It is not possible to tell by just looking at an individual if that person is autistic or not. Normally the first indication that a person is autistic will be when he or she begins to talk or communicate.

Generally all children with autism spectrum disorder will have communication difficulties and lack appropriate social skills. This is common with autism spectrum disorder and often referred to as social skills deficits, the physical characteristics of children with autism.

For some parents of children with autism spectrum disorder their child’s lack of social interaction and responses, such as smiling, laughing, and making eye contact can be very stressful. The physical characteristics of children with autism such as communication difficulties and social skills deficits can be addressed using visual strategies such as social stories and visual communication cards.

There are many sites offering social skills stories for autistic children.

Social skills stories are used to treat the social skills deficits displayed by children with autism spectrum disorder. Normally social skills stories are written by professionals and will follow a pre set formula which was first introduced almost twenty years ago by therapist Gray to help her communicate with the autistic children she was working with at the time.

The social story is a framework for a skill or situation that the child with autism is struggling with. The social story breaks the skill down into small pieces and uses visual image much like a comic strip that can help the child with autism spectrum disorder understand easier. The social story aims to answer the “wh” questions (who, where, why, when and what) as well as suggest some possible responses they may expect and what others will expect from them, the reactions.

Using social cues the social story will explain and help the child with autism feel more comfortable, reducing stress and negative behaviours, thus encouraging positive behaviours.

To learn more about the physical characteristics of children with autism sopectrum disorder and how social skills stories can be used to address these visit: http://www.autismsocialstories.com

For sites offering visual communication cards visit:

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/visual_aids