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Happy 4th of July weekend. This week’s podcast is devoted to the studies in the past few months focusing on autism treatments that didn’t make it into the regular weekly roundup. They include data that shows promising results (peer networks and iPads) as well as those that didn’t do as well as hoped (social skills). There were also some that showed that some therapies just don’t have any good studies to show definitively if they are helpful or not. Take 8 minutes before the fireworks and listen to the latest on interventions of ASD.
As a young adult with Asperger’s who went through years of social therapy, I can tell you exactly why they don’t work.
Kids in social therapy have no idea what they’re supposed to learn, or why it’s worth doing. I was told I needed social skills and to make friends, but I had no reason to really value them.
I read a lot, watched a lot of TV, and spent hours on my homework. Science, social studies, mathematics, and current events gave me a grand perspective on knowledge and my role in life. I thought truth, formulas, and economics mattered in life; I never saw the way I walked, the words I used, or the friends I made as valuable because they didn’t tie into my values.
But they do! Societies are built on interaction, economies require competent members and leaders, and truth and formulas only improve life if implemented in my own. And to have a life, I need to interact well!
I see this now, and with self-help I’m seriously improving. It’s all possible because I know why to value socializing well, and if you want kids to benefit from therapy you need to show them why it’s valuable.
Stories help, and so do appeals to life. Let a kid know everything they value—food, media, knowledge—would not be possible without succesful interactions. They need to know they can contribute well only if they learn to interact well.
I hope my insight helps. Contact me if you’d like to know more from my experience.