Are you searching for the right autism therapy for your child? ABA therapy uses evidence-based techniques that yield systematic results.
One element of ABA therapy includes social skills training. Our behavior technicians help your youngster learn how to socialize appropriately in various settings. Keep reading to learn more about social skills training so you can utilize it at home.
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What Is Social Skills Training?
Social skills training occurs when behavior technicians, parents, or caregivers teach a child with autism how to communicate appropriately. Your youngster thinks about things and uses their brain differently than their peers. Social skills training helps to develop the internal and external connections your child needs to interact with the world around them.
Integrating ABA Therapy With Social Skills Training
All aspects of ABA therapy include some social skills training. For example, we might use play-based therapy with your kiddo to observe and assist them with asking for items. We would find an activity that they enjoy, such as building blocks or tossing beanbags. The behavior technician might say, “Your turn!” Later on, they might ask, “Whose turn is it?” Your child might point to the person leading the session or simply say, “You.”
This is just one of many ways you can integrate social skills training with ABA therapy techniques.
Benefits of Social Skills Training
The goal of social skills training is to give your child the tools they need to succeed when interacting with others. Consider these benefits, all of which could lead to better outcomes for your youngster now and later in life:
Initiate Conversations
This ABA therapy technique can help your child learn how to initiate and maintain conversations with peers and adults. Ideally, they’ll be able to understand nonverbal cues, like a smile, laughter, or a thumbs-up. One goal is to help your child express themselves more clearly.
Improve Socialization
Social skills training can teach your kiddo how to take turns, share, and make eye contact. All of these things are part of building and maintaining friendships.
Reduce Anxiety
Learning how to communicate with others can reduce anxiety in your child. They’ll find that, perhaps, predictable communication is less overwhelming.
Regulate Emotions
Social skills training often includes lessons on how to regulate emotions. For example, we might use roleplaying techniques where our behavior technicians ask your child, “How does that make you feel?” If they have strong feelings, we can talk about how to regulate those emotions.
Foster Independence
As your child becomes more confident when talking to others, they become more independent. You might see them speak up more frequently in classroom activities, on the playground, and during family activities.
Achieve Better Academic Outcomes
Social skills help your kiddo participate and collaborate in the classroom. The long-term effects can extend to the workplace when they get older.
Build Empathy and Understanding for Others
Our behavior technicians will utilize perspective-taking exercises during playtime. These may help your youngster understand how others think and feel, which can lead to improved communication skills. For example, we could use a stuffed bear who hurt his paw. Then, we would ask your youngster how they should respond if they were the bear.
Imitation
Kids love to imitate what they see, especially from parents. If you’ve ever uttered a curse word, and then your child repeats it later, you understand this concept.
Imitation is a technique we use in social skills training. It allows your child to observe the actions of the behavior technician. We then encourage them to replicate our gestures and behaviors.
This is effective due to the way children naturally learn. Imitation is often the most basic, fundamental way we pass on lessons to the next generation. When you want a baby to smile, you smile first. When you want them to open their mouth to eat baby food, you open your mouth first.
Imitation offers a way to teach a fundamental skill for social interaction. We will demonstrate positive social behaviors for children to follow. These behaviors can help your youngster greet others, share, or express emotions. For example, your child’s behavior technician will wave and say, “Hi!” This demonstrates the proper way to greet someone.
Roleplaying
Another technique we might incorporate into a therapy session includes roleplaying. Much like watching a live play on stage, roleplaying can help your kiddo understand how to act in a social setting.
For instance, our behavior technician might ask your child about a friend they like. We would then pretend to be that friend who needs help trying to find a toy. So, we would ask, “Can you help me, please? I need to find a red block.” The behavior technician would then await an appropriate response, like, “Yes” or “Sure.”
Then, we would give immediate positive feedback to encourage your kiddo to understand the correct behavior and to keep using it. You can use this same technique at home.
Social Stories
We use social stories, which are quick takes that explain various social situations. The goal is to have your child respond appropriately.
Let’s say your youngster loves playing with toy dinosaurs or toy horses. We might create a scenario where the behavior technician has one toy and your child has the other. In a pretend story, perhaps the toys don’t know each other yet. The behavior technician will use the toy to say, “Hi, I’m Rex the dinosaur. What’s your name?” We will smile. If your kiddo is a bit nervous, we will say, “It’s okay to feel a bit nervous. Do you like to play games? Can we make up a game for the dinosaurs to play?”
This social story allows your child to come up with creative ways for the toys to interact with each other in appropriate ways while telling a story. At some point, we might talk about what the toy dinosaurs do when they play a game, what they do when their parents say it’s time to go home, or what the dinosaurs do at school.
As you can imagine, the possibilities are endless with social stories. Think of social stories as if we’re reading a popular children’s book. Our behavior technician will explain various steps along the way.
Feedback
Giving positive feedback is crucial to moving forward with social skills training. We will also give your child positive reinforcement after they make an attempt at socialization. Even if it’s a nod or shaking their head “no,” we will make sure your child understands that the behavior was appropriate.
