Pragmatics; Tea Houses

Individuals with deficits in "pragmatics" exhibit difficulty with social language and/or social norms.  Anyone can have difficulty in this area, but it is especially prevalent in individuals with autism and Asperger's syndrome.  Social language often needs to be explicitly taught to those in need.  Reviewing social "rules" is a great start, but practice is the key.  Anytime children leave the home is an opportunity to implement proper pragmatics.  A nice place to start, though, may be visiting one of Pittsburgh's tea houses.  Tea houses are not only known for etiquette, but also provide a calm and structured setting for practice.  Start at a tea party in your home, and then move onto the real-deal. 

Image retrieved from http://besidethetrail.ca/tearoom/menu.html

To increase social language, there are three main areas to pay attention to.  The first is following the rules for language interaction: take turns during a conversation, understand facial expressions, maintain eye contact, stay on topic, etc.  The second area is using language for varying purposes: social markers ("hello," "goodbye," "thank you"), requesting ("May I have some sugar?"), informing ("I need to get a napkin."), etc.  The third area is adjusting language to the needs of the situation: using an indoor voice instead of an outdoor voice, introducing yourself to others, providing context, etc.

More ideas for teaching pragmatics may be found at: http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/PragmaticLanguageTips/

Some tea houses in Pittsburgh are Antiquitea Home (Pittsburgh), Just My Cup of Tea (Oakmont), Dobra Tea (Pittsburgh), The Zenith (Pittsburgh), Miss Martha's Tea Room and Floral (Scottdale), The Johnston House (Mars), Bella's House of Fine Teas and Gift Shop (Bethel Park), Alexandra's Tea Room (Springdale), Serendipity Tea Room and Cafe (Belle Vernon).  Please post below on how your outings at the tea houses go.  I haven't had the luxury of visiting any of these (although Zenith has been on my to-do list for years), but they all look beautiful!