Autism Social Skills: Why do Parents Need to Teach Sequential Steps?
There are many reasons why a parent of a child with autism will need and want to teach sequential steps. Even a young child can and will find it useful now and later. Sequential steps are useful in cause and effect, decision making, and the give and take of everyday life.
When our children turn on the light switch, the light comes on. Very quickly they can learn that concept. If I do this, then that happens. This cause and effect is important in teaching our children to use technology like computers.
It is also important to teach some children to use a communication device. Essentially, some children with autism learn that if I press this button, this word, phrase, or sentence will appear. They can also learn that if I have a lot of buttons I can ‘say’ a lot of words, phrases or sentences.
Kids using another piece of technology may learn that if I push these buttons, this will happen. So if I’m using a computer or a label maker, if I press the correct sequence of buttons, I’ll be able to see a game or a label.
This is very calming for children with autism and can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used to teach new skills or even to help control behavior. So let’s bring the concept to the give and take of everyday life.
Children with autism can be taught steps. They can be taught a sequence of steps. They can be taught a sequence of steps and they will get a result. Many social skills begin with a series of steps.
There are steps to say sorry. There are steps to join a conversation. There are steps to asking someone to be a friend. There are even more complicated steps to troubleshoot
Children with autism can and will learn these steps if parents do it thoughtfully. Parents can buy books that break down those social skills we seemed to learn automatically. We can also provide a safe place in the family to begin practicing those steps. Those sequential steps are really helpful in helping a child with autism understand social situations.