Good social skills help us learn how to engage with others, read situational cues, and develop strong relationships. Being socially aware can be one of the more difficult skills to develop for autistic teens. However, they can get better at learning to feel comfortable around others with the suitable method in place.
1. Understanding Social Cues
Social cues are the unwritten rules of communication, those subtle hints you give and pick up on when listening to clients speak, such as body language, facial expressions or tone of voice. So, how can you improve at spotting them?
Observation-Oriented Practice: This socially aware practice includes observing people in different circumstances, like speaking or laughing at something. Read their faces and bodies.
Question: You can always ask if you do not know how to react to someone or what a social clue means. These signals can be taught by a parent, teacher, school counsellor or even a friend.
2. Role-Playing Social Scenarios
Playing act and replaying social scenarios with an adult you trust or a friend can help you practise being socially aware. Here’s how it can help:
Role Play: Practice changing the roles of listener, speaker and suggester. This enables you to get a 360 view of social interactions.
Feedback: Get feedback, and find out where you could have improved or done a little bit differently. Feedback is not about trying to change who you are; it is finding out what your weaknesses are and then working on them. Consider it the first part of becoming the great person you are.
3. Joining Social Groups
If you belong to a group with common interests, it can make socializing easier and more fun for you.
Join a group: Check out clubs, sports teams or online communities where you can meet people with the same interests as you.
Look and Learn: Watch how the group connects socially and slowly start participating when you see fit. Take a little bit of time to figure out how each interacts in certain situations — which might be you making friends with everyone, and that’s acceptable!
4. Practicing Empathy
Empathy is the power of understanding and sharing the feelings of someone else. Here’s how to develop it to be socially aware:
Active listening — When someone is speaking, listen to what they are saying and put yourself in their shoes If they are sad, for instance, you can say, “I am so sorry that this has happened to you., not smiling or laughing while in that spot. If you are unsure how to react when that happens, ask an adult who you know and trust for guidance.
Itemise Your Feelings: Think of instances where you were happy, sad or angry and reflect on the reactions of others when you are feeling a certain way. Such understanding can help you empathise with others.
5. Setting Personal Goals
Setting mini-goals for increasing social awareness such as:
Go inch by inch: e.g., Make it a point to develop eye contact when speaking, or ask your friend how their day has been. Just ask them a little bit about themselves first, and then you build up to the point where you are getting more intimate, such as holding hands, eye gazing, kissing, etc. — If making eye contact makes you feel uncomfortable, do take note that you don’t have to force it now and again, it is safe to hold your eye contact and shift.
Celebrate Progress: Acknowledge when you’ve reached a goal, however small. This fosters lifelong learning.
6. Seeking Support
Never forget that it is okay to ask for help. You have many resources and people to support you:
Social Skills– Groups and psychologists who specialise in autism also do this sort of thing. You can get custom guidance from these professionals to learn social awareness better.
Family and Friends — Lean on your family and friends. They can help guide and coach you as you become more in tune with the people around you.
Conclusion
Next time you find yourself in a social situation, remember — it’s a lifelong journey, and practice makes all the difference. Through reading social cues, rehearsing specific situational roles, connecting to others in groups, demonstrating empathy, setting goals, and being supported, the autistic teen will eventually be able to interpret and comply appropriately when socially engaging. This will be a long process as everyone’s recovery is different and may take months to even years. You can do it!
