing kids for stims, etc).

I would love to hear your thoughts, experiences, and opinions on this subject. I didn't get any help as a kid cuz no one knew what AS was but I'm attending classes right now and find them helpful. But then again, I'm an adult whose going by choice. I'd like to hear from those who attended classes as kids and teens.

I have a long and detailed thread about social skills training...


So far it is.... meh... At first it felt really good but am not really able to apply very well yet.

http://www.wrongplanet.net/posts153181-start510.html

I'm going to bite the bullet and put my daughter in social skills classes. Been putting it off but she doesn't seem to be making friends at school.

My situation is a bit different. I am not paying a penny for my classes nor is my insurance. I am getting a scholarship from The Social Thinking Center due to financial difficulties. I am attending a group class with five other adults (ranging in age from mid 20s to early 50s, 4 of the other adults have AS and one has NVLD (the only other female is the one with NVLD).

We practice things like reading body language, doing a 'social fake' (pretending to be interested in the topic when you're not), approaching and joining a conversation, keeping your listener interested, etc.

I like the group format because it takes the pressure off and I am able to see my social difficulties more easily by observing others with similar issues.

Sometimes I wish I could be easily corrupted and learn to lie.

Life would be so much easier

They weren't really necessary for me. I had gone my entire early childhood undiagnosed, and was only referred for a diagnosis in the fourth grade. As soon as the fifth grade started, my mom seemed to shift from seeing me as a little bit quirky but otherwise normal, to completely disabled and helpless. I was finally able to set her straight a couple of years ago.

"Passing" the Social Skills classes were easy for me, because I didn't really struggle with body language that much. I wasn't learning impaired, so I got out of those classes while the other kids took 6th grade level math and reading tests.

I had/have social skills training as part of my ASD therapy and it worked out excellent so far (5 years or so).

I'm pretty good at applying things I've learnt though. I also learnt to do them "my way" and I assume that a "teacher" (therapist or whoever) who doesn't understand enough about autism and/or is unable to apply social skills training to fit the individual with their unique profile of abilities and impairments would try to teach an autistic person in a way that does not suit them.

Absolute requirement for social skills training in my opinion: wanting to do social things for which one needs (some of) those "social skills". Social skills can enable communication for some situations in which a lack of knowledge and ability to apply social skills leads to communicational issues between you and the other person.

Group training might work out better for some people but I'm not one of them.

In my case that's too much autism in those areas (way different way of learning and communicating) for training in a group for something as crucial as learning about communication to work out efficiently.