Behavior modification therapy for better social skills?

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Simple question: Anybody tried behavior modification or some other therapy to improve their social interaction skills? What were the results and your opinion of the experience?

Of the few people I've talked to about being aspie, to a person, they've all strongly recommended some type of therapy. In spite of having really good medical coverage, I'm hesitant to go down that road unless I become convinced that it'll really help change things.

simple answer (if ur open to my opinion):

nothing can or will improve ones skills (any
skills) but practice. u think that behaviour
modification could improve my carpentry
skills or my mechanical skills ? and -- what
if i dont have any skill in either these area
to begin with . . . ?

but one can't be all skeptical against these
things. if they improve ones desires to go
ahead and engage w/ people / or they help
to get over ones fear w/ speaking to people
then i guess thats ok.

. . . still i think that this sort of thing can be
more disempowering than aynthing; then
that is only my opinion. i just dont like to see
people robbed of their funds to the majickal
snake-oil circus salesmen i guess he-he.

but disprove my thoeries first, before u take
them. ask these folks u know if they've taken
this theropy themself; or if they know anyone
who has. ~shrugh~

naturally i don't thnik aspieism can be cured, mind u, but that's just my idea.

Cheney & Bush didn't have much luck with it at GITMO, but they both continue to swear by it. My parents, teachers, coaches and employers used it on me in real-world experiments for years - rewards, punishment, lecture training, yelling, threatening, coercion.

The only thing that ever actually worked for me was observing for myself what others did that was successful, then imitating those behaviors as best I could. If I failed to do it correctly, I could tell because the Behavior Modification Training would begin again immediately.

Trial and error was the only way I ever learned anything regarding social functioning.

The few things I learned by being taught were: "Look at me when I'm talking to you" and "When you shake a man's hand, don't hand him a dead fish"

I went to social training classes, but I wouldn't call it behavior modification.

All the time. I love trying new ways of being. It doesn't have to be as part of some formalized therapy, you can just try things out yourself.

Cognitive behavioral therapy has helped me a lot... but its vastly different from behavioral modification. More along the lines of self observation but with a skilled mentor for guidance. I've found both the feedback and the resource very valuable.

Beyond explaining to me various NT weirdnesses, right now we're working on ways to manage low grade social anxiety.

Everything I've ever heard about behavioral mod.... sounds like the absolute best thing to drive an Aspie right over the edge. We're not chickens, for pete's sake. We are intelligent, thinking, feeling human beings.