ERIC Number: EJ752818
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Sep
Pages: 7
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0094-0771
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Teaching Social Savvy to Students with Asperger Syndrome
Wilkerson, Carol L.; Wilkerson, James M.
Middle School Journal (J3), v36 n1 p18-24 Sep 2004
Asperger Syndrome (AS) is a neurological condition marked by a significant impairment in social interaction. Individuals with AS have brains that are literally wired differently from those of neurologically "typical" people. This difference in the brain affects sensory processing, motor skills, attention issues, emotional control, and most importantly, social ability. Individuals with AS appear to be "socially stiff, socially awkward, emotionally blunted, self-centered, and inflexible, and to have difficulty in understanding nonverbal social cues." Individuals with AS experience high levels of emotional stress and anxiety under these circumstances, which can lead to behavioral outbursts, then to depression and lowered self-esteem. This article introduces one small school district in Illinois which appears to have developed such a model, rejecting the inadequacy of the traditional "weekly consult" approach and pioneering a different method of providing social skills support. The teachers of this district develop a wide-range curriculum, which draws from many well respected sources and techniques. This hidden curriculum is so comprehensive and variable that it can never be completely explained to a student with AS. However, it is possible to teach important rules relating to school, teachers, and peers, thereby helping the student survive and even prosper. Specifically, AS students need to know things such as "(a) teacher expectations, (b) teacher pleasing behaviors, (c) students to interact with and those to stay away from, and (d) behaviors that attract both positive and negative attention."
Descriptors: Teaching Methods, Interpersonal Relationship, Interaction, Cues, Hidden Curriculum, Depression (Psychology), Asperger Syndrome, Interpersonal Competence, Brain, Peer Relationship, Autism, Middle School Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Illinois
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A