Unique treatment...The Office!

[Guest guest]

I have to share something I've recently started with my son (12, Aspergers.)

Some of you will think I'm nuts, but I had to post a new topic with this

information b/c I think it's so funny/interesting/cool.

My son has a good sense of humor, when he understands what's going on. He can

usually get in-your-face obvious social cues, but the subtle cues are tough.

We've been watching The Office together (I record it using DVR) and I pay

attention to when he's not getting it (like I'm about to cry I'm laughing so

hard and I can tell he's struggling to put it all together.) I'll pause it and

break down the scenes and explain what was happening in detail. The Office is a

great tool b/c a lot of the humor is dry and subtle, exactly what Dylan has a

hard time picking up. Sometimes when I start to explain what's going on, he'll

catch on and figure out the whole scene. But oftentimes, I have to walk through

each interaction. Once I explain it to him, he totally gets why it's funny.

But a lot of his hang ups are explaining things like " when Dwight said (x), Pam

thought (a,b, and c) " . Him understanding how a character might be interpreting

what someone says or does is the hardest part for him. But like I said, once I

explain how one character is interepreting another character's behavior, he

totally gets it.

I just thought this was a great way to teach him how to read social cues. It's

a comedy show, we can watch it at night when my younger daughter is asleep so

it's just the two of us, and since it's recorded, after I explain all of the

scene, I'll rewind it and we'll watch it again so he can put it all together.

I know life isn't always like The Office, but I thought this was an especially

neat way of helping our pre-teen/teen children learn social cues, how to read

situations, inference, etc... in a " cool " , non-threatening, and enjoyable way.

So get your DVRs ready and start recording The Office!