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This presentation will examine Social Communication and Social Interaction.
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The Dyad of Impairments identifies the areas that can affect people with autism.
Within this we find the area of Social Communication and Interaction.
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And how social interaction impacts the lives of people with autism.
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The impact and severity of these traits will vary from person to person. But all people with autism will experience difficulty in the area of social interaction.
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We know that;
Shared social interactions form the foundation of friendships and relationships.
Relationships between people are based on their social interactions.
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But what if your abilities in the areas of social skills and social understanding were impaired?
This would make your understanding and participating in social interactions or exchanges more difficult.
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This is what it can be like for people and children with autism.
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Let’s take a look at some of the more severe challenges that people and children with autism experience in the area of Social Interaction.
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These challenges in Social Interaction can be apparent in the following ways:
A lack of interest in others
Many children and people with autism can find social interaction difficult and stressful
The introduction of new faces and voices can be very difficult for a person with autism as their normal routine has been disturbed and this can lead to anxiety and outbursts.
Many people with autism do not seek social interaction and are often content in their own space and routines.
Slide 11: *continued from Slide 10
People with autism may appear to be aloof, distant or not paying attention
Many people and children with autism may appear to be alone or withdrawn from others
They may need to display different social behaviours because they may find it difficult to express feelings, needs or emotions.
The pressure of social situations may lead to outbursts, meltdown and withdrawals from these situations.
Some people with autism may display inappropriate social behaviours because of the difficulties they experience.
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People and children with autism at the higher functioning end of the spectrum also experience challenges in the area of Social interaction.
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These challenges can be apparent in the following ways;
Difficulties in making and maintaining friendships
Some people with autism can be socially naive and lack understanding about friendships or strangers.
Some people with autism want to be social and form friendships and relationships but don’t have the natural social skills to do so.
Many people with autism may focus on the special interests that they have as they are unable or unwilling to share the conversation with others.
Many people with Autism may have issues with persona space, volume and tone of voice in following the to and fro of group conversations.
Social anxiety can often prevent people on the spectrum from engaging in social interactions
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Now we will look at social communication, and how it impacts on the lives of people with Autism.
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In the area of social communication;
Many people with Autism lack the intuitive skills to pick up on social cues and social language.
A typically developing child will naturally acquire social skills as they grow up
Children with autism do not acquire many of these skills and have to learn them
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As human beings we communicate in many different ways and to communicate with another person or group of people we use:
Speech
Body Language
Facial Expressions
People with autism have difficulty understanding all 3 of these forms of communication
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In everyday conversation we will use speech, body language and facial expressions to communicate with that person.
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Many people and children with Autism have difficulties in processing, retaining and understanding language.
Some people with autism have a very literal understanding of language and find idioms and sarcasm very difficult to understand.
They find nuances and subtleties of social language difficult to interpret.
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This can make social communication difficult and challenging for people with autism
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Literal interpretation of language can be a problem. For example: “It’s raining cats and dogs”.
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Some people with autism have to work really hard to stay connected to a conversation as they try to interpret the language being use and its context and meaning.
If this doesn’t come naturally it makes it really difficult for them to follow all the social clues in a conversation.
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Let’s look at facial expressions. We use facial expressions in conversation to emphasise how we feel about something.
We use them naturally and unknowingly and they play a huge part in how we communicate.
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So how do we use facial expressions in social communication?
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Here are some of the most commonly used facial expressions. Fear, bored, contempt, disgust, anger, sadness, happiness, surprise.
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But what if every face looked like this?
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That would make interpreting social situations a little more difficult
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Now let’s look at body language,
Everybody uses their body to communicate and we often augment our body language with facial expressions to communicate what we are trying to say non-verbally.
Let’s look at a few examples;
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Here are some types of body language: Relaxed, sad, bored, unfriendly, nice to see you.
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What if everyone you talked to looked like this?
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This is an illustration of just how difficult the area of social communication can be for some people and children with Autism.
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Some facts about Autism and communication;
It is estimated 25% of people with autism are non-verbal.
Some have very limited speech and only use language to communicate their needs and wants.
Many people with autism have difficulties in processing, retaining and understanding language.
Some people with autism are fully verbal but struggle with the subtleties of social language.
Many people with autism have a very literal understanding and find the nuances of language, like idioms and sarcasm, very difficult to understand.
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Here is more information on how difficulties in communication impact the person:
Reading another person’s body language can be very difficult
Many people with autism have difficulty in understanding the meaning of facial expressions, gestures or tone or voice.
Some people with autism have difficulty understanding jokes and sarcasm.
People with autism can sometimes engage in echolalia. Echolalia is the repetition of what has already been said multiple times.
Some people with conditions like autism and Asperger syndrome have good language skills and are able to hold a normal conversation. However, they will find it hard to comprehend the give and take nature of conversations and may talk about their own interests at length.
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Social communication and social interaction can be challenging for people with autism.
Allied with the sensory environment and other factors it can be difficult for them to communicate effectively.
