The Science of Making Friends

The groundbreaking book that puts the focus on teens and young adults with social challenges

This 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 book’s 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. Bonus content 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 Adults? PART TWO: THE SCIENCE OF DEVELOPING AND MAINTAINING FRIENDSHIPSCh. 2: Finding and Choosing Good FriendsCh. 3: Good Conversations: The BasicsCh. 4: Starting and Entering ConversationsCh. 5: Exiting ConversationsCh. 6: Managing Electronic CommunicationCh. 7: Showing Good SportsmanshipCh. 8: Enjoying Successful Get-Togethers PART THREE: THE SCIENCE OF HANDLING PEER CONFLICT AND REJECTION: HELPFUL STRATEGIESCh. 9: Dealing With ArgumentsCh. 10: Handling Verbal TeasingCh. 11: Addressing Cyber BullyingCh. 12: Minimizing Rumors and GossipCh. 13: Avoiding Physical BullyingCh. 14: Changing a Bad ReputationEpilogue: Moving Forward