The Science of Making Friends: Helping
Socially Challenged Teens and Young Adults
By Elizabeth
A. Laugeson, PSY.D.
$25.95 US/ $29.95 CAN
JOSSEY-BASS
Trade Paperback also available as an ebook, 358 pages
JOSSEY-BASS
Trade Paperback also available as an ebook, 358 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1118127216
Do you know someone
who has trouble making friends? A lot of
self-help books give bland advice that doesn’t help in the long run, but this
book is not a self help book. It is the first educational book on making
friends I have seen that not only talks about the issues but gives instructions
in an easy to follow format. This book
is a genuine resource for parents, aides, and teachers who want to make a true
difference for someone with social skills deficits. The book is based on PEERS (Program for the
Educational Enrichment of Relational Skills) from UCLA.
The Chapters are
arranged in a natural order for developing relational or friend making
skills. Each part of the book addressing
skills contains an introductory explanation of the purpose of the skill, the
rules for applying the skill, example role plays both in the book and the
accompanying dvd, and then practice tasks, a summary, and some exercises to
practice the new skill. Each skill area is broken down into basic
sub-skills.
The topics covered
include why we should teach social skills to teens and young adults, how to
find and choose good friends, the basics of good conversations, how to start or
enter a conversation, how to exit a conversation, how to manage electronic
communications, how to show good sportsmanship, how to enjoy a successful get
together, and how to handle peer conflict or rejection.
The sections on
handling peer conflict or rejection are especially important for teens or young
adults because it addresses such topics as arguments, teasing, cyber bullying,
rumors and gossip, avoiding physical bullying, changing a bad reputation.
The dvd shows
examples of both successful social interactions and errors in social
interaction that can affect whether the other person will want to continue
interacting in future. For example, one
of the role plays shows a person standing too closely during a conversation and
how the other person reacts uncomfortably.
After reading the
book, I discussed some of the ideas presented with my son who has autism. He was intrigued and encouraged to try the
steps for himself. This book is useful for helping anyone who is
struggling with how to make and keep friends.
It is also an excellent resource for parents or teachers who are
struggling to know how to help a youth who really wants to learn how to have
and be a friend.
Kathy Johnson is a reviewer for BookPleasures.com. This review also appears on the BookPleasures site.
