Name of specific social intervention for autistic children?

September 20, 2019 8:49 PM

Tiny one had her screening and the psychologist recommended a type of therapy that I forgot to write down because there was just so much to take in. She's high functioning, smart and very verbal and she said it would suit her particularly. She said it's not social skills by rote but cognitive understanding theory of mind, empathy and perspective in a small group setting. I've been through the resources and I can't narrow it down nor easily contact her again. It's not peer socialisation groups, I asked at the time.
posted by dorothyisunderwood to Human Relations (10 answers total)

Applied Behavior Analysis? It can be done in groups.
posted by quiet coyote at 8:57 PM on September 20, 2019

I don't think it's ABA. It's probably one of the social skills curriculums that, in the United States at least, is facilitated by a speech language pathologist, therapist, or special education teacher. There's quite a few of them out of there ... "The Incredible Flexible You" and the Think Social program come to mind.

That said, are you plugged into your local autism parents' groups or advocacy organizations? While some groups can be terrible, some can provide solid local advice as to what therapists are good, who to avoid, etc. They may be able to pinpoint the social skills thing better than far-flung mefites can. Hope that helps ...
posted by stowaway at 9:36 PM on September 20, 2019 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Sounds like "Social Thinking" to me! I'm a SLP and Social Thinking is awesome. There are a variety workbooks and programs for various ages/developmental levels. They welcome parents at their conferences as well.
posted by scrubbles at 10:16 PM on September 20, 2019 [6 favorites]

Does Cognitive Enhancement Therapy ring any bells? I'm only familiar with it in an adult context but it may have a variant for children.
posted by Stacey at 6:11 AM on September 21, 2019

It is absolutely not ABA. ABA by definition is not cognitive which is one of the big problems people have with it. In case you come across it, it’s also not PEERS (I’ve run PEERS groups and they’re very rote unfortunately). It’s possible it’s one of the many different group cognitive-behavioral (CBT) interventions?

Unfortunately there are tons and tons of social interventions so this is going to be hard to narrow down. My experience is that psychologists generally recommend the ones that are offered in their area (e.g. a lot of the ones near my university recommend PEERS) so it might help to see what social skills programs are offered near you (or near the psychologist if you had to travel to see her) and see if any of those match.
posted by brook horse at 6:14 AM on September 21, 2019 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: It was nothing ABA-based because I said I wouldn't enrol her in anything ABA-based.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 7:02 AM on September 21, 2019 [8 favorites]

I also think it was Social Thinking
posted by bq at 5:27 AM on September 22, 2019

Social Thinking, or maybe Unstuck and On Target?
posted by schwinggg! at 4:32 PM on September 22, 2019

Best answer: Also Super Flex.
posted by schwinggg! at 4:33 PM on September 22, 2019

Response by poster: Thanks! I've gotten the I'm a Social Detective book and emailed three places with the Social Thinking course which looks like a match for what she described - we were talking about the social stories I had been using with her. Everything else here even close was ABA-based.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 11:17 PM on September 22, 2019