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Social interaction skill


Social Skills - Perkins School for the Blind

By Courtney Tabor-Abbott

To begin thinking about social skills, let us visit one of the most significant social settings that students encounter nearly every day. For some, school lunchtime is a welcome break from classwork, a time to socialize, gossip and goof around. For others, it is a dreaded time of day, full of anxieties about where to sit or about being teased. Parents, kids, and teachers know that the lunchroom is a huge component of a student’s social world. The cafeteria is where kids can talk together and laugh together, where social roles and hierarchies are established, where kids become well aware of their status. It is a place where social skills are key. The social cues a student must observe or understand are endless. When a student enters her school cafeteria, she must know how to wait in line for her lunch, how to pay and thank the person at the counter. She pays attention to the body language of the people around her in order to pick a place to sit. She uses her own body language and conversation skills to talk with the people at her lunch table. Maybe she shares a cookie with her friend, or tries to trade her turkey sandwich with the kid next to her, whose food looks more appealing. Nearly everything she does during her lunch period relies on her specific understanding of social skills and the rules of particular social interactions.

While many of the activities described above may seem natural, the common social activities of students in a lunchroom or elsewhere are generally understood through visual observation and a perception of visual cues. When a student has a vision impairment, these social expectations may not be automatically absorbed because they are not perceived visually. Social interaction skills are a component of the Expanded Core Curriculum because students who are blind or visually impaired often require specific, intentional instruction to understand the intricacies of how to interact in the social world. Without particular social skills instruction, school lunch could be a particularly challenging and isolating time of day, even without the added orientation and mobility challenges that a cafeteria presents. Having strong social skills is crucial for students with vision impairments to avoid social isolation and to live a life that is rich and replete with connection to family, friends, and the community.

What are social interaction skills?

Social interaction skills refer to any skills needed to make social connections and build relationships. Social interaction skills enable an individual to interact with others, develop friendships, cultivate self-esteem, and become an accepted member of a society. Social interaction skills are a very broad category, but include many of the following:

  • Conversation skills:  This includes skills of expressive and receptive language, understanding turn taking in a conversation, understanding how and when to use small talk, using follow-up questions, conversation topics, and ways to begin and end a conversation appropriately.
  • Nonverbal communication:  This includes teaching a student with a visual impairment about the use of facial expressions and body language. This can also involve learning to perceive meaning in social situations without visual perception of nonverbal cues.
  • Cooperation skills:  These skills can include the ability to share, take turns, handle disagreements, and be assertive. 
  • Rules of social interaction:  Social rules vary by culture, subculture, environment, and social group. These rules can include things like how to greet one another, rules of physical contact, and expectations of social roles. This can also involve the rules of specific social rituals (how to shake hands, how to behave on a first date, how to do the wave while in the stands at a favorite sporting event).
  • Social environments and boundaries:  This refers to an understanding of how behavior should differ from one environment to another (i. e. the way we eat dinner at home may be different from the way we eat at a restaurant). This also refers to the social boundaries and rules of interacting with various types of people. For example, we may hug our friends but should not hug a stranger. We may complain to our family members about our job, but it is not appropriate to complain to our supervisor.

Social Interaction Skills and Transition

Social interaction skills are essential for a successful transition in all aspects of a student’s life, including work, education, home, and community life. These skills are equally important for students of all abilities and needs. A student with complex needs who is entering an adult day program will use social interaction skills in order to communicate needs and desires with family members and program staff. A student transitioning to work after high school will find that strong social skills are necessary to find and retain employment. Someone who is planning to go to college will need to understand how to get along with his roommate. Arguably most important of all, students with any and all transition goals need social skills to build healthy relationships. For students who are blind or visually impaired, finding and making friends can be challenging for a number of reasons. However, building strong social skills can be one of the key components of connecting with others, cultivating friendships, or finding a partner. The human need for social connection is universal, no matter how complex the students’ needs or what they plan to do in their adult life. Strong social interaction skills can open many doors, and for your student who is vision impaired or blind, they can lead to an adult life that is rich with joy and emotional well-being.

