Melissa Juzva appeared on Mitchell’s Front Page, looking at a new social skills program to help autistic young adults which will be introduced in Australia. The PEERS Program (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) aims to help people find and maintain friendships and navigate challenging social scenarios. The program offers the following tips: Being teased or mocked DON’T: Tease the teaser. Giving tit for tat when one is being teased might be a natural response, but this tactic gives a teaser the reaction they are looking for. DO: Guys act like they do not care; women have an attitude. When a guy acts as though the teasing is boring or uninteresting, and when a woman acts as though what was just said was foolish or meaningless, teasers do not get the reaction they want. This makes it less fun for them, discouraging them from continuing. Finding friends – and handling rejection DON’T: Continue to try to befriend someone that has rejected you. If a person does not seek them out, or ignores their repeated attempts to talk, it is important for the young adult to not persist in contacting them. DO: Find friends by exploring common interests. Someone interested in chess [...]