Mar 10 / Guest blogger and occupational therapist, Rachel Chaiet, MS, OTR/L

Addressing Socialization for Children and Adolescents with ASD

Welcome to guest blogger and OT, Rachel Chaiet, MS, OTR/L

Occupational therapy practitioners who work with children or adolescents on the Autism Spectrum may address a variety of different skills during their sessions. They 

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OT practitioners may introduce sensory strategies to help individuals better process sensory input from their environments. They may have a teen practice using visual schedules for self-care tasks to increase their independence or thoroughness with hygiene. Another OT/OTA may be helping a child to build fine motor strength and manipulation in order to improve handwriting or typing skills for school assignments. Another area of need that is key for OT practitioners to consider for clients with ASD is the area of social participation.

Making friends can be challenging for those on the spectrum if they have difficulty with basic interaction or conversational skills. They may have difficulty reading social cues or making the right facial expressions for the emotion they are feeling. Some individuals may not be aware of what topics are appropriate to talk about or be fixated on a special interest topic of their choice. This may lead peers to think they are “weird” and avoid even giving them a chance to become friends, leaving the child or teen feeling isolated and lonely.

While social participation is more commonly addressed by our sister profession, Speech-Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy can bring a different but equally important treatment approach to the table for those on the Autism Spectrum. OTs/OTAs are trained to look at the individual and their environment and determine what factors are preventing that person from participating in their valued occupations. For the area of social participation, that would mean identifying what environmental or personal factors are negatively impacting the child or teen and then creating intervention strategies to both develop those performance skills and/or modify the activity/environment to help them socialize with peers.  

For example, one OT may determine a child can not filter out the extraneous noise in the busy environment of the cafeteria, making it hard for her to self-regulate and preventing her from interacting with peers in this setting. The therapist then teaches the child calming sensory strategies to use before lunch and makes recommendations for a quieter area in the cafeteria with a smaller group of peers. In another instance, an OTA may determine a teen has difficulty during conversations with peers because he struggles with reading body language and knowing which topics are appropriate to use. The therapist uses visual supports and roleplaying activities to practice identifying and using correct body language during sessions to then generalize these skills to conversations with peers.



These are just a couple examples of how OT practitioners can address socialization. If you are an OT or OTA who works with adolescents or children with ASD, feel confident that if social participation is a challenge for your clients, you can be a key part of the team to address this important occupation. 



Guest Writer

Rachel is an occupational therapist from Bethel, New York who has worked with children and adolescents with developmental disabilities for over 15 years. She obtained her bachelor's and master's degree from Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania in 2010. She has presented at multiple conferences for the American Occupational Therapy Association, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and American Music Therapy Association alongside her colleagues on humor-based interventions, as well as other interventions to address social participation for individuals with developmental disabilities. She has also published articles in OT Advance and OT Practice on various interventions related to improving social participation for this population. In her spare time, she can be found listening to podcasts, working on craft projects and spending time with her daughters, Mikaia and Adelyn, and husband, Max.

Social Skills in Children & Teens with ASD

Join Rachel in her course that explains how OT practitioners can support children and teens with ASD in the occupation of social participation.

Making Friends: Facilitating Socialization Skills in Children and Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum debuts Thursday, March 26,  2026 at 8 pm Eastern
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