The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

An essential element of social competence for anyone is the development of emotional self-regulation (Caulkins, 1994; Bradley, 2000; Denham et al., 2003). This is especially true for older learners with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (Loveland, 2001; Bachevalier & Loveland, 2003) who have trouble modulating or self-regulating their responses, especially during emotionally based situations (Myles, Dunn, & Orr, 2000). There are also a number of social and perspective-taking deficits that may contribute to the perception to react strongly to social interactions and test the emotional self-regulation skills of the learner with ASD (Frith, 1991; Meyer & Minshew, 2002; Jolliffe & Baron-Cohen, 1999). Emotional regulation during social interaction can be as simple as needing to stay calm while ordering a meal at a fast food restaurant or as complicated as explaining your over-reaction to a negative social interaction with a supervisor or family member.

Take, for example, the 16-year-old who has not had direct instruction or an opportunity to develop functional self-regulation skills, but is on his way to his first day at a community-based employment opportunity that was dictated by the transition plan in his Individualized Education Plan (IEP). During his work period, the learner is expected to stay on task and monitor his progress so that he knows whether or not his productivity is sufficient. In this case, though, the learner is approached by a supervisor who innocently inquires how things are going. The learner takes this to mean that the supervisor is unsatisfied for some reason and screams, “What is wrong? I am doing what I am supposed to. Why are you angry with me?”  While this is going on, he also throws his materials on the ground and starts to pace intensely. His supervisor is concerned about his ability to support the learner and contacts the school to suggest that they find another placement for him. Because of a lack of self-regulation skills, this learner’s opportunities for successful placement in the community are restricted.

Research has indicated the following steps in the Schunk & Zimmerman (1994, 1998) model of self-regulation. The component skills include: (a) setting specific proximal goals for oneself, (b) adopting powerful strategies for attaining the goals, (c) monitoring one's performance selectively for signs of progress, (d) restructuring one's physical and social context to make it compatible with one's goals, (e) managing one's time use efficiently, (f) self-evaluating one's methods, (g) attributing causation to results, and (h) adapting future methods. Many of these steps represent inherent skill deficits that must be addressed for learners with ASD in order to improve self-regulation skills. Individuals with Asperger Syndrome or high-functioning autism focus on details and struggle to complete the abstract concept (Meyer & Minshew, 2002), which affects problem solving and reasoning skills (Minshew, Goldstein, & Siegel, 1997). In addition, these same individuals can have significant difficulty shifting or moving from one idea or alternative to another (Ozonoff, Pennington, & Rogers, 1991), which could explain their narrow range of interests or perceived stubbornness by those around them. Last, but certainly not least, is the idea that adolescents with Asperger's and high-functioning autism exhibit hostile or depressed patterns of causal attribution, which can negatively influence their self-regulation as they try to accurately assess the circumstances they face in everyday life (Barnhill & Myles, 2001).

This workshop will focus on the emotional self-regulation needs of teen and adult learners with ASD as they navigate the transition process. Skill building programs such as The ECLIPSE Model (Moyer, NHS Human Services, 2009), A 5 Will Get Me Arrested (Dunn Buron, 2007) and cognitive-behavioral therapies will be discussed, and real-life case examples will be introduced in order to illustrate their successful application to programming for older learners with ASD. Scenarios will focus on social interactions at school, work and in the community. Specific emphasis will be on treating emotional self-regulation as a skill deficit requiring direct instruction and opportunities for practice so that learners are able to increase the likelihood of successful community interactions and improve their social competence and quality of life in the process.