Helping

Students

Develop

Social Skills

INCREASING SOCIAL

COMPETENCE

Donna JohnstonEDUC 524 - Introduction to Special Education

Fall 2011

Social skills are a collection of isolated and discrete learned behaviors including: Listening to others Following the rules Ignoring distractions Asking for help Taking turns when you talk Getting along with others Staying calm with others Being responsible for your behavior Doing nice things for others

WHAT ARE SOCIAL SKILLS?

Richard Lavoie defines social competence as “the smooth, sequentialuse of social skills in aneffort to establish an ongoing social interaction”.

WHAT IS SOCIAL COMPETENCE?

Does formalized research support the concept that individuals with learning disabilities often have deficient or ineffective social skills?

YES!

SOCIAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT

are more likely to choose socially unacceptable behaviors in social situations

are less able to solve social problems

are less likely to predict consequences for their social behavior

are less likely to adjust to the characteristics of their listeners in discussions or conversations

are less able to accomplish complex social interactions successfully

are less adaptable to new social situations

RESEARCH INDICATES THAT INDIVIDUALS WITH LEARNING

DISABILITIES:

are more often the objects of negative and non-supportive statements, criticisms, warnings, and negative nonverbal reactions from teachers

are more likely to be judged negatively by adults after informal observation

have less tolerance for frustration and failure

use oral language that tis less mature, meaningful or concise

have diff iculty interpreting or inferring the language of others

are more likely to be isolated or rejected by their peers

RESEARCH INDICATES THAT INDIVIDUALS WITH LEARNING

DISABILITIES:

What can I do?

How can I help?

TEACHERS PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN PROMOTING

THE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF

ALL OUR STUDENTS

Effective techniques in the evaluation and monitoring of social skill deficits:

Sociometric devices – instruments designed to evaluate an individual’s relative popularity within a peer group

Teacher-ranking systems – requires the teacher to record and measure the frequency of each child’s social interactions with classmates

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Behavior-rating scales – used to measure a specific child’s social behavior. Completed by parents, teachers, or peers

Interviews – often effective because it does not require extensive reading or writing skills

EVALUATING AND MONITORING (CONT.)

No.

Research and observation indicate that some learning disabled students have a degree of social competence that is equal to or superior to their peers.

DO ALL INDIVIDUALS

WITH LEARNINGDISABILITIES EXPERIENCE SOCIAL SKILL DIFFICULTIES?

Once we have identified students who are lacking effective social skills there are several strategies designed to foster social competence using instruction, positive reinforcement, rewards, nonverbal signals, and modeling. These will assist children to exhibit appropriate behavior in a wide variety of social situations.

HOW CAN I HELP?

Clearly demonstrate acceptance of and affection for the isolated or rejected child.

IN ORDER TO TEACH SOCIAL COMPETENCE THE TEACHER MUST:

Become a “talent scout” – attempt to determine specific interests, hobbies or strengths of the rejected child.

Assist the child by making him aware of the traits that are widely-accepted and admired by his peers. Among these are:

• smiles/laughs• greets others • extends invitations• converses• shares• gives compliments

IN ORDER TO TEACH SOCIAL COMPETENCE THE TEACHER MUST:

Work on one behavior or social skill at a time. This will lead to less confusion and more responsiveness to your intervention.

Teach empathy. Encourage the child to be more understanding of the feelings of others.

Design a nonverbal “signal system” to use with the child in social situations.

IN ORDER TO TEACH SOCIAL COMPETENCE THE TEACHER MUST:

Continually reinforce social information. Many social skills deficits are causes by a lack of basic social understanding.

Establish a reward system to reinforce and recognize appropriate social behavior.

Make modifications to accommodate for the child with a learning problem and make transitions easier.

IN ORDER TO TEACH SOCIAL COMPETENCE THE TEACHER MUST:

Finally…

never underestimate the effect of positive modeling. Be certain your behavior mirrors the skills that you are teaching your students.

The eff ectiveeducator

must remember

that children go to school for a l iving.

School is their job,

their l ivelihood,

their identity.

School plays a critical role in a

child’s social development.

Lavoie, R. (2005). It’s So Much Work to be Your Friend: Helping the Child with Learning Disabilities Find Social Success. New York, NY:

Touchstone.Bronson, M., Clearly, M. & Hubbard, B. (2009). Teen Health. Woodland Hills, CA:Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Companies.Friend, M. (2011). Special education: Contemporary perspectives for school professionals (3 r d Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:Pearson Education, Inc. Haager, D., Watson, C. & Willows, D. (1995). Parent, Teacher, Peer, and Self- Reports of the Social Competence of Students with Learning Disabilities, Journal of Learning Disabilities, Volume 28, Number 4/April 1995, 205-215.Lavoie, R. (2002). Social Competence and the Child With Learning Disabilities., “Dos and Don’ts” for Fostering Social Competence, The

Teacher’s Role in Developing Social Skills. ricklavoie.com. Retrieved from http://www.ricklavoie.com/articles.html

Vanderbilt University (September 26, 2007). Top 10 Social Skills Students Need to Succeed . Newswise . Retrieved from http://www.newswise.com/articles/top-10-social-skills-students-

need-to-succeed

REFERENCES