ASD Social: Clinical Applications III

observe how typical peers interact with each other when they are uninterested in the topic of conversation

• Observe peers conversing with each other to document the kinds of questions and prompts they use to keep conversations going (Watkins et al. (2020); Peters & Thompson, 2015)
• Additionally, observe peers conversing to document the types of questions or comments that end conversations to get a clearer definition of conversational prompts to avoid.

Ask the peers

• Collect some qualitative baseline on the client’s conversations. Perhaps there is a tendency to make a particular error that may be addressed during the program.
• If appropriate, ask the client to observe other peers for techniques that work for them. If this works, it also teaches the client to use social observation to solve their own problems, which may be generalized to future struggles and self-management of skills.