Social skills are an important component of fostering personal connections and navigating day to day interactions. Children on the autism spectrum struggle socially, which can make it difficult to establish themselves in a given community (e.g., classroom, group of peers, even family). For example, they may have behaviors or use language that their peers may perceive as unusual. Building social skills can help your child navigate social situations and build interpersonal connections with their peers.

When planning activities for your child, it is important to remember that the environment and the manner of reinforcement will have an effect on the outcome. Practicing social skills in different environments will reinforce their developing social skills and teach your child that social skills are not just for one environment. Using positive reinforcement is highly recommended when teaching social skills in order to reinforce desired behaviors in the practiced social situations.