Working With Autism, an autism service organization, is launching a new peer group geared toward helping autistic teens develop social skills.
The Program for the Evaluation and Enrichment of Relational Skills, or PEERS, will deal primarily with issues that autistic teens often have difficulty with, such as team activities, rejection, and bullying.
The group will be run by Behavior Intervention Supervisor, Jamie DeWitt, who has over eight years of experience working with individuals on the Autism spectrum, and a high rate of success in building connections with teens, and motivating them to engage in social interactions.
To help promote the program WWA is teaming up with the Santa Clarita Valley International Charter School in holding a workshop that provides information to parents about how this program can benefit their autistic teen.Autism specialists will also be present to answer general questions about how a program such as PEERS may help their teen develop social skills. Families who have a child 11 years or older on the autism spectrum are encouraged to attend the workshop. This workshop will be held at the SCVI campus on Monday, March 24, at 7 p.m.
About Working With Autism
Working With Autism was formed in 1997 and is a leading organization specializing in the treatment of autism and other pervasive developmental disorders. Our agency emphasizes the teaching of social skills through applied behavior analysis (ABA) and discrete trial training (DTT). Our goal is to provide autistic children with the resources necessary to have normal, healthy lives. Visit http://workingwithautism.com for more information.
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4 Comments
You are giving people false hopes. It is not possible to be autistic and normal. You can fake it, for a long time, but you must be constantly aware that you are different. You must remember that you are capable of self-deception to the point where you may believe you are “normal”, but the bottom will still fall out of your life when you least expect it for no apparent reason.
It is probably best that we not try to mainstream higher functioning autistics; it might provide a temporary breathing period for puzzled relatives, but the life lived will still be one of missed opportunities and bad choices, not to mention struggle with the mundane. There is no cure for spaghetti brains.
For every John Robison there are a hundred people in institutions.
DaveR, there is no place in the world for you.
DaveR,
What an ignorant, misguided slew of statements.
For your much needed information, there are plenty of “High Functioning” people on the autism spectrum that not only have IQs of 140+ (well above genius level) but also “learn” enough social skills to become well adjusted, productive adults and maintain successful employment and lead happy lives. Just do a little research and inquire about many employees of NASA, JPL, Micron….My son happens to be one of them. In fact, were you to ever get into a debate with him, you would appear to be the one with “spaghetti brains…….It is called a “spectrum” for a reason. There are all different levels of mental and social ability.
Your statements are rude, insensitive, and above all, complete nonsense. Do your homework before commenting on a situation you clearly have no knowledge of.
We shall see. I was harassed out of high school, thrown out of the house and forced to survive on absolutely zero social skills. I learned to “make it” on the streets and after a few years of street survival I managed to crawl out of the abyss and fake my way through a broadcasting and music career, all the while making dumb career moves and alienating people who tried to care, knowing something was up with my brain, but not knowing what, I faked along merrily. (Not really, the older I got, as I acquired stuff, I got more and more anxious.)
As I got older into middle age the compensation and bravado were growing less effective as I started getting old people diseases like pre-diabetes and HBP. The meds slowed my brain down enough that people started thinking I was on drugs or something. I got weird glances and more anxious. I asked the Doc for something and we began a 4 year experiment with SSRI, SNRI, etc. This helped the anxiety enough for me to realize my thought processes were “unique”. I was pretty sure what I had was not ADHD. Then I got fired for being weird (again) and had a lot of time on my hands. Google pushed an ad at me that said “Asperger’s Disorder?” and I pursued that possibility. I now have a pediatrician and a diagnosis. But there is no one who provides any assistance to adults with autism. As we get older we may lose some compensation skills and we get tired of fearing bullies. Then, no matter how brave and cool you once were, you are stuck alone at home, afraid to go outside because of all the danger.
As soon as I was diagnosed (2011) I became a very humble and meek defeated warrior. I beat down the thing and faked my way through life but once I found out I was capable of infinite self-delusion I realized my whole life has been an illusion, an artificial construct. [I am damn lucky (in one way) I wasn’t killed.]
My IQ is over 150 and I have done my homework. I have autism and no one gives a rat’s behind. I can’t work (no education, no social skills) but the disability people refuse to consider uncompensated or decompensated Autistic Spectrum Disorder as an impediment to work. All of my previouys work was done alone, for the most part. I can’t mix and mingle socially and I can’t understand important stuff unless it is in writing. When I tell people this they laugh at me and prank me. This is the reality in 2014.
What I am telling you is that even though you may think all is well be careful; “all is well” is a warning that it can all fall apart. “Happy” is a dangerous state of mind.
I apologize if my intentional negativity caused anyone to lose his lunch. I have the anger of a thousand white hot suns and your Pollyanna-isms were a rich target for my hate darts.
Everyone on the spectrum is different. You meet one Aspie you’ve met one Aspie. We are not all success stories. Most of us are institutionalized, dead or in jail by my age. That is a fact. Cheerio!