Social Skills and Autism Resources - Milestone HCQU West Blog

This past summer the family of 20 year old Graham Sierota, the drummer for the band Echosmith, released a statement to people magazine about his diagnosis of Autism and general lack of understanding of social cues. It was discovered that Mr. Sierota had been messaging the 13 year old daughter of Travis Barker, the drummer for Blink-132, since she was 10 years old. Prior to it being known that Mr. Sierota had a diagnosis of Autism, Mr. Barker referred to this behavior as “predatory” and “sick”. The Sierota family states about Graham’s Autism: “In fact, it is a truly beautiful and wonderful thing that makes Graham the amazing brother, son, and friend that he is.” The statement says “His outlook on life inspires us every day. He’ll be the first one to say ‘today is gonna be the best day ever,’ or, ‘you’re my best friend and you look amazing today.’ He sees the world as the happiest place, where everyone is a potential friend, and he wants everyone to feel included.”

The family concluded the People Magazine statement by saying they will continue to work with Graham “to have the right tools and knowledge about social boundaries, and to better navigate and utilize social media while he takes a break from it. We hope anyone who’s been affected, and in turn felt uncomfortable, can accept our deepest apologies.” It is great that the Sierota Family had the ability to clear up the misunderstanding that took place by releasing a statement and furthering the understanding of the complexities of Autism Spectrum Disorder. However, not many people would have that public of a platform. How many people we support would have been questioned and accused of counterfeit deviance? Counterfeit Deviance is when a person with an intellectual disability /Autism presents with an inappropriate sexual behavior, but asks that the individual be understood in the context of the lives they lived as a result of attitudes, practices, and protocols. One of the ways to combat misunderstandings and counterfeit deviance is to provide opportunities to learn and practice social skills. In Pennsylvania, we have a great network of resources with the ASERT. There are many trainings, tools, and support groups that can be located on their website at www.paautism.org. Below are a few resources that could be used to help a person who is struggling with social skills.

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