Emotional and Meaningful Approach to the Group Work: Informal Interaction among Young People with ASD in the “Club” Project

Objectives. The long-term group work with adolescents and adults with ASD, which is presented in the article, aims to organize free, informal interaction between them in a specially organized environment. The relevance of such work within the framework of the Club project is related to the difficulties of adaptation and interaction remaining to vary ing degrees in people with ASD, their passivity in communication; the novelty is due to its duration and duration of tracking the catamneses of the group members (more than 20 years). Methods. Over the years, 22 people with ASD, whose age is currently from 16 to 38 years old, have become partici pants in the project. Weekly meetings are held on the basis of various types of activities, among which the most im portant place is occupied by a joint conversation, exchange of news and impressions among participants. An adapted environment is described: predictable, safe, friendly, in which it is possible to stimulate free spontaneous interaction of young people with ASD with their peers. Tracking the dynamics of participants is carried out through observation, conversations with themselves and with family members, as well as through the analysis of working videos from dif ferent years. The functions of the specialists leading the meetings are listed: moderation of the conversation, monitor ing the implementation of the rules and the condition of each participant, stimulating interest and emotional involve ment in communication. The specifics of the work of the specialists are related to the need for coordinated actions, a dosed appeal to their own experiences and experiences in the process of informal communication. Results. The positive dynamics in the interaction of the members of the “Club” project with each other, in the development of their social skills, is described. The remaining passivity in communication and the weakness of spontaneous interaction between group members is also noted. Conclusions: It is said about the possibility of psychological development of a person with ASD in favorable conditions during adult age periods; but if the work on organizing informal communication had been started at primary school age, then its developmental potential would have been significantly higher.