diagnosed with Attention Deficit
Disorder or a Mood Disorder (e.g., Bipolar Disorder). Although students may react and cope with the stresses in their lives quite
differently, they may share a similar reason for experiencing high levels of stress, as described below.
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Given the variety of symptoms and levels of intellectual functioning among individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders, a number
of researchers have theorized about the core underlying problem within the disorders. Three, perhaps related, theories have received
the most attention:
1.
Frith (1989) suggests that autistic individuals lack the ability to simultaneously integrate the multiple language, social and
emotional messages typically present in social situations. Something about their neurological functioning makes it difficult to
assimilate and organize all the pertinent information. Since most social situations have multiple levels of sensory input, autistic
individuals do not always fully grasp what is happening or how to respond. Instead, they may attend to and process only a
fragment of the social experience, resulting in repetitive and atypical social behavior.
2.
Baron-Cohen (1995) suggests that the core problem is the inability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others, a
process termed “theory of mind.” Thus, autistic individuals have difficulty taking other people’s perspectives.
3.
Hobson (1996) suggests that autism involves the inability to perceive and understand emotional expressions. This would
then lead to difficulties in perspective taking and subsequent problems in social interaction.
These three theories can be considered complementary. Both Baron-Cohen and Hobson’s theories suggest that autistic individuals
cannot easily empathize with or understand another person’s view of the world. Frith’s theory helps explain why. The inability to
simultaneously integrate information about what is happening in a social situation makes it difficult to imagine what others might be
thinking and feeling. To take another’s perspective, one has to synthesize information about the other person (e.g., the person’s recent
past experiences and preferences), along with what is happening to the person.
Most social skills rely on the ability to mentally adopt another person’s perspective. For example, knowing why to say hello when
you greet someone is based on understanding how others might think or feel if you ignore them rather than greet them. Knowing
when to stop talking, take turns, respond to others’ initiations, compromise, help others, or share, all come naturally when a person
can easily take another’s perspective. However, these social skills do not come naturally to autistic individuals, and must be taught
explicitly if they are going to be mastered. The Social Skills Pictures that follow attempt to do just that—break down social skills into
their components and make explicit what to do and say in social situations, and why.
The Importance of Visual Aids in Teaching Those with Autism Spectrum Disorders
As described earlier, autistic individuals often have language processing difficulties including: (a) for classically autistic individuals,
difficulties comprehending language, (b) for high-functioning individuals, difficulties with abstract language, and (c) for many autistic
individuals, difficulty attending to verbal explanations when there is competing visual and auditory information. Visual aids can often
facilitate both attention and language comprehension.
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The benefits of visual aids to facilitate greater understanding and comprehension among autistic students have been well
documented (e.g., Quill, 1995). Even most students without disabilities benefit from visual aids that back up a verbal explanation.
This is because visual pictures can (a) make abstract verbal concepts more concrete, (b) remain stable over time whereas auditory
information can be missed as students’ attention fluctuates, and (c) provide a more powerful means to engage attention.
The Social Skills Picture Books use a primarily visual strategy to teach social skills. Although the picture books may benefit
“typical” students, they will be particularly helpful for those with auditory/language processing difficulties, difficulties in abstract
thinking, and for those with difficulties sustaining attention. This includes individuals on the autistic spectrum, those with Attention
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders, and individuals with learning disabilities.
When it comes to teaching social skills, pictures present another advantage over traditional verbal explanations. Pictures
allow one to depict and highlight the nonverbal social cues that many individuals on the spectrum may not intuitively understand.
For example, facial expressions, gestures, eye-contact, and body posture that correspond to different feelings and attitudes can be
presented visually in a way that verbal explanation cannot convey. As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
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About Social Skills Picture Books
What Are Social Skills Picture Books?
The Social Skills Picture Books depict, step by step, teens demonstrating various social skills. The books are like cartoon strips,
yet they are composed of digital pictures of actual students combined with text and cartoon bubbles to denote what the students are
saying as they engage in the skills. The pictures show, for each step of a skill, the right way (and sometimes the wrong way) to act,
along with accompanying text that explains what to do.
As
