Skip to main content

A Conversation Turn Taking Activity in PDF

You are here:

Social Skills / Conversation Turn Taking Activities

Conversational Skills Activity: Elaboration

Watch the video to learn more

Click here for video transcription and ADA compliant audio for the video above

Conversational Skills: Elaboration

This handout makes clear how elaborated answers to a simple question (“How was your sister's wedding?”) extend conversations. Teachers and SLPs can break down the provided answers to demonstrate how story details give communicative partners more to talk about.

Social Skills Worksheet Conversational Skills Activity: Elaboration by Speech Language Pathologist Lisa Flowers

Conversational Skills: Elaboration

For learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (or anyone looking to strengthen conversation skills, for that matter), this handout covers the importance of elaboration when answering questions and how elaborate responses help maintain the flow of a conversation.

This printable handout offers examples of a wide array of responses to the same question, guiding students toward a conversational practice activity. For individuals on the autism spectrum, the scripted responses directly illustrate how elaborate responses organically extend conversations. The activity begins with a written conversation about elaboration and relevant social dynamics.

Search Another Way

Speaking to Different Communicative Partners

Speaking to Different Communicative Partners

This resource explains that having the ability to understand others' perspectives and being able to relate to them (referred to as theory of mind) also involves being able to adjust one's own behavior to match.

Perspective Taking

Perspective Taking

With these social skills worksheets, students are tasked with observing social interactions and imagining the emotional impact of those interactions on the people involved.

Developing Empathy

Developing Empathy

This comprehensive social skills exercise encompasses extensive dialogue, a hands-on task, out-of-class assignments, and therapeutic observations, all aimed at enhancing one's ability to consider the emotions of others.

Writing a Complaint Letter

Writing a Complaint Letter

A highly effective combination of writing and social skills exercise, this tool enhances the ability to consider the perspective of one's audience when selecting content and language.

Kinesics - Interest vs. Disinterest

Kinesics - Interest vs. Disinterest

This resource provides effective instruction on the interpretation of non-verbal cues in social interactions, with a focus on applying this knowledge to conversations.

Communication Skills Questionnaire

Communication Skills Questionnaire

With this questionnaire, students can assess their strengths and areas for improvement in various social skills domains including conversation, practical skills, non-verbal communication, dating, and conflict resolution.

Set The Scene

Set The Scene

This worksheet is a user-friendly tool for educators and speech language pathologists to help students learn to include key details when starting a conversation with a simple story.

Being a Good Conversationalist

Being a Good Conversationalist

This activity instructs students on the important elements of being an active and attractive conversationalist, complete with comprehensive therapeutic notes.

Choosing Conversation Topics

Choosing Conversation Topics

Many students struggle with selecting appropriate topics for conversation. This resource offers a straightforward method to assist them in making those choices.

Interviewing Others

Interviewing Others

This resource provides students with ample practice in honing the skills necessary for both effective interviewing and engaging in conversations, such as the ability to ask questions and listen attentively.

Post-Conversation Questionnaire

Post-Conversation Questionnaire

This straightforward questionnaire helps students enhance their skills in considering others' perspectives as well as their capacity for self-reflection.

Tone of Voice

Tone of Voice

For individuals with autism, the ability to understand and recognize others' emotions from their tone of voice is crucial for successful social interactions.

Interpreting Non-Verbal Communication Homework

Interpreting Non-Verbal Communication Homework

This assignment is crucial for promoting the transfer of skills learned during lessons to real-life situations. It provides additional practice for autistic students in reading non-verbal cues.

Impressions from Appearances

Impressions from Appearances

I've found that this activity effectively demonstrates to children with autism how appearances can create perceptions, and how those perceptions may not always be accurate.

Attaining Targeted Impressions

Attaining Targeted Impressions

Encourages students with autism to consider the impressions they want to make in various situations and how they can achieve these desired impressions.

Impressions and Altruism

Impressions and Altruism

This resource focuses not only on how to create positive impressions in social interactions but also on taking into account the emotions and feelings of others.

Understanding Others Reference Sheet

Understanding Others Reference Sheet

This reference sheet has proven to be one of my most useful resources for teaching children with autism and is applicable for any task that requires students to take someone else's perspective.

Greetings Worksheet

Greetings Worksheet

This resource is beneficial for teaching greetings and can be used as an easy-to-use scripting tool by speech language pathologists and therapists.

Getting Someone's Attention

Getting Someone's Attention

This resource supports students in developing their skills in attracting and holding another person's attention, which can be a challenging task in social interactions.

Restaurant Etiquette

Restaurant Etiquette

This handout provides guidance on perspective taking skills, along with a comprehensive guide to the proper etiquette for dining out.

Answering Job Interview Questions

Answering Job Interview Questions

This resource is designed for older teenagers seeking employment and provides comprehensive instruction and practice for answering the four most frequently asked interview questions.

Passive Aggression

Passive Aggression

This resource provides adolescent students with the necessary skills and techniques to identify passive aggression in social interactions and how to handle it effectively.

Social Skills Activities Packet

Social Skills Activities Packet

This comprehensive resource for teachers of children with autism features a compilation of 28 different activities and worksheets designed to improve conversation skills, perspective taking, empathy, understanding of non-verbal cues, and the ability to consider the perspectives of others in communication.

Time Sensitivity

Time Sensitivity

An activity that enhances students' social skills by boosting their awareness of the needs of their listeners and sharpening their ability to tailor their communication to meet those needs.

Editing Verbal Narratives Worksheets

Editing Verbal Narratives Worksheets

This social skills activity focuses on teaching individuals to be mindful of their listener when deciding what information to share in their narratives, making it perfect for those who have a tendency to share too much information.

Entering Conversations

Entering Conversations

A guide to joining an ongoing conversation, detailing the steps of approaching the group, using appropriate language, and assessing whether you are welcome to participate.

Polite Wording

Polite Wording

This social skills worksheet helps students to take others' feelings into consideration by teaching them to use specific "softening" words and phrases when expressing opinions and making requests.

Tact

Tact

With this social skills worksheet, students learn to recognize characteristics of offensiveness, bragging, over-generalization, and prejudice by discussing the provided tactless statements.

Worksheet Helpful Links

Get Social Skills
Packet

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

$19

Get 52 Lessons & Activities

Tact

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

$29

Get this conversation skills activity as a part of the 52 lessons package here