Implementing Social Skills Training at Home
We firmly believe that implementing social skills training at home is the best way for your child to move forward. Our team can teach you how to implement autism therapy with your child.
Create Social Skills Opportunities
You can create social skills opportunities for your kiddo in many ways that allow you to model appropriate behavior.
Family game nights encourage turn-taking, sharing, cooperation, and communication. Model good sportsmanship when something negative happens to you in the game. Encourage your child with positive reinforcement when they act appropriately. Another thing you can do is proactively lead your child with statements like “Good job!” or “Nice try!”
Cooking and baking offer similar opportunities as a game, only in a different way. Everyone practices following instructions to make food. Cooperation is vital when asking people to pass ingredients or utensils. Always praise and compliment people for contributing to the final outcome.
Routine chores can be ways to practice teamwork. Discuss how to complete tasks, such as setting the table, feeding a family pet, or straightening a bedroom.
Integrating Social Skills Training Into Daily Routines
You can build social skills in many ways throughout the day.
It starts with the morning routine. Practice conversational skills when getting ready for school, ask your kiddo how they’re feeling, and practice following directions. For example, choosing the clothes to wear and what to eat provide two great ways to move forward with decision-making skills.
Running errands can also present a great time to talk and practice polite conversations. For example, you can talk to your kiddo about how to greet the cashier at the store or how to ask Mom or Dad to find something on a shelf.
Talking at mealtimes represents a fantastic time for everyone to talk. Ask, “How was your day?” or “Can you pass me the vegetables?” Everyone can get involved with socialization when sharing a meal together.
Analyzing Behavior With Social Skills Training
It’s appropriate to analyze your child’s progress through social skills training. Make notes, either on paper, computer, or mobile app, of how your child interacts with people throughout the day. How many times did they wave at someone? When did they say hello? Did they ask people for help? You can track what things worked and what didn’t when interacting with your child.
Age-Appropriate Activities
There are several age-appropriate activities to help you with social skills training at home.
Pre-K (Ages 3-5)
- Simon Says teaches listening and following instructions.
- Turn-taking games (like passing a ball) build patience and cooperation.
- Pretend play (kitchen or dress-up) encourages role-playing and imagination.
- Emotion-matching games use picture cards to identify and discuss emotions.
- Storytime with social stories focuses on themes like sharing and making friends.
- Sing-slong songs with movements encourage imitation and coordination.
- Partner art projects allow you to collaborate on simple crafts to practice teamwork.
Early Elementary (Ages 6-8)
- Charades helps with nonverbal communication and expression.
- Follow the leader reinforces leadership and imitation skills.
- Sharing circle provides a way to take turns sharing about a favorite toy or story.
- Social skills bingo uses cards that prompt behaviors like saying “thank you” or giving a compliment.
- Group storytelling occurs when each person in the family adds a sentence to a story, building cooperation and creativity.
- Emotion charades is when you act out feelings like happy, sad, or surprised to build emotional awareness.
- Collaborative building projects (like LEGO) foster teamwork and communication.
Late Elementary (Ages 9-11)
- Debate club (simple topics) allows everyone to practice respectful disagreement and active listening.
- Peer interviews let your child practice asking and answering questions.
- Problem-solving scenarios use role-play to handle conflicts.
- Board games with strategy (like Sorry! or Clue) teach turn-taking and fair play.
- Group story mapping enhances collaboration and communication by outlining and creating stories.
- Compliment chains let everyone practice giving and receiving compliments in a supportive environment.
Middle School (Ages 12-14)
- Role-playing real-life situations helps with practicing social scenarios like group work or handling disagreements.
- Social skills journaling lets someone reflect on interactions and set goals for improvement.
- Mock interviews provide practice in speaking confidently and making eye contact.
- Team sports or group activities focus on collaboration and good sportsmanship.
- Improv games enhance quick thinking and social flexibility.
- Problem-solving workshops discuss how to handle peer pressure or misunderstandings.
- Community service projects foster empathy and teamwork while giving back.
Challenges of Social Skills Training
You might find a few challenges as you implement social skills training at home.
Children with autism may struggle with applying social skills in varied settings. For instance, they might excel at asking for help during playtime but not at mealtimes. Consider practicing similar social skills in varied settings to reinforce these concepts.
Sometimes, your kiddo might not be interested in learning new social skills despite your best efforts to motivate them. Make sure to ask about their interests and what they feel like doing during any given time.
You may find that some times are more difficult than others when it comes to consistency with reinforcement. We cannot stress enough the importance of positive reinforcement when it comes to teaching your youngster social skills.
Ongoing practice is another key to helping lessons stick in long-term memories. Even after your kiddo learns a skill, mastering it may take some time. Continuing to practice can help make lessons more permanent.
Help Your Child With Autism to Grow
At My World ABA, we want your child to become everything they are meant to be. Learn more about our services and ask questions by contacting us through our website or calling (417) 818-5784 today.
We have offices in Springfield, Ozark, and Joplin, Missouri.
