Description

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All adults need strong social skills to find and keep a job, establish relationships, and participate fully in adult life--but building these skills can be a special challenge for people with autism, Asperger syndrome, nonverbal learning disorder, social anxiety, and other disorders affecting social learning. Give them the essential support they need with this field-tested curriculum for high-functioning adults, designed to build a broad range of social skills through explicit instruction and coaching.

Based on the highly acclaimed Social Skills Seminar at the University of Pennsylvania, this engaging, hands-on curriculum is an invaluable addition to college counseling programs, vocational rehabilitation groups, and any other program helping people with social learning disorders. The first program of its kind to target the social learning needs of young adults and adults, Social Literacy

• Is proven effective. During more than 7 years of field testing, these lessons improved the social skills of young men and women with a range of social learning disorders.
• Goes far beyond the basics. Participants will learn more than how to smile and make eye contact--they'll learn and practice the high-level social skills they'll need to manage the complexities of adult interaction.
• Helps participants generalize skills. Adults will reinforce and generalize the skills they learn in class by working one to one with a social coach (often recruited from a local college or university).
• Adapts to any program's needs. Program leaders can choose which lessons to emphasize, based on participants' specific needs.
• Targets the areas most critical to success. Each in-depth, 2- to 3-hour class focuses on a key aspect of social success, so adults will have the specific skills they'll need for employment, relationships, and more.

With this book-and-CD set, professionals will have everything they need to conduct a full 12 weeks of lessons. They'll get practical guidance on establishing a social learning course, strategies for recruiting and training social coaches, photocopiable handouts, and exercises that help participants understand and practice social skills, and a CD-ROM with more than 100 PowerPoint slides for instructional use.

A highly effective way to teach critical social skills to high-functioning adults, this proven curriculum will prepare participants to successfully navigate the joys and challenges of adult life.

About the Author

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Mary Riggs Cohen is a graduate of Wake Forest University and received her doctoral training at the Catholic University of America. She received postdoctoral family therapy training at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center and was a clinical supervisor in the psychology training program there through the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Cohen is a licensed psychologist in New York and Pennsylvania. She has 30 years of experience working with children, adolescents, adults, and families and has specialized in the treatment of Asperger syndrome for 12 years. While Clinical Director of the Social Learning Disorders Program of the University of Pennsylvania Psychiatry Department, she developed the Social Skills Seminar for young adults with autism spectrum disorders. The program has been taught year round at the University of Pennsylvania and at various locations in the Philadelphia metropolitan area for more than 8 years and most recently in New York City. Her Pennsylvania clinical practice is at the Center for Neuropsychology and Counseling in Warrington. She is an associate of the Asperger Center for Education and Training in New York and has her New York clinical practice at Spectrum Services in Manhattan. Dr. Cohen is a consultant to several schools and autism programs as well as colleges that provide specialized services for students on the spectrum.