Social Skills Groups and Autism Ranking:

Key Features

Social skills groups are designed to provide an opportunity for autistic people to practice and improve their social skills in a safe, supportive environment.

Most groups consist of between 2 -10 members with similar characteristics e.g. age or ability.  Some groups include people with and without autism, although some groups consist only of  autistic people.  The groups may be held in the classroom, canteen, playground or other community facility.

Most groups are facilitated by professionals, who are there to help the individuals in the group meet agreed objectives. According to Rutten (2007) those objectives may include

• Effective Communication
• Problem Solving
• Boundaries
• Conflict Resolution
• Dealing with Emotions
• Peer Interactions

Members of the group undertake a range of activities to achieve those objectives, including group activities, role play, team discussions, and unstructured play.  In some cases, interactions between group members are video-taped so that they can be discussed afterwards.

Group members who are not autistic usually receive some form of training in how to communicate with autistic individuals. Parents of children in a social skills group may receive training and or support at the same time as the group meets.

Updated

17 Jun 2022

Last Review

01 Feb 2016

Next Review

01 Sep 2022