Social Skills in the Workplace: A Case Study to Help Your Employee with Asperger Syndrome

By Ellen Mossman- Glazer M.Ed. Life Skills Coach, Behavior Specialist.

We again visit the workplace of employer ‘Jack’ and his new employee ‘Al’ who has Asperger Syndrome. In this small informal office, Al felt discomfort and confusion with ordinary routines related to phones, break time and workplace jargon. In this next phase of our work together, we designed three customized action plans, which helped Al succeed with the more social side of office responsibilities.

Jack: “When it comes to the job he was hired to do, Al is outstanding. But when people skills are required, he flounders. He goes off topic or seems confused about what people do in ordinary daily situations.”

Jack decided he would work directly and discreetly with Al, to help him feel less ‘centered out’ for this personalized training program. Co-workers had ‘supporting roles’ but Jack was the one-to-one trainer and advocate for Al.

We created action plans for these three social aspects of office life:
1. Telephone Conversation Skills
2. Flexibility and Feelings of Fitting In
3. Expressions of Speech

Goal #1 Telephone Conversation Skills

Jack: “Sometimes we have to rely on Al to cover phones for parts of the day when the office is short on staff. Al tells me he has had some bad experiences trying to figure out what to say on the phone. I can see he is anxious about this.”

The Plan: Al and Jack created a phone answering ‘script sheet’ that gave Al the words and phrases for opening greetings, message taking, transferring calls, general comments about who to speak to for what, and a few social niceties. They role played privately in Jack’s office. Jack asked Al to keep his conversations business-like brief. Al’s scripted answer to “How are you today?” was “Fine, thank you.” since Al was sometimes tempted to answer with enthusiastic details more appropriate for social conversation with friends. If someone’s question threw him a curve, Al’s SOS script was “Please hold for someone who can help you.” and immediately transfer the call to Jack or Jack’s assistant. Al’s phone skills grew and on his own initiative, he spent time sitting in areas where he could listen and learn from co-workers fielding phone calls.

Goal #2 Flexibility and Feelings of Fitting In

Jack: “Al gets fixated on his work. It’s a quality that turns into a disadvantage at times. Other things come with this job! Time is open ended for Al! I want him to know when to focus on something else that needs to be taken care of, or even just have lunch.”

The Plan: This was a two-step plan: 1. Jack worked with Al to clarify and prioritize tasks that could be done over time, and tasks that had deadlines that were more pressing. He explained to Al that it was important and encouraged to stop and take breaks on occasions that threw the usual routine off schedule, such as an office staff meeting or a birthday gathering.

2. Jack and Al collaborated on a set of guiding questions, which helped to steer Al into another activity, if necessary. To help him break focus and evaluate, Al set his watch to beep three times a day to remind him to review his questions list:

• "Is there something else I need to tend to right now?”
• “Is something going on that everyone else is a part of?”
• "What do I need to do before getting back to my work?"
Al faithfully relied on his ‘guiding questions’ once he experienced how good it felt to fit in with the normal office rhythms.

Goal #3 Expressions of Speech

Office life had its own culture and early on Al was grappling with language that, for him, was a garble of confusing messages.

Jack: “Al is really mystified by phrases we all take for granted here. When we use expressions new to Al, like ‘shift gears’ or ‘hit the ground running’ I can see he is baffled. When a co-worker said “I am fit to be tied,” Al did not make the connection that his co-worker was feeling short of patience and frustrated.

The Plan: Al was encouraged to be honest and ask people to rephrase statements or instructions he did not understand. One of Al’s strengths was memory for information so once he understood he was on board when the expression came up again. His co-workers were very kind in helping him with work-place vocabulary and Al enjoyed that support. It was thrilling for him to experience the feeling of belonging in this office, so it got to be something of a game for Al to find new work related figures of speech.

In Closing:

These action plans took time and planning, but were successful because Jack saw the long-term value in the commitment required. And Al, who was painfully aware of his social skill ‘deficits’ was receptive to the program and delighted with the good feelings that come with support and progress.

This is a case study companion article to Help Your Employee With Asperger Syndrome Get into the Flow of Your Office Routines

Copyright Ellen Mossman-Glazer 2006. All rights reserved. You are welcome to share or reprint this article, providing it remains as written with all contact and copyright information included along with a link to http://artofbehaviorchange.com This content is coaching and education and not intended to take the place of psychological services, where advised and appropriate.