Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS | More

Have you ever had well-meaning advice from friends , family, or even professionals that didn’t seem to work?

Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson,  founder of the UCLA PEERS social skills program, says that is just the problem with many social skills resources.

Over the course of many years she has conducted research on what works for making friends .

My key question for this podcast episode is, “Can autistics and Aspergians have meaningful social relationship?”

What does the science say?

It says a resounding yes!

Thousands of Aspergian and autistic adults want friends and meaningful relationships.  They have either not been given any rules, or have been given well-meaning but bad advice.

In this podcast episode you will learn:

• Why friendships are so  important
• Independent Living, self-esteem, negative correlation with depression and anxiety on the other hand rejection is positively correlated with depression, anxiety, and other problems later in life performance, increased substance abuse.
• The story of a 14-year old suicidal teenage who had been through multiple hospitalizations and extensive peer rejection.  He went through the PEERS program, graduated high school, and moved from California to Florida to successfully complete his college degree. He joined fraternity, made friends, dated, and is now working.
• The strong evidence base for the PEERS program.
• Randomized control trial studies have shown increased social responsiveness, increased social awareness, increased social cognition, increased social motivation, and increase social engagement 1 to 5 years post completion of the program.
• The program also has research partners and has been translated in 30 different countries. The findings are all almost exactly the same as those in the United States.
• “Research shows we are all are similar than we are different”  Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson

Resources and Links

PEERS website

Find certified PEERS providers

Books/Workbooks by Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson

The PEERS Curriculum for School Based Professionals

The Science of Making Friends

PEERS Manual For Autism Spectrum Teens

PEERS Manual for Young Adults

Children Friendship Training, by Dr. Fred Frankel

Copyright: ammentorp / 123RF Stock Photo