Los Angeles — Young adults with autism are getting a much-needed help on interacting with others and building social skills — and dating.
With the help of Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills or PEERS, young adults with autism are being taught the dos and don’ts of social interaction, much like how foreign languages are taught to individuals eager to learn them.
One of the facilitators at the program, Assistant Clinical Professor at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior Elizabeth Laugeson, told:
“A lot of people think that social skills in general are innate, that you’re hard-wired in some way and that you either are born with social skills or you’re not. But I think what PEERS has established is that this is actually a set of skills that can be learned, that you don’t have to be born with them.”
Many of the things being taught at PEERS are social skills that many young adults have not learned despite years and years of special education and therapies. The facilitators at PEERS believe that the program plays an important role in helping young adults with autism, especially because not many programs and resources are available for individuals with autism the moment they step out of high school, or the moment they turn 18. Laugeson said:
“It’s almost as if we forgot that these kids grow up.”
At PEERS, each student is required to bring a “social coach” to each session. The “social coaches” are, in most cases, one of the student’s parents— and they are tasked to keep tabs on the students’ weekly progress and follow up on their homework.
One of the “social coaches”, Shannon Hahn, who is also a direct support professional, found that the program is useful even for those who do not have autism. She told:
“It’s been so helpful, even for people without disabilities… When the dating stuff came up, one of the moms was like, ‘How are any of us married?'”
Source: Amina Khan: The Los Angeles Times: Great Read Young adults with autism work on building social skills — and dating