By Courtney Tabor-Abbott

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Social Interaction Skills and the Expanded Core Curriculum

Social Interaction Skills and the Expanded Core Curriculum

Well-developed social interaction skills are critical for developing positive self-esteem, building relationships, and ultimately for acceptance into society. To communicate effectively with others, establish friendships, positive social relationships, and be perceived as a likable human being, a person must demonstrate good social skills.

Inherent in social interaction are the verbal or signed expressive and receptive language skills required to carry on a conversation. Understanding and using nonverbal communication skills—the nuances of facial expressions and body language—are also critical social skills used to convey different emotions and feelings.

Social interaction skills are essential for engaging with others; yet, much of the content in this area is typically learned through casual observation of others. Because children who are blind or low vision are unable to casually observe how others interact and engage socially, they need systematic and purposeful instruction in order to learn social skills.

Research has shown that youth with blindness or low vision are at risk in the area of social skills. They also tend to have smaller networks of friends and acquaintances.

Research also showed that there were significant relationships between youth who are blind or low vision engaging in social activities and being employed. The importance of children and adolescents with blindness or low vision participating in structured learning of social skills is supported in research, and these activities can and should be supported by families, the TVI, school staff, and service providers.

Infants and Toddlers

Humans begin to learn social skills in infancy. For young children, social development focuses on bonding and communicating effectively with parents, caregivers, and other significant people in the child’s life.

Infants and toddlers with blindness or low vision may give their caregivers different cues for attention than those given to parents by sighted children. For example, rather than making lots of noise when anticipating a parent’s approach, your child may become quiet as they listen for the parent to come to feed them, change their diapers, comfort them, or play. Parents who are sighted might mistake this quieting as an indication that the child wants to rest or that the infant is not bonding when in actuality, it may indicate just the opposite.

Primary caregivers of infants with blindness or low vision must learn a different “social dance” to ensure effective communication with the child. Instead of visual cues and eye-contact, these interactions use hearing, touch, smell, and taste to establish social connections. These children benefit from caregivers providing auditory descriptions and cues such as speaking to explain what’s happening before touching the baby or bringing food to the child’s mouth.

The parent may also want to hum, whistle, or make other pleasant noises when approaching the child’s room to let the child know someone’s coming.

Interactions with family members in the first three years of life set the course for a child’s social development. Therefore, early intervention is especially important as parents of newborns with visual impairments learn to cope with their feelings about having a child with a visual disability.

Understanding Behaviors

Teaching parents how to read their child’s behaviors can help prevent difficulties later. Parents may need to be encouraged to use touch as a substitute for the visual cues like smiling; for example, massage or cuddling while rocking and using a soothing voice may be more rewarding for the child than things they can’t see. The critical thing is for parents and other caregivers to bond with the child so that they feel safe and loved.

Elementary Age

As children mature, their siblings and other children will play an important role in their social development. For example, siblings and peers might teach children with blindness or low vision skills such as turn-taking and social interactions as they pretend play or play games: “Watch this,” and “Did you see that!?!”

For elementary-aged children, social skills development moves from building relationships within the family to developing relationships with others: classmates and friends as well as teachers or adults in schools and community settings.

Middle School and Beyond

By the time children have entered middle, junior high, and high school, the expectation is that they know the most common social rules for the community in which they live. This means that children and adolescents with blindness or low vision need to have learned most of the basic social skills that will enable them to achieve their social goals.

At this stage in their lives, they will be expected to recognize social challenges, problem solve, and resolve those difficulties. However, teachers and family members may need to provide verbal feedback about which social skills seem to be working well and what areas may need more practice. Students with blindness or low vision may miss cues from their sighted peers or others in the community; requiring input from fully sighted friends, family, and teachers to understand the impact of their behaviors on others.

As children grow up, the social skills they learn tend to build upon each other. Therefore, children who are blind or low vision need ongoing instruction in age- and culturally-appropriate social skills.

As students get older, they should be learning more advanced social skills and continue to practice those previously learned. For example, children with blindness or low vision learn many social behaviors that will be expected of them as they enter school and other social environments outside their homes.

