The Science of Making Friends: Helping Socially Challenged Teens and Young Adults

The groundbreaking book that puts the focus on teens and young adults with social challengesThis book offers parents a step-by-step guide to making and keeping friends for teens and young adults with social challenges-such as those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder ADHD bipolar or other conditions With the books concrete rules and steps of social etiquette parents will be able to assist in improving conversational skills expanding social opportunities and developing strategies for handling peer rejection Each chapter provides helpful overview information for parents lessons with clear bulleted lists of key rules and steps and expert advice on how to present the material to a teen or young adult Throughout the book are role-playing exercises for practicing each skill along with homework assignments to ensure the newly learned skills can be applied easily to a school work or other real life setting The bonus DVD shows role-plays of skills covered demonstrating the right and wrong way to enter conversations schedule get-togethers deal with conflict and much more PART ONE GETTING READYCh 1 Why Teach Social Skills to Teens and Young AdultsPART TWO THE SCIENCE OF DEVELOPING AND MAINTAINING FRIENDSHIPSCh 2 Finding and Choosing Good Friends Ch 3 Good Conversations The BasicsCh 4 Starting and Entering ConversationsCh 5 Exiting Conversations Ch 6 Managing Electronic Communication Ch 7 Showing Good Sportsmanship Ch 8 Enjoying Successful Get-TogethersPART THREE THE SCIENCE OF HANDLING PEER CONFLICT AND REJECTION HELPFUL STRATEGIESCh 9 Dealing With Arguments Ch 10 Handling Verbal Teasing Ch 11 Addressing Cyber Bullying Ch 12 Minimizing Rumors and Gossip Ch 13 Avoiding Physical Bullying Ch 14 Changing a Bad ReputationEpilogue Moving Forward