Social skills in other cultures

In a typical developing brain of a child, studies have proven that the orbital pre-frontal cortex is responsible for learning and developing social skills.  On the contrary, studies have suggested that damage to the pre-frontal cortex plays a role in the last of social skills in autistic individuals.    Whereas typically developing children are able to mature and pick on up social skills, studies suggest that autistic children required to learn social skills.   

When it comes to teaching social skills to autistic individuals, these social skills are not universal.  What one social cue may mean in one culture may mean something else in another culture.  According to Dr. Temple Grandin, pointing to a rest room may is okay in the united states.  Whereas, if you visit China, you are required to use your whole hand.   Additionally, learning social skill can also come with language barriers as well.    While one culture might thing that a certain word is phrase is ok, another might think that the word or phrase is offensive.   Sometimes, it’s not always to easy to help an individual understand what is appropriate and what isn’t.

However, you don’t have to necessarily deal with barriers from another ethnic group from yourself.  Rather, I have found that different cultures can be from different classes.

-For instance, I attended the same black-tie event a few years in a row and happened to remember a dress that the executive director was wearing.  Then when I went another year, I mentioned it to her in front of her friends.  At that point, she called me out and said my comments were not appropriate and grabbed the behavior specialist.  They both explained to me that an unwritten rule is not to mention when a gown is borrowed.

1.Whether you were autistic or not, what similar scenarios have you run into?

2. Have you ever been to other cultures where the social skills and cues were different than your own?