Social Communication
Neurodiversity Affirming Social Communication vs. Compliance Based- Social Pragmatics
Before we dive into the nuances of social communication, it is important to understand more about neurodiversity affirming therapy. Neurodiveristy refers to the diversity in the human brain, meaning that each brain is different and varies from person to person. Neurodiversity Affirming therapy recognizes that differences such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, etc are differences, not deficits. Rather than utilizing therapy to fix or teach neurodivergent people to appear more neurotypical, ND affirming therapists provide support for individual needs, build upon strengths, and focus on connection.
Why target social communication in therapy sessions?
Social communication therapy is neurodiversity affirming and connection - based. It empowers people to be authentic, to feel seen, known and loved for who they are. The focus is on building intrinsic motivation to connect with others during social interactions because it aligns with their values, beliefs, strengths, and special interests. Therapists help to identify and implement each individual's values into their relationships to build long lasting connections with others. Additionally, therapy is geared towards developing self advocacy skills in a variety of contexts through encouraging setting boundaries and educating others on their sensory needs and preferences. This type of approach helps build awareness of their social and emotional characteristics and styles of learning, leading them towards advocacy to get their needs met.
Social Communication Therapy
Therapists provide education about brain differences and neurodiversity to teach students how their brain works. Acceptance of brain differences is crucial to building a healthy sense of self and to reduce masking. While therapy is individualized to each child, the following are a list of skills that may be targeted during therapy:
Perspective Taking
Self-Advocacy
Inferencing
Problem Solving
Emotional regulation
Understanding Communication Differences
Understanding Boundaries
Identifying non verbal communication
Idioms / Figurative Language
Some students may benefit from sensory supports, visual supports, unrestricted access to multimodal communication as well as communication supports.
Therapists provide education and support strategies in order to empower communicators to connect with others during social interactions.
Now the other guys…
Compliance based- social pragmatics
The expectations for social pragmatics/ social skills are developed by neurotypical people out of the idea of societal norms and cultural expectations that have been considered to be socially acceptable or “normal”. Therapy that is focused on pragmatics may include the following: eye contact, rules on conversational turn-taking, decreasing echolalia, topic maintenance, formal greetings, etc. This approach is often centered on extrinsic motivation (awards) to complete a social activity or learn a skill. While these goals have been developed by well meaning therapists in the past, this therapy approach often focuses on conforming to a list of “rules” rather than helping the communicator feel more confident. The results? Masking and inauthentic communication.
Masking can be a conscious or unconscious strategy that involves modifying behavior to fit in with peers through mirroring others behavior, developing scripts for conversations, forcing themselves to engage in activities they don't enjoy, concealing special interests or hobbies, etc. Social pragmatic therapy may cultivate masking by emphasizing neurotypical social skills as THE correct way to connect with others. Masking can lead to negative self esteem and mental health outcomes such as loss of identity, increase in stress, exhaustion, anxiety and depression. Some signs of masking may include: putting on a facade during social settings, suppressing true thoughts and emotions, feeling exhausted or discouraged after social interactions. (Bradley et al., 2021; Hull et al., 2019).
Our mission at Rooted Therapies is to support clients with the skills they need to become confident communicators, able to connect and build long lasting relationships. We hope that by using a neurodiversity affirming approach to social communication, it will empower clients to embrace their true authentic self.
If you feel like your child or teenager may benefit from social communication support, give us a call. We’d love to help them establish healthy relationships.