Do you teach social rules or social norms by community setting?
The experience of one student
Recently, one of my high school teletherapy students faced a manifestation determination because this student had exposed his/her private parts during an online class. He/she gave no thought to the fact that they were on camera and what camera view the students in the class would have of him/her. It made me consider what more I can do to prevent students from getting themselves into situations that can have significant legal and educational repercussions. I had taught this student about social rules, norms and perspective-taking, in a general sense. However, no-one on the team had worked specifically on social rules related to the camera and online learning. So, the schedule-bound part of his/her brain took over when the class was starting simultaneously with the urge to use the bathroom. Subsequently, the student took the computer (camera on during class) into the bathroom.
What do we mean by social rules?
This student had been taught the school rules of the virtual school but not the social rules of the online setting, and those are two different animals! Social rules are the informal and unwritten rules that govern our behavior in different situations. They are situation-based and people-based.
Check out:
- prior blog post on social rules.
- Teaching social skills via teletherapy
- Teaching conflict resolution.
This experience prompted me to develop a line of BOOM cards for teaching unwritten social rules specific to settings. It’s hard for our students with autism to understand the social world when social rules and social norms vary by setting. For example, it’s expected that they maintain eye contact with a stranger during a job interview but not with a stranger on an elevator. There are many contradictions among settings and situations. As my student’s mother aptly pointed out, “I cannot teach him/her every one of the thousands of social rules that may be encountered.” True! We can pick out the social rules and norms that are important and pertinent for our students and prioritize teaching the ones with legal consequences!
Teletherapy challenge
It’s a challenge as a teletherapist to find digital materials for social skills that are authentic and relevant for this age group. Our students need to see actual photographs or videos of the people and the objects found in the situation. These can be found online but there are often ads and inappropriate content also on the site that I don’t want them to view! While the video-based subscription services are AWESOME, they can be expensive.
BOOM cards: social rules in community settings
I have a line of tiered BOOM cards for dissecting unwritten social rules by community setting that contain both wordless video clips and real photographs of each setting.
Each set explores the following skills by setting:
- Verbal communication,
- Nonverbal communication including eye contact, body language/actions, volume, tone of voice, personal space and facial expressions,
- Problem-solving,
- Personal care and hygiene, and
- Situation-specific behaviors.
- Some decks include scenarios related to planning such as inventorying food and clipping coupons prior to grocery shopping.
While that can be a broad spectrum of content to cover so you may need to pick and choose what is most important to your students. Also, consider that you may think a student understands some social norms when they may not understand them at all in context.
There is a bundle of BOOM cards for social rules in five different community settings. Check out the preview below for the BOOM deck on grocery shopping!
Each of the sets (job interview, online learning, elevators, waiting rooms, public restrooms and grocery stores) begins with a short, wordless video showing scenes of the setting as a way of introducing the setting and social norms that surround it. It can be used to introduce and familiarize students with the setting and to refer back to during therapy. Check out the video froms from the BOOM job interview deck for you to view (and use with your students).
Some final thoughts. Don’t assume that our high-functioning students understand all the social rules for different settings and don’t be afraid to tackle the hard topics with them. It was akward when I had to clearly state, we cannot show our private parts to other students on camera, but I got through it. Tips: let the parent or learning coach know before you discuss sensitive topics. If you are not comfortable discussing sensitive topics with students, find someone of the team that is comfortable with it.
Our students with autism need us to teach the unwritten social rules and help them understand how social rules vary by setting, situation and who is present. Failure to teach them these social norms can, in some cases, lead to unanticipated educational and legal consequences for our students with autism.
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I am always looking for ways to teach my high schoolers social skills, especially since I am working with them remotely. I am hopeful these cards will be an effective tool.
Hi Amy, yes remote teaching offers big challenges! I hope you found the BOOM cards helpful. Donna