Can corporate America accommodate people with social skills deficit?

Can corporate America accommodate people with social skills deficit? Well, yes, but how? Companies have cultures. Some may be easier for people with social skills deficits than others.  As the employee what is your role?  What is the managers role? There are no easy answers ,and it depends on the job. It’s a lot easier to …

Speech-Language Therapy vs Tutoring (Updated)

Speech-language therapy vs tutoring: What’s the difference? In order to choose the right services for yourself or your child, it’s important to understand the difference between speech-language therapy vs tutoring. How is speech-language therapy different from tutoring? Why choose one service over the other? Tutors re-teach information taught in the curriculum. Students acquire information at …

College Academic-Social Skills Coach

John, not his real name, a freshman was having difficulty managing his life on campus.  He spent most of his time in his room playing video games or watching Netflix, went to bed a 2-3 am missed classes and was turning in late assignments. By midterm, not only had John gained weight, he had no …

Socializing with People on the Autism Spectrum

Board game meetups are a great place for high functioning people on the autism spectrum to socialize. I was part of a board game group that had several neurodivergent players. However, one player had a difficult time. Sometimes they said things that offended other players. They cheated when teaching new players which made their opponents …

“Airplane” not “Mama:” Language Development in Children with Asperger Syndrome

Language development in children with Asperger Syndrome is often typical for verbal language but delayed in language use. “Compared with those affected by other forms of autism spectrum disorders those with Asperger syndrome (AS) do not have significant delays or difficulties in language or cognitive development,” states the “Autism Speak’s” website.  Slow developing non-verbal language skills in children …

Transitioning to College with Learning Disabilities

Post high school education can be challenging for students transitioning from high school with special education services on little or no transition planning.   Concerns about self-care, class preparation, and social interactions are ever-present for all freshman. However, especially for students with who have been fully supported with special education services through high school, the changes …

Unstory: Developing Storytelling Skills in People with Asperger Syndrome

We connect with others through sharing our personal narratives. Poor verbal storytelling skills in people with Asperger Syndrome often go undiagnosed and prevent them from participating effectively in social, academic, and work environments. Structured speech and language assessments don’t pick up on subtle problems that children with AS demonstrate. Traditional Speech language testing uses structured …

Mindblindness vs Context blindness

Replacing the generic term of “mindblindness,” often used to refer to people on the autism spectrum, with a more specific term such as “context blindness” has been proposed by Peter Vermeulen, PhD.   Simon Baron-Cohen created the term “mindblindness,” to refer to the deficit  people on the autism spectrum have in reading others mental states. This term …

Social engineering to improve social deficits

In a recent article in Attitude magazine, a magazine that offers strategies and support for people and their families with ADHD and LD, a mom created a Facebook birthday event for her son with Asperger syndrome.  No one wanted to come to her son’s 13th birthday  and her son was upset.  She decided to with …