M. R. Cohen: Social Literacy: A Social Skills Seminar for Young Adults with ASDs, NSDs, and Social Anxiety

With the rising prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), an increasing number of individuals with ASD are now reaching adulthood. In turn, there is a great demand for interventions and services to meet the needs of adults. While there are many books describing models of social skills intervention, very few are geared specifically to the adult population. Mary Riggs Cohen’s book, “Social Literacy: A Social Skills Seminar for Young Adults with ASDs, NLDs, and Social Anxiety” takes a step toward filling this gap. Dr. Cohen’s book outlines a 12-week intervention for adults with social vulnerabilities. Although primarily focused on social skills (including nonverbal communication, conversation skills, dating and sexuality), the program extends to other skills critical to success in adulthood, such as career selection and job interviewing skills. The intervention is designed for adults with Asperger’s Disorder, but the author notes it is suitable for individuals with other social vulnerabilities (e.g. nonverbal learning disorder, social phobia). Participation in the intervention requires strong verbal skills, and thus is not suitable to individuals with intellectual disability. …