Social skills training, love it or hate it?

Post Reply New Topic

Spcial skills training is not necessarily all about how to behave in pubic. It is also to teach things like having facial expression, reading other's expressions and speaking with emotion in the voice instead of talking with a flat affect. If you notice most Aspies who have posted their photo on here have no facial expression other than a grimace.

Just a crash course in how not to appear eccentric to other people. My parents tried in vain to get me into a professionally run one but could not afford it. The closest they got was something at a local church being run by my shrink and someone else. I was told it was some sort of therapy. I had been going to occupational therapy and loved it so I thought this would be the same thing just at a different place. I was shocked and horribly disappointed when I found out it was just a school setting. I can't actually remember being taught anything social. I hated it and complained to my mom and she never made me go back. I suspect a real social skills group wouldn't have been any different. I seemed to be able to sense when people were trying to change something about me and violently retaliated. I probably would have lashed out at one of the staff members and would have gotten restrained, been taken away from my parents and put into a mental hospital.

Punky, what sort of things did they teach there, for example?

Here, with video clip. Enjoy!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUdWApwbudQ[/youtube]

Why not make your own vids? That'd be awesome.

I was assigned weekly sessions with a speech therapist when I was in high school, but it was a complete waste of time. Most of what was being taught, I already knew, intellectually, but rarely applied because it was unnatural to me.

I was never thrilled with them. When I was in High School, they put me in a small class called Social Transitions with other kids with autism or aspergers. At first, I wanted out because I hated looking like an outcast inside a class room with only six people. After wards though, it wasn't so bad because it was really easy and we never had to do anything. The class was a nice gesture though. I know they just wanted to help me. The truth is though, I never learned anything and it never helped me at all in the long run. Most times people have to learn to be social on there own. Classes like these don't really help.

they're useless! i attended one almost 4 years ago and it didn't help at all. the people there were annoying and a whole lot weirder than me.

I went to one a couple of years ago at school called "sulp" I don't know what that stands for. Any way there was about 10 of us and we split into 2 groups with one teacher in each group. We did stuff like games and making posters about eye contact and stuff like that. And 2 teachers would do a role play of a bad conversation and we had to point out the faults and say how they could be improved etc...
It was fun but it didn't make much difference.

I consider myself to have good social skills. However, I just hate employing them. Just because I know the fundamentals of small talk, doesn't mean I want to waste any energy and time doing it.