New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline - Ministry of Health

Part 3: Education for learners with ASD
Research has identified subgroupings of children
on the basis of their social responsiveness:
passive (few initiations but positive responses),
aloof (indifferent in all situations, particularly
with other children), ‘active but odd’ (seeks out
interactions but uses odd language, focuses on
obsessional topics and lacks understanding of
others) and ‘over formal and stilted’ (excessive
formality and difficulties with the subtleties of
social situations) 96 . These groupings can be useful
to help focus interventions and set priorities.
Lack of speech does not prevent the
development of increased social skills, but social
interactions do require communication to initiate
and respond, which underlines the importance
of matching interventions to the child or young
person’s communication skills 96 .
Explicit teaching of social behaviour needs to
be part of the individual plan for any child or
young person with ASD throughout his or her
life 202 208 224 .
Verbal and higher functioning children
and young people
Despite their command of language and
sometimes their desire to interact, higher
functioning children and young people with
ASD are often unable to use their verbal skills
to successfully enter the social fray 224 . These
children tend towards repetitive enactments of
solitary routines around their obsessive interests
and either avoid social play or approach peers in
ways that are unlikely to be reciprocated 225 .
Older children and young people have difficulty
with peer relationships and demonstrating social
and emotional reciprocity 226 227 . Social difficulties
are thought to be a reason for the high rates
of depression, which are often seen in higher
functioning adolescents 224 228 . In adolescence,
young people begin to engage in social
interaction primarily by conversation and this
provides many challenges for the young person
with ASD 224 .
Approaches to interventions
Interventions to enhance social development
need to be carefully planned and systematic 229 .
Particular care should be given to planning
for generalisation and maintenance 96 208 230 .
Practitioners need to be fluent in a range of
approaches so that they can choose what is most
appropriate for the teaching of specific skills
and for particular settings. It is also important
to match the approach to the developmental
level and needs of the particular child 96 .
Researchers advocate that it is important for
teachers and other professionals to draw on
their own theory of mind to try and appreciate
their student’s view of the world when planning
interventions 225 .
Implications for professional practice
Assessment
Different aspects of socialisation require
different forms of assessment.
Areas to be assessed
Because communication is the process by which
people carry out social relationships, social and
communication assessments and the goals and
objectives that follow need to be considered
hand in hand 96 230 .
Play is an important social activity for children;
therefore, play skills also need to be assessed 96 .
Researchers recommend an assessment of the
sensory preferences of very young children 229 .
These data will allow teachers and practitioners
to more efficiently predict the features of toys
which will be the most reinforcing. The interests
and preferences of all children and young
people will need to be understood if activities
and materials are to be motivating 202 224 230 .
Assessment techniques and tools
Developmental scales may also be useful for
assessing general social development. However,
children with ASD often do not demonstrate
typical patterns of development 96 .
Part 3
Many researchers report that the ability to
carry out targeted observations is a key skill
New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline 103