  • Differences in how to properly greet and speak with adults versus greeting and speaking to other children (what you can say, what you cannot or should not say, when to speak up, and when to listen).
  • How to communicate effectively with teachers and aides in a classroom setting (raising one’s hand to be called upon, following the rules for when one’s allowed to talk and how loudly, when one is allowed to interrupt and how, etc.).
  • What activities and topics of conversation are of interest to peers on the playground, in the cafeteria, and during informal interaction opportunities such as when waiting for the school bus or parent after school.
  • How closely one is allowed to stand when in conversation.
  • When and where a person is allowed to touch another person.
  • The facial expressions and gestures peers use to convey nonverbal messages.
  • What social behaviors are expected in public: covering your mouth when you sneeze or cough, saying excuse me if you bump someone or step on someone’s toes, saying please and thank-you when asking for or receiving something from someone, and so forth.
  • How to actively participate in social functions and extracurricular activities such as birthday parties, recreational or sporting events, and scouting.
  • How to work effectively with a team of students on group projects.

During middle and high school, youths with blindness or low vision may benefit from structured learning that focuses on problem-solving social dilemmas, such as what to do if someone is rude when the student asks for assistance.

Role Playing

The use of role playing and discussing scenarios may be especially helpful. Social skills can be refined by participating in activities such as drama, debate, and health classes.

Some youths may benefit from more targeted work in support groups or small-group counseling sessions. Adolescents with visual impairments need to feel comfortable discussing their disabilities with others: teachers, related service providers, friends, extended family, employers, and strangers. They must be able to determine who needs to know what about them and how to refuse unneeded or unwanted assistance.

In addition, youths with visual impairments need information about social conventions and popular culture in order to participate in social activities with peers. These activities may involve eating out, dating, or socializing with an individual friend or in groups. This information includes knowing about fashion trends, technology and gadgetry, popular music, sports, movies, and so forth.

  • Developing assertive communication skills and comparing those skills with aggressive or passive communication.
  • Developing an awareness of how others feel when a person uses different types of communication skills.
  • Understanding how to express sexuality appropriately and what to do if others interact inappropriately (coping mechanisms).
  • Ensuring personal safety and well-being outside of the nuclear family (in preparation for living away from home)
  • Negotiating with others—how to reciprocate when necessary and clarifying what the student can and cannot do to contribute in group activities or partnerships.
  • How to set life/career goals and articulate those to others (family, friends, and service providers).
  • Maintaining individuality while being aware of popular culture, trends, and social pressures.

Social interaction skills are best facilitated by a fully qualified TVI who is aware of the social gaps of the student who is blind or low vision and the longer term impact this lack of access or understanding has on the student’s development.

In addition to providing direct instruction to help students develop social awareness and appropriate communication skills, TVI’s must work with the student’s entire IEP team and larger school community to help others effectively support the student’s development of social interaction skills.

Youth with blindness or low vision need multiple sources of support and feedback throughout their community. These include family members, siblings, neighbors, peers, classroom teachers, school counselors, and others the student might regularly encounter in the community.

Youth also benefit from talking with peers and working adults who are also blind or low vision. These mentors are rich sources of information about how they themselves navigate a variety of social interactions.

In addition, social interaction skills should be addressed in IEP goals. However, instruction in social skills is usually not a formal process. Therefore, by working collaboratively with the larger community, teachers of students with visual impairments empower everyone invested in the student’s welfare to seize on teachable moments.

Social skills: what are they and how to develop them

May 22, 2020

Social skills are the skills a person has to successfully interact with others. They allow you to competently conduct a dialogue, improve the quality of communication, and also keep your emotions under control. Many people think that social skills are just about being able to communicate. But this is a misconception. In this article, you can learn in detail about the development, formation and features of social skills.

Types of social skills

Developed social skills allow a person to control his emotional state and express himself in various areas. A person who is able to develop social skills can successfully lead people, have good persuasive power. The formation of such skills allows you to correctly convey the position, using logic or eloquence at the right time.

Social and communication skills include:

  • presenting oneself and greeting another person;
  • control of voice, emotions, keeping calm, sincerity;
  • conducting a conversation and presenting oneself in a team;
  • the ability to accept compliments and respond to criticism.

