Social Skills and Perspective Taking

Adam’s social referencing occurs toward his mother and father at times. He uses them as a safety net whenever there is something he does not want to participate in. He looks toward his mother for approval, but not necessarily to learn how to react or respond appropriately to others. Adam is very concerned with doing something right. If he feels he will do a task wrong he does not want to try or becomes angry immediately. If Mom has a calm, happy face in order to persuade Adam to participate, it is not very effective. She has more success than a therapist does, but Adam is rigid with this thoughts and feelings. This is a challenge because he is not able to understand on an emotional level that others have thoughts and it is important to consider others. This is a clear example of Adam’s deficit of Theory of Mind defined as the inability to understand that other people have thoughts, beliefs, and feelings that are different than their own (Miller-Kuhaneck).

Adam makes eye contact at times and recognizes individuals at the therapy clinic. Emotion processing and face processing challenge him. Adam is easily over stimulated. If I give praise or facially gesture that he has performed well, he covers his ears and says “no” while stomping his feet. He is sensitive to voice fluctuation. Adam typically avoids looking at my face or others when interacting. As I write this I can see how higher-level skills of emotional processing or Tom will be negatively impacted by avoiding eye contact. Adam’s challenges of face processing and emotional processing are over whelming for him. In fact, I will start at the basics for Adam and use Amy’s suggestion of labeling and matching emotional expression cards. As pictured above, I located this and will work on it with Adam. As I think of Adam’s future, I see where these skills will need to be incorporated in the treatment plan and his abilities will need to be challenged and expanded.