Children learn various social skills starting at a young age. Social skills shape how a child is able to interact with others, form and maintain social bonds, and can affect a child socially, emotionally, as well as their academic achievement.
Populations at risk of having difficulties with social language include the following:
- Individuals with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability or Asperger Syndrome
- Middle and high school students
- Students with behavioral problems
Individuals who have difficulties with social communication may present with difficulties in the following areas, including:
- Following the rules of discussion (i.e., acknowledging and listening to what others have to say, taking turns during conversation, difficulty answering or asking questions to seek or clarify information, topic maintenance)
- Engaging with other individuals, whether it be one on one or in a group setting
- Expressing their own ideas
- Reporting on past events
- Understanding figurative language
- Use of eye contact
- Establishing and maintaining social bonds
- Initiating, joining and terminating conversation
- Problem solving and organizational skills
If you feel your child demonstrates difficulties in social communication, they may qualify for school-based speech and language intervention and could also benefit from individual intervention in an outpatient setting. It is important to target these skills in the child’s natural environment and not just in the therapy room. In the school setting, therapy sessions may take place at lunch, in the gym, at the play ground or on field trips. Most individuals may need one on one direct intervention in order to understand the different rules of communication and then practice applying those skills in other settings. Parents/caregivers play a vital role in generalization of skills outside of the school and therapy environment.
Strategies that can be used by service providers and/or parents to help individuals with social communication difficulties, include, but are not limited to the following:
- Picture schedules
- Role playing interactions
- Showing the child videos of positive and negative interactions
- Utilizing social stories, etc.
As service providers in a pediatric therapy setting, it is important to be aware of the difficulties most of our patients may experience with social communication and how we can help incorporate different learning techniques and strategies into their plan of care in order to enhance these skills. In addition, parents/caregivers should be educated on different strategies and techniques that can be carried over into the home environment and out in the community in order to promote generalization of skills.
Thank you for reading!
Reference:
Flynn, P. (2020). Social Language Skills for All Chidlren [Power Point presentation]. Retrieved from MedbridgeEducation.com. https://www.medbridgeeducation.com/courses/details/social-language-skills-for-all-students-perry-flynn