Methods for developing skills

By developing social skills, a person becomes more charismatic, self-confident and calm. He learns to achieve his goal in life, climbs the career ladder. The main methods of forming social skills are as follows:

  1. Getting someone else's opinion. It is impossible to see your behavior from the outside, so in this case it is worth asking for help from another person who will point out mistakes, advantages and disadvantages. It is desirable to take into account the opinion of several people.
  2. Gaining self-confidence. Having completely relaxed in communication, a person becomes more charming and able to maintain an interesting conversation. If you notice that insecurity prevents you from showing social skills, then you need to eradicate this problem.
  3. Communication with successful people. Social skills can be formed by communicating with people who have managed to achieve great heights in life. When communicating, try to pay attention to how successful people behave. Draw some conclusions for yourself, but avoid imitation. Do not be afraid to make new acquaintances, surround yourself with strong people and, if necessary, ask them for advice.
  4. Practice regularly. Even if you read a lot of smart books and articles, but do not practice, all your skills will come to naught. Try to communicate regularly with people, improving social skills. And the online intensive Wikium "Effective Communication" will help you learn how to interact with people in any situation.

Additional recommendations

All suggested teaching methods are quite simple. You can supplement them with the following recommendations:

  • develop a sense of empathy towards others;
  • be interested in other people's problems and become an active listener;
  • share your stories and learn to listen to others;
  • travel, walk around the city a lot;
  • develop acting talent;
  • learn how to properly resolve conflict situations.

All these simple and uncomplicated rules are significant in the development of social skills. But often people are hindered by fear, insecurity, irascibility, arrogance, excessive gullibility. All these behavioral reactions prevent a person from interacting normally with society and building harmonious relationships. Try to look at life more simply, develop talents, and also work on your shortcomings. Then you will become an excellent interlocutor and will be able to prove yourself.

Social skills of preschoolers - the development of social skills in children

The development of social skills is a necessary point of education. A child with a high degree of socialization will quickly get used to kindergarten, school, any new team; in the future will easily find a job. Social skills have a positive effect on interpersonal relationships - friendship, the ability to cooperate.

Let's figure out what social skills are.

What are social skills and why develop them?

Social skills - a group of skills, abilities that are formed during the interaction of a person with society and affect the quality of communication with people.

Man is a social being: all our talents and aspirations are realized thanks to other members of the group. Others evaluate our actions, approve or condemn our behavior. It is difficult to reach the pinnacle of self-actualization alone.

That is why social skills are important. They should be developed from early childhood and honed throughout life.

Social skills are a reflection of the child's emotional intelligence, to which educators and teachers assign an important role in the process of personality development. Without this group of skills, a smart child will not be able to apply the acquired knowledge in practice: it is not enough to create something outstanding, you need to be able to correctly convey thoughts to the public.

Sometimes people mistakenly believe that social skills relate exclusively to the topic of communication, communication. In fact, skills include many multidirectional aspects: an adequate perception of one's own individuality, the ability to empathize, work in a team, etc.

Why do we need social skills?

  1. Regulate the area of ​​interpersonal relationships: the child easily makes new friends, finds like-minded people.
  2. Minimize psychological stress: children with developed social skills quickly adapt, do not feel sad due to changes in external circumstances.
  3. Form adequate self-esteem from childhood, which positively affects life achievements, development in adulthood.
  4. Social skills cannot be separated from building a successful career: the best specialists must not only understand the profession, but also have high emotional intelligence.

Development of social skills in a child

Social skills need to be developed from preschool age, but older children and even teenagers may well learn to interact with the world.

It is recommended to pay attention to areas of life that bring discomfort to the child, significantly complicate everyday life.

  1. Friends, interesting interlocutors: the kid does not know how to join the team, he prefers to sit in the corner while the others are playing.
  2. Verbal difficulties. The child does not understand the rules of conversation, is poorly versed in the formulas of etiquette (when you need to say hello, say goodbye, offer help).
  3. Problems with the non-verbal side of communication. Such a baby does not recognize the shades of emotions, it is difficult to understand how others relate to him. Cannot "read" faces and gestures.
  4. Does not know the measure in expressing a point of view: too passive or, conversely, aggressive.
  5. The child bullies classmates (participates in bullying) or is a victim.

