Learning to Dance on a Moving Floor: More Than Just Social Skills

Social skills are one of the most common identified deficits in individuals with ASD, yet remain one of the hardest sets of skills for professionals to work out how to teach. Many intervention approaches focus on imitation,... [ view full abstract ]

Social skills are one of the most common identified deficits in individuals with ASD, yet remain one of the hardest sets of skills for professionals to work out how to teach. Many intervention approaches focus on imitation, modeling and reinforcement methods to teach social skills however research has demonstrated only marginal improvements. With an abundance of research available on social skills, why are we getting it so wrong?

The problem lies in how we approach and understand social skills. Social skills refer to skills that are required to facilitate interaction and communication with others to form and maintain relationships. The first common mistake is looking at social skills as a rote list of skills to be taught. To be successful in social interactons, one needs to know how to access their social knowledge and learn to dance on a moving floor.

The Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) Program empowers parents to build their child’s motivation and interest in social interaction through creating an apprentice in thinking that cultivates their cognitive development. By empowering parents to re develop the guided participation relationship, parents are able to develop a roadmap to develop the foundations of social connection and social knowledge. The RDI program guides parents to provide their child with genuine social opportunities that provide space for them to become dynamic thinkers and learn how to think in the moment. The RDI program empowers parents by providing them with the tools to shape their child’s thinking allowing them to connect, think and GROW!