At a recent dinner, I was discussing with a child psychiatrist the increased prevalence of autism. We agreed that part of the reason was an increased awareness (and consequently detection) among the many people that are in contact with a developing child: i.e teachers, parents, pediatricians etc… Is this increased awareness of how children relate to others due to a shift in societal values? To what extent does social media/technology contribute to this new emphasis on social interaction? We do know that digital technology has dramatically increased the speed, and breadth of social interactions and, in the case of social media, fundamentally changed the dynamics in which people are communicating. Thankfully, despite the newest iteration in technology, the same rules for social interaction in the classroom, playground, and kitchen still apply. For this reason, I found "Teaching Your Child the Language of Social Success" (Duke, Nowicki, Martin) very useful and a great read for parents.

This book came out in 1996-the internet was just starting to enter our lives with early versions of web browsers and sites like Ebay. Unconcerned with this burgeoning digital media, these authors were examining the social qualities in children that causes them not to "fit in" in daily activities and how to remediate those deficiencies. This child may be described as tactless, insensitive, dumb (although they are usually average or above average intelligence), lacking in social maturity, difficulty perceiving danger, rules. The feelings of sadness, bewilderment, and anxiety often accompany this social-perceptual disability. The authors wrote the book for parents and for teachers and they start by explaining the difference between verbal and non-verbal communication. One interesting point the authors make is that "body language" is only one component of non-verbal communication and that paralanguage, rhythm, gestures, tone are all important too. Another interesting point they make is that much effort by parents and educators is spent on the formal training of verbal communication whereas all of our non-verbal communication is learned through non-formalized teaching/experience.

This book, which is very easy to read, is an attempt to formalize the education of non-verbal skills in children and it was fantastic. The authors parse out how space, touch, facial expression, gestures, "objectics" can all color our verbal communication. The easy format of the book will help any parent or teacher employ exercises to teach children these qualities and help them pick up on social cues in many environments. I would recommend "Teaching Your Child the Language of Social Success" (Duke, Nowicki, Martin) to any parent who wonders why their (very bright) child is struggling in social situations either at home or at school. –Daniel Weissbluth