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Social Interactions in Adolescents: Autism in Japan vs. the USA

Rachel Shively

Department of Education, Wittenberg University

EDUC 213: Adolescent Development and Education

Dr. Layla Besson

March 15, 2021

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Social Interactions in Adolescents: Autism in Japan vs. the USA

Woodrow Wilson once stated that “Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the

world together.” Friendships come and go, but the interactions and social skills that develop

through them are essential helping people stay content and feel connected. Sometimes people

have difficulties creating these connections with their peers. Children with Autism Spectrum

Disorder (ASD) frequently have a difficult time in forming friendships. This may create a gap in

their development during adolescence through not creating their relationship skills. These

relational skills are necessary for transitions in life and into adulthood. Adolescents with autism

can feel excluded from their peers leading to behavioral and emotional problems. The effect that

friendships have on every individual is significant. All over the world, adolescents with autism

have a more difficult time developing these friendships effecting their social interactions and

emotional needs.

Autism in Japan

Adolescents with autism, specifically in Japan, have an available program that helps them

form relational skills to improve the likelihood of forming friendships. The program is called

PEERS – the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills. This program

focuses on three main ideas in enriching and developing skills for the adolescents involved. The

article Examining the Treatment Efficacy of PEERS in Japan: Improving Social Skills Among

Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder, helps explain these parts of the program. The first

uses instruction that draws from cognitive behavioral therapy that helps teach social skills. The

next idea uses parent-mediated intervention that has been shown to improve the social skills. The

third focuses on the sections of the program that state that each section “includes concrete rules

and steps for ecologically valid social skills exhibited by the typically developing adolescent.”
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The article also focuses on research that was discovered and focused on the importance of social

interactions in adolescents with ASD.

The researchers’ “purpose of the present study was to adapt the PEERS intervention for a

new cultural context and to examine the effectiveness of PEERS in improving the social

functioning of adolescents with ASD without intellectual disabilities in Japan.” They studied

various hypotheses and concluded “that with minor cultural changes, PEERS is effective in

improving social skills related to making and keeping friends for adolescents with ASD in

Japan.” Through this knowledge, they alleged that through programs and practice children with

autism can improve their socialization and skills in making friends.

Autism in the United States

In 2019, Pecukonis discussed the importance of verbal communication in children with

autism spectrum disorder. They reference that children with ASD often have less verbal

communication skills than typically developing children. However, if these skills are not reached

at an early age, it is harder for children to develop them in adolescence. The publisher Burton, in

2020, described the importance of social interactions, specifically in females with autism, and

found that these girls often are better at creating social connections than boys with ASD.

However, they are not as skilled as typically developing females. This may cause a gap between

the females during adolescence and cause emotional trauma on girls with autism.

Japanese Adolescents Versus American Adolescents

Overall, the adolescents with autism spectrum disorder in both countries are similar. All

of them have a more difficult time forming friendships and creating the social connections with

their peers. In Japan they found similar finding to those in the United States. Japan pushed the

idea of involvement in programs, specifically PEERS, while the United States had a greater push
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on the practice of verbal communication in adolescents with ASD. Both countries believed in the

importance of practicing social skills, with the goal of allowing them to develop to their greatest

potential. They both conclude that the skills can mature and help adolescents with ASD make

friends, grow relationships, and be content.

Conclusions and Reflections

In totality, the effects of social interactions in adolescents influence their life’s trajectory.

These relational skills should be implemented in the classroom throughout all grades, but

specifically in adolescence – the time where bonds are necessary to grow interrelated skills. An

educator could include more group activities and peer discussions in their classroom. This could

help students with ASD form connections through classwork, which would be something the

students have in common. However, it does not only benefit students with autism because each

and every student learns from interactions – large and small. Activities in the classroom can

create acquaintances that develop into friendships. At home, parents can help practice the

necessary skills with their children. They can verbally remind their children during conversations

and practice various types of interactions with them. These types of activities help adolescents

with autism practice the key skills for various types of relationships, so that they can perform

them in their everyday life. Friendships are one type of relationship that help form bonds

between students that material possessions and schoolwork cannot bring to them. These types of

bonds are necessary to help people stay content and feel connected to the world. Educators can

play a significant role in cementing our students’ friendships with each other, furthering

President Wilson's vision

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References

Burton, J.M., Creaghead, N.A., Silbert, N., Breit-Smith, A., Duncan, A. W., & Grether, S. M.

(2020). Social Communication and Structural Language of Girls With High-Functioning

Autism Spectrum Disorder. Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools, 51(4),

1139-1155. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-20-00004

Pecukonis, M., Plesa Skwerer, D., Eggleston, B., Meyer, S., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2019).

Concurrent Social Communication Predictors of Expressive Language in Minimally

Verbal Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism &

Developmental Disorders, 49(9), 3767-3785. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04089-

Yamada, T., Miura, Y., Oi, M., Akatsuka, N., Tanaka, K., Tsukidate, N., Yamamoto, T., Okuno,

H., Nakanishi, M., Taniike, M., Mohri, I., & Laugeson, E. A. (2020). Examining the

Treatment Efficacy of PEERS in Japan: Improving Social Skills Among Adolescents

with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 50(3),

976-997. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04325-1