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Social Emotional Learning Activities for Autism

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Social Emotional Learning Activities for Autism

The Social Skills Activities Packet

This packet of 28 worksheets, handouts, and activities will provide you with a school year's-worth of lessons to help your students improve their skills for conversations, perspective taking, kinesics, story-telling, and empathy development.

Social Skills Worksheet The Social Skills Activities Packet by Speech Language Pathologist Lisa Flowers

The Social Skills Activities Packet

~~$36~~ $19

The Social Skills Packet helps students on the autism spectrum improve their interpersonal skills by focusing on social-emotional learning.

Teachers, speech-language pathologists, social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists and life-skill coaches can more effectively aid their clients and students in developing the necessary social skills to function in our interpersonal world with this packet of 28 social skills resources. Included in this comprehensive collection of resources is a Communication Skills Questionnaire, followed by a variety of materials in the categories of Conversation Skills, Non-Verbal Communication, Impressions, Perspective Taking, and Real World Communication.

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Time Sensitivity

Time Sensitivity

As a teacher, this social skills activity involves students engaging in a written discussion about being mindful of a listener's time limit, followed by rolling dice to determine a hypothetical content and context for their speech. Students then estimate an appropriate time frame and practice delivering their assigned content within that timeframe, aiming to increase their awareness of listener's needs and improve their ability to effectively manage the time they use to convey their message.

Improve Social Skills for Teenagers Worksheets

Editing Verbal Narratives Worksheets

This worksheet nurtures listener presupposition and perspective-taking skills by emphasizing the significance of considering the listener's viewpoint and adjusting requests/comments accordingly. It provides courteous phrase examples and sentence exercises, fostering students' ability to modify language to be more considerate of their audience.

Entering Conversations

Entering Conversations

This conversational skills handout outlines the essential behaviors for entering ongoing conversations, encompassing observation, physical proximity, timing, commenting/questioning, determination of acceptance, and exit strategies. Designed for individuals on the autism spectrum, the handout serves as a valuable tool for discussion and role-play activities, fostering the enhancement of conversational skills and understanding of social dynamics.

Perspective Taking Worksheets in PDF: Polite Wording

Polite Wording

This practical worksheet focuses on developing listener presupposition and perspective-taking abilities. It initiates with a written discussion emphasizing the significance of considering one's listener and modifying requests and comments for optimal outcomes. The worksheet includes examples of polite phrases to incorporate into requests and opinion statements, followed by multiple sentences for students to practice incorporating these phrases, enabling them to refine their language use while being mindful of their audience.

Perspective Taking High School Worksheet

Tact

This activity focuses on perspective taking and fostering empathy. Designed for individuals on the autism spectrum, it helps students recognize and understand different viewpoints and emotions. The handout presents twenty-one statements with tactless sentiments, sparking discussions about others' perspectives. It covers topics like bragging, offensiveness, prejudice, and appropriateness. The included answer key enhances learning and reflection.

Autism Communication Strategies Activities and Worksheets in PDF

Speaking to Different Communicative Partners

These worksheets aim to enhance the skill of adapting communication based on the listener's perspective. Designed for individuals on the autism spectrum, they promote the ability to modify speech for different communicative partners. Students respond to questions, selecting relevant information for each listener. Through extended discussions, they gain insights into the reasons behind their choices, fostering deeper understanding and effective communication skills.

Perspective Taking Activities for Autism in PDF

Perspective Taking

The Perspective Taking Homework Assignment complements the Developing Empathy and Conversations activity by promoting perspective taking and empathy skills in individuals on the autism spectrum. It starts with a meaningful discussion on these topics, drawing from my professional experiences. The homework handout then encourages students to observe real-life social interactions and empathize with others' experiences. It concludes by prompting students to reflect on how they could have positively influenced a social situation for someone in distress, fostering observation, interpretation, and problem-solving skills.

How to Teach Empathy in the Classroom in PDF

Developing Empathy

The Developing Empathy activity is a favorite of mine as it fosters perspective taking and empathy through conversational practice. It begins with a thorough discussion on the significance of empathy, followed by clear explanations of key terms like "spatial inclusion", "conversational participation", "social distress", and "mood". Students engage in social observation and understanding others' perspectives using the provided handout during sessions, and further develop their skills through real-world practice with the accompanying homework handout. The materials also include helpful guidance and suggestions for modifying activities to enhance the learning experience.

