My ASD Child

Numerous case reports suggest that children with Asperger’s (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) think concretely instead of abstractly. For example, when these children hear the word “dog,” they may have a vivid, detailed image of their first pet dog, then the second pet dog, and so on. Conversely, neurotypical children (those not on the spectrum) are more likely to have an image of a generic or conceptual dog without much detailed imagery. Due to their concrete learning style, children on the autism spectrum tend to remember individual examples precisely without noticing common themes among examples. For instance, the child may store the details of specific animals he encounters together with labels (e.g., dogs, cats), but he may be poor at learning features that define dogs and cats (e.g., both dogs and cats are pets, furry, playful, etc.). On the other hand, neurotypical children learn from specific examples, and then “generalize” those examples to other areas (e.g., th

"What exactly is a social story, and how do you write an effective one for children with autism?" A social story is a frequently used method to teach social skills to kids with ASD Level 1, or High-Functioning Autism. A social story is a non-coercive technique that presents social concepts and rules to kids in the form of a brief story. This method can be used to teach a number of social and behavioral concepts (e.g., making transitions, playing a game, going on a field trip, etc.).  There are four major components that are crucial to a successful social story. The story should: be commensurate with the child’s ability and comprehension level be something the youngster wants to read on his or her own  be written in response to the youngster’s personal needs use less directive terms (e.g., “can” or “could”) rather than more directive terms (e.g., “will” or “must”).  Making sure the story has all four components is especially important for kids who tend to be