My 14-year-old son does not understand appropriate body contact with different people and will hug strangers in the street.
Understanding boundaries and body language can be very difficult for people with autism to understand: I hug my friends in the playground, why can't I hug someone I meet in the street?
Social stories / circle concept
You may need to explain where and with whom it is appropriate to have different levels of body contact. This can be done by writing a social story on a topic such as ‘why we hug our friends but not strangers’. For more information on how to write a social story, please visit our web page on social stories and comic strip conversations.
A circle concept can also be used. This is a visual way of providing rules about which people it is ok to hug and kiss, and which people it is not. Some people might not understand the different ways we can show affection: I like the look of that person, why shouldn't I hug them? If that is the case, you may need to provide rules on alternative ways to show affection, ie you can wave to people or in the cases of people you do know, write them a card or a letter.
General social skills
You may also need to provide some further teaching around general social skills training. What do people do when they first meet people, how do they say goodbye? This could be done in part using videos of favourite television programmes by going over scenes and talking about the body language used, who hugged who, etc.
Inappropriate touching
For some people with autism, inappropriate touching may be the result of the physiological changes in their body language during puberty which could lead to a curiosity between the differences in their body and others'. If this happens, a rule needs to be quickly established that such touching is private and should not be done to anyone else. You may need to explain which parts of the body are 'private' and not to be touched. This can be done using a diagram of the body.