Writing a Letter of Complaint Exercise in PDF

Writing a Complaint Letter

The Writing a Complaint Letter activity is a unique and cherished resource for fostering perspective taking. It combines writing and social skills while emphasizing the importance of considering the reader's perspective. Through real-life examples, therapy notes, and engaging scenarios, students practice crafting complaint letters that convey targeted impressions of honesty and reasonableness. This activity not only enhances their writing abilities but also promotes the development of sophisticated perspective taking skills. It's a favorite among students who appreciate the opportunity to express their concerns and engage in meaningful discussions.

Elaboration in Conversation

Elaboration in Conversation

The Conversational Skills: Elaboration handout is a valuable resource for individuals on the autism spectrum to enhance their conversational skills. It offers examples of different responses to a single question, emphasizing the importance of elaboration in fostering extended and natural conversations. The handout begins with a written discussion on the topic of elaboration and its significance in social interactions, providing a solid foundation for the subsequent conversation practice activity.

Kinesics - Interest vs. Disinterest

Kinesics - Interest vs. Disinterest

The Kinesics - Interest vs. Disinterest activity is a valuable resource for teaching individuals with Asperger's the skill of accurately interpreting non-verbal social cues and applying it to their conversations. Many individuals on the autism spectrum struggle to assess another person's interest in them, leading to difficulties in timing and prolonging conversations. This activity emphasizes the importance of observation in determining acceptance, as individuals on the spectrum may not naturally observe facial expressions, body language, and interactions as effectively as neurotypical individuals. By engaging in this activity, students gain real-life practice in observing signs of interest versus disinterest, enabling them to make informed decisions about continuing or discontinuing conversations.

The Communication Skills Questionnaire in PDF

Communication Skills Questionnaire

The Communication Skills Questionnaire is a valuable tool for students to assess the areas in which they would like to improve their communication skills. It covers various categories such as Conversational Skills, Practical Skills, Non-Verbal Skills, Dating Skills, and Conflict Skills. By completing the questionnaire, students can identify the specific skills they wish to work on, such as selecting engaging topics, maintaining eye contact, reading facial expressions, or handling conflicts. This information is beneficial for teachers, speech language pathologists, and therapists as it provides insights into the areas of focus for individual students. Moreover, it promotes self-awareness and empowers students to take an active role in their own social and emotional development.

Social Skills Activities - Set The Scene

Set The Scene

Narratives: Set the Scene is a valuable resource for teaching individuals with attention deficit disorders, executive skills impairments, or autism spectrum disorder how to effectively share stories in a well-structured, comprehensive, and engaging manner. Many of my students with these challenges struggle when asked to provide information or share personal experiences. They often omit important details such as the setting, people involved, or time frame, making it difficult for their listeners to follow along. Theory of mind difficulties further complicate their storytelling as they struggle to consider what their listeners may not already know. To address this, I developed Narratives: Set the Scene to specifically target this skill. Through this activity, students learn to consciously include necessary details at the beginning of their narratives and practice delivering information in a clear and coherent way. It has proven to be an effective and practical tool for helping students improve their storytelling abilities and enhance their communication skills.

Being a Good Conversationalist

Being a Good Conversationalist

Improving conversational skills is beneficial not only for individuals on the autism spectrum but for everyone. Many of us encounter individuals in our lives who struggle with monopolizing conversations, interrupting frequently, or sharing lengthy stories with excessive detail. Unfortunately, it can be challenging to address these behaviors comfortably. As a social emotional learning teacher, I value the opportunity to guide my students in developing social niceties and conversation skills. We engage in discussions about each aspect of Being a Good Conversationalist and practice through various exercises, often focusing on one aspect at a time. For further information and guidance, please refer to the therapeutic notes provided. Together, we strive to foster positive and engaging interactions in both personal and professional settings.

Choosing Conversation Topics

Choosing Conversation Topics

When discussing social skills with my students, the ability to choose appropriate conversation topics is a common area they want to improve. I explain that a good topic should meet three criteria: it should be interesting to all participants, have common ground so everyone can contribute, and be appropriate for everyone involved. However, there are exceptions to these guidelines. For instance, storytelling or sharing information may not require common ground. Similarly, topics considered inappropriate, such as sex, politics, or religion, can be discussed with specific individuals like close family members, friends, or counselors. To facilitate this skill, I provide a checklist handout. During group sessions, we individually fill out the handout, marking topics as interesting, familiar, and appropriate for our specific group.

