Teen with possible mild ASD- where to get help with communication skills

[Anonymous]

Anyone have suggestions in Alexandria?

[Anonymous]

Don’t know about Alexandria but if they have an IEP social skills can be written in.

[Anonymous]

No personal experience, but I've heard good things about the PEERS program. You could look to see if anyone offers it near you. We've also found it helpful to have DC work with a SLP on social pragmatic language. We like OWLS in Arlington (and they come to your home). But, I'm sure there are many other good practices in/near Alexandria.

[Anonymous]

What do you mean by communication skills? Please provide additional details so we can help.

[Anonymous]

DD says what she means to say and what comes out of her mouth are different. She thinks of a quick response/ comeback and it sounds funny to her, but when it comes out of her mouth, it is not funny (and she gets weird looks).

Social interaction is mentally exhausting for her.

She can meet people and gets quick positive interactions, but the more she has interactions, they go downhill.

She does not like silence. She was in therapy and they tried to help her with quick questions to start a conversation, and she can do this well, but sometime the timing of the question(out of the blue with no relevance to recent conversation) it is out of place.

She does have dyslexia and mild ADD. She is otherwise very successful in school.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, this sound like anxiety-- is that being treated? Another option would be to look at some sort of mindfulness training and learning to be okay with silence.


If you go the SLP route, I would look at someone who specializes in pragmatics-- not sure if "Act as If" started up again, but it could be a good option since she is social.

[Anonymous]

Seek a speech and language evaluation