soap operas

[edithjefferson]

I've heard a few times, both in online forums and IRL, the suggestion that for ASD children soap operas can be a good way to help understand people, motivation for how they behave, empathising with situations, etc. I'm wondering if anyone agrees with this or has found it helpful for their dcs? I'm autistic, as is my 14 yr old. I don't watch soaps and tend to like more factual stuff (whether tv, books, etc), but I'm intrigued by this idea - I wonder if it might help me as well as my dc.

I've heard that too. I wouldn't recommend soap operas to teach actual social conventions, motivations etc. I find them completely over the top and thoroughly unrealistic. They have to be because otherwise there would be no story line.

I'm NT but DD and XP have autism - I suspect that if I told them to watch Eastenders and use it as a guide, they either wouldn't be able to (because they would just see people on screen doing incomprehensible things) or they would model it exactly and my life would turn into a scene on Albert Square with screaming, double dealing and random provocation.

Sounds like it could be a mistake to start watching! I don't want all that drama happening in my house

I can't remember where I saw it suggested for autistic kids, but I often hear friends discussing soaps in terms of characters' decisions, motivations, emotions, etc, also I sometimes read things online about how a soap has handled a difficult topic sensitively, so that made me wonder what dc would make of soaps. I find it difficult to 'read' people - their motivation, emotions, etc, and I worry that being autistic means I'm not providing dc with much insight into those areas. But maybe it's just not something you can outsource!

My autistic DD liked to watch them anyway, so teaching her about the invisible communication that NTs do whilst using those as a reference really helped her own communication skills and comprehension. I've posted on these boards about it quite a bit, advocating it as one way to help understand the stuff NTs seem to pick up 'by osmosis' and our kids don't.

Things like the snide remarks, the eyerolls, the pointed looks between two characters, the tone of voice whilst saying something pleasant but that tone making it totally the opposite, all of these things and often the facial expressions and to an extent body language too can be quite exaggerated in soaps, therefore easier for me to point out.

The plotlines are also quite exaggerated and simple to follow, so it's easy to see when a character does something bad and ask how DD thinks that would make the person on the receiving end of that behaviour feel. Watching someone be nice to another character's face then being horrible about them behind their back is often featured, as is one character faking friendship then exploiting another character's innocence for their own ends. .

Also, the soaps and their plotlines were a very popular social topic at school so having insight into the characters and their nature helped DD join in general conversation with her peers about them.

I'd not recommend soaps to be used as any form of communication instructions to be emulated, but rather use them to spot all the usually hidden inferences in NT communication. They are generally so exaggerated and easier to see in soaps than in dramas and films.

Thanks BlankTimes - that's so interesting about the exaggerated plotlines and understanding all those things like people not saying what they mean. I'm wondering if it feels a bit false to use it as a way to help dcs when it's not just something that's on in the house anyway, but I'll watch a few episodes and see what I think. Which would you recommend, Coronation Street or Eastenders?

I'm more familiar with Corrie, but watch a few of both on your own and see which you think your kids would relate to best.

If they are too different to be relateable, try few others and see if they have the right 'feel' I'd say Emmerdale is another one. The older series of both Corrie and Emmerdale are on in the afternoons and I find them both even much more transparent to watch than the modern day ones. Things move slowly.
Soaps usually have episodes lasting about 30 minutes, so they don't exhaust someone's attention span quite as easily as longer series or films.

Failing that, old series made for TV like 'Diagnosis Murder' or 'Magnum PI' where again the characters are portrayed in the same way as they are in soaps and the whole thing is acted so there's no confusion about a character's intent - to the NT audience - but quite easy to spot for everyone else too.

Disney films with people are also great for showing the goodies and baddies and outlining plotlines simply.

Basically, you need to find something they are interested in, then see what they are picking up on and what's going over their heads.

Don't discount things like Shaun the Sheep. Even though there's no dialogue, the characters' intentions are often made very clear by exaggerated facial expressions and the way the characters physically move in relation to each other.
All the Aardman Studios productions are great for this, like all the Wallace and Grommit stories and Morph.

Hope there's something that will work for you there