Autism Abilities: Raising Awareness through Social Skills Instruction for Students Without Disabilities

Raising autism awareness does not only mean creating a message about autism, but also a great opportunity to teach us empathy, acceptance, and understanding of our individual differences. Review of literature supports that there has been important research in teaching social skills to students on the spectrum to successfully navigate social interactions with their peers, but few regarding supports given to students without disabilities to understand and accept differences. A series of social skills lessons focusing on promoting autism awareness has been created to teach first grade students what autism is and how they can better support their peers on the spectrum.