Interviewing Others

Interviewing Others

As a teacher who focuses on social emotional learning, I emphasize the importance of being genuinely interested in others to improve conversational skills. To enhance this skill, I encourage my students to conduct interviews with staff members, high school seniors, or family members. During these interviews, we work on key abilities like actively listening to the interviewee's statements and responding with relevant comments and follow-up questions. I explain to my students that these skills serve two purposes: extending conversations and making their communication partners feel genuinely heard. To facilitate this practice, I provide various interview forms and offer therapeutic intervention notes for additional guidance.

Post-Conversation Questionnaire

Post-Conversation Questionnaire

As a teacher who focuses on social emotional learning, I constantly engage my students in conversations to improve their skills. These conversations occur in both natural and "naturalistic" settings, such as during walks or at the start of our sessions. During our sessions, I target various aspects like topic shifting, turn taking, using a balance of questions and comments, and interpreting non-verbal communication. After some conversations, I find it beneficial to have my students complete this post-conversation questionnaire. The questionnaire prompts them to be curious about their conversational partner, identify the impressions they give, and analyze non-verbal behaviors. To enhance their awareness, some students find it helpful to review the questions before the conversation, allowing them to focus on specific aspects during the interaction. Additionally, I always encourage them to pay close attention to only one person during these conversations.

Social Skills worksheet tone of voice by lisa flowers

Tone of Voice

In social emotional learning, tone of voice is a crucial aspect of non-verbal communication that often gets overlooked. It plays a significant role in expressing and interpreting emotions and intentions. How we say something is just as important as the words we use. This is evident in the misinterpretation of text messages and emails, as humor and tone can be lost. For a hilarious example, check out the YouTube video "Key & Peele: Text Message Confusion" (censored version recommended for students). Teaching individuals on the autism spectrum to understand and effectively use tone of voice can be challenging. To address this, I've created an activity that focuses on interpreting and utilizing tone of voice. Additionally, Tone of Voice can serve as an evaluation tool. At my school, we have encountered situations where students appeared rude or whiny, but through understanding their tone of voice, we gained insight into their true intentions and responded accordingly.

Interpreting Non-Verbal Communication Homework

Interpreting Non-Verbal Communication Homework

To enhance the social emotional skills of my students, particularly those on the autism spectrum, I assign them the task of observing and interpreting non-verbal communication. Since they may not naturally pick up on others' behaviors like neurotypical individuals do, this homework helps them develop this crucial skill. Before assigning the task, we engage in various activities to practice interpretation. For instance, we watch videos without sound and identify non-verbal signs of different emotions. We also utilize the Tone of Voice activity to improve their understanding of tone. Additionally, we explore Kinesics: Interest vs. Disinterest to grasp how non-verbal behaviors indicate someone's level of interest. Unlike the "Looking Out for Others' Feelings Homework" in Developing Empathy, which focuses on understanding perspectives through context, the Interpreting Non-Verbal Communication Homework centers on interpreting others' perspectives through non-verbal cues.

Impressions from Appearances

Impressions from Appearances

In this activity, we take turns being "judged" while others complete a form together. I always go first to create a safe environment, and I ensure that no student feels pressured to participate if they're uncomfortable. The form focuses on appearance features within our control, like clothing choices, rather than unchangeable attributes like height or weight. We deliberately avoid reinforcing stereotypes, such as assuming radicalism for women with tattoos or assuming someone's sexual orientation based on jewelry. After completing the form, the person being judged evaluates the accuracy of the impressions, indicating whether they are accurate, somewhat accurate, or inaccurate. This activity aims to debunk stereotypes and highlight the importance of looking beyond appearances to truly understand others.

Attaining Targeted Impressions

Attaining Targeted Impressions

To foster empathy and perspective-taking skills in middle and high school students, it's crucial to provide engaging activities that teach them how to achieve specific impressions in different situations. One effective approach is using worksheets or activities that prompt students to consider the impressions they want to create and how to achieve them. By participating in these social skills exercises, students become more conscious of their actions and learn strategies for effective and appropriate communication in various contexts.

