Organizations that teach Body Language or Social Skills

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Greetings,

A friend of mine that has Asperger's recommended this message board to help me in my search for an internship.

I am a college junior in Washington DC and have for a long time found myself interested in learning body language and how to act in certain social situations.

As my studies continue, I find myself realizing that this is an area of which I would like to work. I would enjoy teaching and helping people how to use the most positive body language as well as training people how to act in certain situations (at an embassy dinner, cocktails with co-workers, board meetings, etc).

I was wondering if anyone on this board knew of any organizations or companies in the Washington DC area that specialize in any of these areas. At this point in time, there are no classes at my school that offer anything remotely related to my area of interest and it is high time that I extend my education beyond the university's walls. I would be most grateful for any help.

Thank you in advance,
Michael

That's a fantastic idea, I've actually been wondering if some kind of social 'peer mentoring' is in existence somewhere?

That's kinda what got me to discover this website, looking for others who might help me to work on recovering my social skills. Thought I'd find some sort of Aspie "mentoring" groups on Craigslist but no results at all, which seemed kind of surprising!

Then again, I discovered this website as a result of that initial search, so I guess that's a step in the right direction!

Will let you know if I find out any leads that are useful, best of luck!

Well, earlier I read a post from a gentleman on WP who makes DVD's helping people learn how to behave socially.

http://www.coultervideo.com/

I have no idea if they work, but there they are

No such programs exist, and I can't think of one that could possibly be effective. The best I've done is joining Toastmaster's International. That's a program that teaches you to speak. You work on your voice, use of words, gestures, & confidence. It helps a lot, but not all the way. I still have trouble making friends.

The ideal program would be called "How to become more people-oriented". Of course, that's not something that can be taught.

There are actually an unusually high number of businesses who give classes, seminars, and coaching in business etiquette and social skills in Washington, because of the need to train protocol officers. A quick Google search for "business etiquette classes Washington DC" turned up page after page of results, you could do a similar search and find something that is right for you.

Well, business is probably more formal than social.

I was thinking of "Gentleman" as something like, oh I don't
remember the other word, but something that women find
as "classy" on a date.

I was thinking that such an example might be more timeless
than today's general social nonverbal language and kinesics
body language, because customs and fashion are totally out
of control and changing too fast to learn them these days.

It is the social awkwardness that isolates many of us.
I hope oxytocin really helps with that and makes it easier to learn
the body language of the day, and if it works that way, then it becomes
readily available, since its not a "drug", not even a "steroid",
just, I think, a small protein that carries a signal of comfort or
something like that. Like a pheromone of baseline social normality,
without which we may feel and be perceived as subhuman.
I might wonder if it is cause or effect. Does awkwardness inhibit
oxytocin, or does oxytocin inhibit awkwardness? Does social stress
inhibit it? It seems like less of an issue backward in the past
because aspergers was once undiagnosed and people got married with it.
Perhaps because social activity was more traditional and less confusing.
Maybe I am all wrong about it, sorry for drifting off topic.

It's nice to know such organizations exist.

call JSSA
they have social skills groups for those with Aspergers/Spectrumites

http://www.jssa.org/home

There is a cripplingly-huge community of men claiming to be able to teach body language and social skills under the guise of "dating coaches" or "seduction gurus." There is a lot you can learn from them, but I should caution you that most of them are pretty f**ked-up individuals outside of their little pick-up-artist world and try not to take everything they say at face value. Do a google search and you'll see what I mean.

One site run by a guy who's actually normal and insightful is www.succeedsocially.com, and I highly recommend that site to anyone who needs to get the basics handled.

There's a program at UPenn (not in DC but not too far away if you're willing to do a bit of travel).

http://www.med.upenn.edu/add/mission.html

This is mainly for the guys and I know a lot of people look down on this (and for some good reasons) but the *snicker* pickup artist community can be a potential place to pick up on and practice the very same skills you were describing in the OP.

No seriously, many PUA communities run weekend boot camps where you are encouraged as a group to interact with other people (mainly of the opposite sex) and while the end goals may be different, basic social etiquette and communication skills are still crucial to achieving the desired success and thus they tend to be covered in depth by instructors. (who may or may not be wearing fuzzy top hats) Obviously, if you are thinking of doing this, then it'd be important to research your programs thoroughly to make sure they actually cover the types of things you are interested in and also can also provide real world practice and feedback.