Bullying and social vulnerability of students with ASD 41rate their level of engagement during the group session, and identify other
characteristics relating to the weekly group session.
Social inclusion of participants
The research showed that these counseling groups were advantageous to indi-
viduals with ASD for numerous reasons. The counseling groups allowed these
young adults an opportunity to have regular contact with other similar-minded
individuals, an outlet in which they were able to discuss the daily strengths
and struggles in their lives, and an opportunity to gain a social network with
individuals who ideally did not judge them for the ASD characteristics they
possessed.
The research found that group members made significant progress in building
social skills through encouraging direct peer interaction and empathy towards
other group members. Furthermore, group participants reported an increase in
reported number of friends, an increase in ability to confront others and express
one’s emotions, an increase in sense of social cohesiveness as a group, and an
overall increase in self-esteem and self-confidence. The groups as a whole also
made significant progress in demonstrating increased teamwork and cohesive
skills through games and other team-building activities. These changes were
both reported by the group participants themselves and observed by the group
facilitators of all of the counseling groups.
CASE STUDY: AMELIAAmelia initially came in for help with identity confusion, gender dysphoria,
and shame resulting from a lifetime of rejection, stigmatization, and bullying.
Amelia participated in the specialized technology program institute across the
courtyard from the university counseling clinic, and she sought services at
the clinic to work on coming out to peers and staff as transgender transition-
ing from male to female. Along with concurrent individual therapy, Amelia
joined the all-female group that focused on social skills, teambuilding, and
emotionally focused processing of previous social trauma. Initially, Amelia's
disposition was not unlike many individuals diagnosed with ASD: very little
eye contact, slow speech, and awkward sentence structure accompanied with
tonal patterns that did not match what was being said. Many times the group
facilitators found themselves wondering if they were being made fun of only
to later understand that Amelia's voice reflected her sarcastic humor, and
creative internal world.(continued)