More than 90% of all hiring managers admit they favor candidates and employees with strong “soft skills”. That means social skills are essential to master for success in the workplace. Individuals who face obstacles in their work opportunities due to challenges in interpersonal communication and relationship-skills can benefit from social skills coaching designed to transform relationships at work and life in general.
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As the parent of an autistic teen, you don't need studies and surveys to know when your child is suffering from loneliness. You can see it in their eyes, mood, and how they engage with others. Knowing how to support them will not only ease your concerns, it can help make them more resilient, happy, and resourceful humans throughout their lifetime.
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When you enroll your autistic or neurodivergent loved one in our program, you’re getting full access to a multidisciplinary team that includes coaches with a broad range of experiences, cultural backgrounds, gender expressions and sexual orientations. Many of us are also neurodivergent or are parents of neurodivergent youth, so we are familiar with the challenges faced by ND young people and their parents.
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Holidays can be stressful for your kids—especially autistic, ADHD, and other neurodivergent youth. And let’s face it, they can be pretty rough for parents, too. Here’s a simple self-regulation exercise that’ll help YOU stay grounded, open, and more at ease, while modeling these skills for your children.
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As we ease deeper into fall and begin to spend more time indoors, many of us find ourselves reading more. Isn’t that one of the best things about fall and winter? Time to curl up with a good book on the sofa, a mug of tea or cocoa, maybe a furry best-friend nearby to keep our laps warm. Here at IRL Social Skills, we are voracious readers, all year-round. Here’s what our coaches are reading.
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Our flagship 16-week course is an immersive experience, but everyone can fit a four-month-long commitment into their schedule. We created a monthly workshop to offer social and communication skills coaching that fits into one Sunday each month, via Zoom video calls. Although we can’t fit everything from our courses into a couple of hours, parents and student learners tell us these smaller sessions are great as a refresher or as an introduction to the work.
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Social interactions can provoke anxiety even in the most outgoing, extroverted neurotypical person. For autistic and neurodiverse people, that anxiety can be crushing—causing life-long social struggles and mental health issues. Practicing social skills may ease anxiety before or during social interactions, enhancing meaningful connections. We know! Many of us are also neurodiverse people too!
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We wouldn’t live up to our name—or our promise—if we didn’t have people come together for actual social interactions. Events where our current students and alumni alike can put their social skills to the test, make new friends. What better opportunity to put those at play than at an outdoor celebration?
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Helping autistic people feel confident in social interactions is critical for mental and physical health.
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Some say that friendship is a gift — and truly, there is nothing like a loyal, dependable, good friend.
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It’s finally summer! School’s out, and families are looking forward to all the fun that can accompany this welcome, much-needed break.
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John Elder Robinson, author of Look Me In The Eye: My Life With Asperger’s Syndrome was 40 years old when he discovered that he was autistic. This revelation transformed the way he saw himself—and the world.
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Turns out, this can actually be problematic to define. But we know when we or our loved ones have lagging social skills — because we see them, or ourselves, struggle to initiate, cultivate, and maintain relationships with others. And this causes so much pain.
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