The SOCCSS Strategy for Teaching Social Skills to Kids on the Autism Spectrum
“Is there a simple method I can implement to teach my son (high functioning) how to be more social in a positive way? Currently, he has problems interacting with peers in a way that does not cause conflict (and resultant rejection from those peers)?” A great technique, the Situation, Options, Consequences, Choices, Strategies, Simulation (SOCCSS) strategy, is relatively simple and is used to help kids who have High-Functioning Autism and Asperger’s with social interaction problems, as well as teach them how to put interpersonal relationships into a sequential form. SOCCSS helps these “special needs” children understand problem situations and lets them see that they have to make choices about a given situation, with each choice having a consequence. The steps of SOCCSS are as follows, and can be used by both parents and teachers: 1. Situation : When a social problem arises, the parent or teacher helps the child to understand the situation by first identifying (a)who was invol