Impressions and Altruism

Impressions and Altruism

In my social emotional learning class, I frequently discuss the concept of altruism with my students. I emphasize that being kind to others is not only the right thing to do, but it also brings personal benefits. I explain that acts of kindness create positive impressions, leading to opportunities for friendships, romantic relationships, positive interactions with others, and professional growth. The Impressions and Altruism activity takes this a step further by considering the feelings of others in different situations. Through role-playing, students engage in five social interactions and respond to questions on how they can benefit both themselves and the other person involved. It's important to note that in certain situations, the well-being of the other person may be of lesser importance, such as during a job interview or a medical appointment.

Understanding Others Reference Sheet

Understanding Others Reference Sheet

As a teacher who focuses on social emotional learning, I recognized the challenges my students on the autism spectrum face when trying to understand others' feelings in different situations. I realized that expecting them to provide insights on something they struggle with wasn't fair. To support their perspective-taking abilities, I created a reference sheet containing common feelings and perceptions during social interactions. This resource has proven beneficial as students can refer to it while engaging in perspective-taking tasks. While initially designed for three specific social situations, the reference sheet serves as a valuable tool whenever students are asked to discuss others' points of view.

Greetings Worksheet

Greetings Worksheet

As a teacher focusing on social emotional learning, I understand that individuals on the autism spectrum may struggle with understanding social customs, including greetings. To support their learning, I provide a greetings worksheet that introduces different greeting choices and their appropriate contexts. This resource helps students on the spectrum become familiar with the nuances of greetings through discussion and reference. By using the worksheet, they can develop their understanding of social norms and improve their social interactions.

Getting Someone's Attention

Getting Someone's Attention

As a teacher focused on social emotional learning, I understand that seemingly simple skills like getting someone's attention can be challenging for individuals with impaired social skills. To provide real-world learning experiences, I take my students on walks and outings to observe social interactions beyond the classroom. These experiences have revealed important insights, such as students struggling to engage in conversation or understanding how to appropriately get someone's attention. I realized the need to teach this skill when I observed a student attempting to gain a teacher's attention in an ineffective way. To address this, I have my students practice approaching staff members considering various factors like open or closed doors, ongoing conversations, and the context of the situation. I provide a form for them to deliver to staff members and collect feedback on their performance. This process helps me identify specific areas where students may need further support and allows for constructive discussions with receptive students based on staff evaluations.

Restaurant Etiquette

Restaurant Etiquette

As a teacher who focuses on social emotional learning, I believe it's important to teach adolescents essential life skills like restaurant etiquette. This activity specifically addresses aspects that students may not have much experience with, such as making reservations and handling the check. Eating out, even alone, involves social interactions with servers, hosts/hostesses, cashiers, and busboys, requiring perspective taking. In our discussions, we explore how our behaviors can impact others, emphasizing the importance of considerations like not arriving close to closing time and practicing politeness. By understanding these social dynamics, students can navigate restaurant settings with confidence and respect for others.

Answering Job Interview Questions

Answering Job Interview Questions

In my social emotional learning class, I provide a comprehensive worksheet for answering job interview questions. This resource offers detailed instructions and numerous example answers for the most common interview questions. It goes beyond simple responses by introducing the concept of listener presupposition, which involves considering the perspective of the job interviewer. Students learn to shape their answers to create specific impressions they want to convey. To reinforce their skills, we engage in role-play activities to practice and enhance their interview techniques.

Passive Aggression

Passive Aggression

In my social emotional learning class, we address the challenges of dealing with passive aggression from others. I guide my students in recognizing and effectively managing passive aggressive comments and behaviors because hostility is unfair to them. We begin by discussing the term "passive aggression" and its implications. Through examples like backhanded compliments, such as "You don't look so fat in that top", we explore how aggression is concealed within seemingly harmless remarks. We analyze the underlying hostility and the passive strategies employed. We then focus on strategies for responding to such behavior. I encourage my students to calmly address the hostility, empowering them to assert themselves and discourage further passive aggressive actions. I also emphasize the importance of considering individual circumstances and choosing the best approach for each situation.

Social Skills Helpful Links

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Packet

A collection of 28 social skills worksheets and activities that cover conversation skills, kinesics, perspective taking, development of empathy, and real-world communication.

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Tact

A collection of 52 language and communication worksheets and activities that cover a plethora of reading comprehension, writing, grammar, and social communication skills.

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