Making and keeping friends doesn't come easy for children with autism spectrum disorders. Many children need to be taught a range of strategies directed at expanding their social understanding skills, such as reading facial expressions and body language. Friendly Facts, an interactive workbook aimed at children ages 7-11, addresses these challenges by breaking down the complex concept of making friends into simpler ideas. Through fun, engaging activities, children gain real-life knowledge of the major "secrets" of making and keeping friends. By gaining the foundation for making and keeping friends at a crucial age, children are better prepared for successfully interacting with others for the rest of their lives.

An Early-Years K-3 Group Program for Developing Social Understanding and Social Competence for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Related Challenges by Dr. Margaret Anne Carter and Josie Santomauro

This interactive social skills program, developed for students with ASD and other social cognitive challenges, takes students on a journey into space. Here they learn major social skills, including understanding emotions, feelings and thinking patterns, reflective problem solving, stress release, dealing with bullying, goal setting and self-regulation. The space theme is sure to appeal to students in 4-5 grade. An accompanying student manual gives students a permanent record of their accomplishments and allow teachers and parents to review and assess children’s progress.

A new resource by Dr. Margaret Carter and Josie Santomauro
Cool Comics is a fun method to teach children constructive ways of responding to/in social situations. The main character in the comic scenes experiences all sorts of challenges in the social world. The comics illustrate how to respond to these challenges using positive self-talk. Students are introduced to resolving social conflicts in a positive manner.

This resource consists of five comics centred around school scenes, eg: how to deal with bullying on the playground to asking for help in the classroom, with prompts to assist with feelings, thinking and doing. Also included is a guide for adults to further discuss comic scenes with students.