If I were starting a group for college students with ASD

    Of course the devil is in the details when running a group, including utilizing clinical skills to guage prompts and instructions vs. kicking back and listening.  But it’s important to always come back to the principles which guide how we believe we should work with people, with the understanding that how we treat others is also about how we want to be treated ourselves.  So here goes.

1. Change vs. Accommodation.  Let’s put “on the table” our own confusion about “who changes.” Communicate clearly that there is a cultural arbitrariness regarding who’s social skills are better than others, or who is “odd” or “quirky” versus being a paragon of what’s “normal.”  But alas, there is a harsh reality that we all need to face:  The world tends to “select” (prefer) certain social patterns over others, and that the clinician can be the holder of those biases.
2. Neurodiversity is Good.  Similar to 1 above, that we value diversity in brains.  Some have funny brains, some have serious brains, some have brains that think socially, and so on.  Respect for this time of diversity allows us to, at times, select great ideas and creative thinking that we would not ordinarily embrace (think Bill Gates, Einstein, the Oakland A’s).
3. Pivotal Behaviors.  There are a handful of key orienting behaviors that are important in getting people’s attention.  For example, when walking in to a room full of people, look and smile at faces….say hello.  Greetings, eye contact, following rather leading conversations, nodding, are simple responses that matter a lot.
4. Practice Matters.  In Gladwell’s book, Outliers, he speaks of the “10,000 hour rule” for mastering a skill.  Think of your current skill set and how much time you have spent developing it.  Now apply that notion to social behaviors.
5. Support Networks Matter.  Friends can serve as buffers against anxiety and depression.  It helps to talk with others even if the positive benefits are not readily clear.  Other people are a source for doing fun activities, sharing thoughts and ideas, and emotional support.
6. All People are Unique.  An incorrect assumption made by people with ASD is that all people have similar or the same access to information.  As a result, conversational exchange is of minimal use.  Clinicians should point out repeatedly how people have different thoughts and feelings.
7. Learn Social Rules.
8. Learn how Social Rules are broken all the time.
9. Fun Matters.  (AKA make a list, check it twice).  Our mood is directly related to frequency of pleasant activities.  Is it possible that you have been locked in to one or two pleasant activities when more may exist?
10.  See the Social World as Opportunity to Practice.  Much like learning to use a foreign language in a different country, look at each day as a welcomed opportunity to try out new behaviors.  Consider keeping a log of some of these interactions (what you said, what they said, what you said back).