Greetings, saying goodbye and social skills training for children with autism

Teachers and therapists work hard to raise young people’s awareness of how and when to begin and end conversations. My free Train Conversation Kits can be helpful to teach these skills.

There is a different and more complicated set of conversation skills involved in saying a “long goodbye,” when one is taking leave of another person they might not see for a long time – or ever. In my own experience, young people with ASD’s find “long goodbyes” stressful and confusing, and they are usually very open to advice and role play practice. I have often used this “long goodbye” rubric on occasions when I am ending therapy with a child or helping groups of young people say farewell to one another following a summer program.

This 5-page pdf download includes:

*A rubric sheet for conventional Short Goodbyes

*A sheet with a brief description of Long Goodbyes with examples of when they occur

*A summary of the 4 steps involved in carrying out a Long Goodbye

*A practice fill-in sheet for a child to write down a Long Goodbye

*An explanation page for step 2 in Long Goodbyes (the most difficult step) in which one says, “I’ll always remember…”