Developing Identity, Strengths, and Self-Perception for Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder : The BASICS College Curriculum

The BASICS College Curriculum presents a hands-on approach to learning essential independence and life skills for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The second book helps young adults to explore their identity and self-perception and encourages them to consider their personal characteristics and strengths, to help navigate college life more easily and to provide a starting point for thinking about future careers. Ideal as a textbook for ASD college programs and suitable for students to use for self-study, it focuses on reframing the student's perception of ASD by looking at personal experiences, the language of diagnosis, and ASD in the media and it encourages students to identify their strengths in social, group or work settings. Each chapter has a lesson-based progressive structure, providing valuable information and advice for the student, useful diagrams, practical exercises and workbook components that can be filled in at home or in class. Self-assessment tools ensure the skills from each chapter can be reviewed and adjusted as necessary. The book can be used on its own or in conjunction with the other BASICS curriculum books to further develop essential life skills. Developing Identity, Strengths, and Self-Perception for Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder......Page 3 Acknowledgements......Page 9 Introduction......Page 11 Chapter 1. Personal Stories......Page 17 Lesson 1: Early Childhood......Page 18 Lesson 2: Teen Years......Page 24 Lesson 3: Young Adulthood......Page 29 Lesson 4: Writing Your Own Story......Page 35 Chapter 2. The Language of ASD......Page 41 Lesson 1: Identity Models......Page 43 Lesson 2: Diagnostic Language......Page 46 Lesson 3: Identity Language......Page 48 Lesson 4: Diagnostic Criteria and the impact on community......Page 50 Lesson 5: Owning ASD......Page 52 Chapter 3. ASD in the Media......Page 57 Lesson 1: Development of perceptions through popular media......Page 59 Lesson 2: ASD in the news......Page 61 Lesson 3: ASD in movies and television......Page 64 Lesson 4: ASD in social media......Page 65 Chapter 4. Identifying Your Strengths......Page 71 Lesson 1: Success and ASD qualities......Page 73 Lesson 2: Identifying the Established Strengths in ASD......Page 77 Lesson 3: Recognizing Your Individual Strengths......Page 80 Lesson 4: Replacing Negative Self-Perceptions......Page 82 Lesson 5: Reframing your View......Page 85 Chapter 5. Developing Your Core Identity......Page 89 Lesson 1: Identifying What Makes You Calm, Passionate, and Anxious......Page 91 Lesson 2: Developing Your Core Identity Features......Page 94 Lesson 3: It is Rarely Black and White......Page 98 Lesson 4: The Intersection of Your Core Identity Features......Page 101 Chapter 6. Social Rules and Social Confusion......Page 107 Lesson 1: Social Confusion and Establishing Purpose......Page 109 Lesson 2: Rules of Social Engagement......Page 114 Lesson 3: Building Your Social First Aid Kit......Page 122 Lesson 4: Digging Your Way Out......Page 135 Chapter 7. Building Your Team......Page 143 Lesson 1: Understanding Your Preferences......Page 146 Lesson 2: Recognizing the Preferences of Others......Page 155 Lesson 3: Partnering preferences to build teams......Page 160 Lesson 4: Roles in work teams/groups......Page 164 Chapter 8. Changing the Goal......Page 169 Lesson 1: Looking Forward......Page 171 Lesson 2: Choosing the Right Academic Major......Page 174 Lesson 3: The Career Continuum......Page 177 Lesson 4: An Introduction to Community Service, Job Shadowing, and Internships......Page 182 Lesson 5: Mentors and Career Preparation......Page 185 Next Steps......Page 191 Appendix A. Back to BASICS Chart Student Example......Page 193 Appendix B. Guided Discussion......Page 195 References......Page 221 Index......Page 223 Blank Page......Page 2 A practical curriculum to help young adults with autism understand their strengths in order to navigate college life more easily and to help with starting to think about possible future careers University,Higher Education,Life Skills,Self-Advocacy,Asperger Syndrome Developing Identity, Strengths, and Self-Perception for Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder 3 Acknowledgements 9 Introduction 11 Chapter 1. Personal Stories 17 Lesson 1: Early Childhood 18 Lesson 2: Teen Years 24 Lesson 3: Young Adulthood 29 Lesson 4: Writing Your Own Story 35 Chapter 2. The Language of ASD 41 Lesson 1: Identity Models 43 Lesson 2: Diagnostic Language 46 Lesson 3: Identity Language 48 Lesson 4: Diagnostic Criteria and the impact on community 50 Lesson 5: Owning ASD 52 Chapter 3. ASD in the Media 57 Lesson 1: Development of perceptions through popular media 59 Lesson 2: ASD in the news 61 Lesson 3: ASD in movies and television 64 Lesson 4: ASD in social media 65 Chapter 4. Identifying Your Strengths 71 Lesson 1: Success and ASD qualities 73 Lesson 2: Identifying the Established Strengths in ASD 77 Lesson 3: Recognizing Your Individual Strengths 80 Lesson 4: Replacing Negative Self-Perceptions 82 Lesson 5: Reframing your View 85 Chapter 5. Developing Your Core Identity 89 Lesson 1: Identifying What Makes You Calm, Passionate, and Anxious 91 Lesson 2: Developing Your Core Identity Features 94 Lesson 3: It is Rarely Black and White 98 Lesson 4: The Intersection of Your Core Identity Features 101 Chapter 6. Social Rules and Social Confusion 107 Lesson 1: Social Confusion and Establishing Purpose 109 Lesson 2: Rules of Social Engagement 114 Lesson 3: Building Your Social First Aid Kit 122 Lesson 4: Digging Your Way Out 135 Chapter 7. Building Your Team 143 Lesson 1: Understanding Your Preferences 146 Lesson 2: Recognizing the Preferences of Others 155 Lesson 3: Partnering preferences to build teams 160 Lesson 4: Roles in work teams/groups 164 Chapter 8. Changing the Goal 169 Lesson 1: Looking Forward 171 Lesson 2: Choosing the Right Academic Major 174 Lesson 3: The Career Continuum 177 Lesson 4: An Introduction to Community Service, Job Shadowing, and Internships 182 Lesson 5: Mentors and Career Preparation 185 Next Steps 191 Appendix A. Back to BASICS Chart Student Example 193 Appendix B. Guided Discussion 195 References 221 Index 223 Blank Page 2 This practical college curriculum helps students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to develop an understanding of their identity, self-perception and strengths and how to use this self-knowledge to succeed at college, in their social lives, and in their careers. It is an ideal textbook for ASD college programs or for student self-study