Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can have difficulties with social interaction, social communication and social imagination. This can make it difficult for them to develop appropriate play and social skills with their peers and can be a source of concern for parents and teachers.

In this training workshop, we will discuss some strategies for encouraging play and social skills from an early age, as well as discussing techniques and ideas for developing these skills with older children on the spectrum.

Some of the topics which we will discuss are :

• Prerequisite skills necessary for play and social interaction
• Using the child’s motivation to encourage play skills
• Naturalistic teaching methods
• Turn taking
• Games to increase social interaction with peers
• Understanding and explaining humour.