In case of severe moral trauma, one should consult a psychologist: for example, school bullying is a complex problem that children are not able to cope with on their own. The involvement of parents and teachers is required.

In other cases, family members may well be able to help the child develop social skills.

What are the general recommendations?

1.

Be patient

Don't push your child to get things done. Let them take the initiative: for example, do not rush to help during school gatherings, let the baby work on the problem on his own. The same goes for lessons and other activities.

2. Support undertakings

Children's dreams seem trifling to adults, but the initiative turns into a habit over the years and helps to discover new projects, meet people, and experiment.

3. Criticize the right way

When making a negative comment, remember the golden rule of criticism: you need to analyze the work, highlighting both positive and negative aspects in a polite way. Commenting on the specific actions of the child, and not his personality or appearance - this will lead to problems with self-esteem.

4. The right to choose

It is important for children to feel that their voice is taken into account and influences the course of events. Invite your child to personally choose clothes, books, cartoons. Ask about ideas, plans: “We are going to have a rest together at the weekend. What are your suggestions?

5. Personal space

Make sure that the baby has a place where he can be alone, take a break from talking. Personal things should not be touched: rearrange without prior discussion, read correspondence with friends, check pockets, etc.

Children, noticing the respectful attitude of adults, quickly begin to pay in the same coin; the atmosphere in the family becomes warm and trusting.

What social skills should be developed in a child?

Let's dwell on the main qualities and skills, the development of which is worth paying attention to.

1. The ability to ask, accept and give help

Without the ability to ask for help, the child will deprive himself of valuable advice; the lack of the ability to accept help will lead to losses, and the inability to provide help will make the baby self-centered.

  • Let the child help those in need: for example, a lagging classmate.
  • Explain to your child that getting help from friends and teachers is not a shame.
  • Show by personal example that mutual help enriches experience: tell how you exchange advice with colleagues, friends.

2. The ability to conduct a conversation and get the right information

Being a good conversationalist is difficult, but the skill is honed over time and brings a lot of benefits.

  • Prompt your child for dialogue development options: for example, you can start a conversation with a relevant question, a request for help.
  • Do not leave the child in the role of a silent listener: when discussing pressing issues at home, ask the opinion of the baby.
  • Support children's public speaking: reports at school, performances, funny stories surrounded by loved ones will add confidence.

3. Empathy

Empathy is the ability to recognize the emotions of others, put yourself in the place of another person, empathize.

This ability will make the child humane, prudent. How can it be developed?

  • Start by recognizing the child's feelings - it is useless to listen to people if the person does not feel personal experiences. Ask your baby: “How do you feel after a quarrel with friends?”, “Do you want to relax today?”
  • After conflicts with classmates, ask your child how the children with whom the quarrel may feel now.
  • While watching cartoons, reading books, pay your child's attention to the emotional state of the characters.

4. Ability to work in a team

Many children can easily cope with tasks alone, but this is not a reason to refuse to work in a team. It gives the opportunity to exchange ideas and experience, delegate tasks, achieve goals faster and more efficiently.

  • If the child does not communicate with members of the team, try to introduce him to another social group: for example, the lack of communication with classmates can be compensated by a circle of interests, where the child will feel calmer.
  • Make the family a friendly team in which the child has his own "duties": for example, do housework, remind parents of upcoming events. Any activity related to the well-being of other family members will do.

5. Respect for personal boundaries

The absence of an obsessive desire to interfere in other people's lives is a valuable skill that helps to win people's sympathy.

  • Respect the child's personal boundaries: do not enter the nursery unannounced, do not rummage through personal belongings and correspondence, if the matter does not concern the life and safety of the baby.
  • If the child violates other people's boundaries (takes toys without permission, asks uncomfortable questions), talk about it in private.

6. Ability to overcome conflict situations

It is difficult to imagine our life without conflicts. The task of the child is to learn how to culturally enter into a discussion, defend his point of view, and not be led by the provocations of his interlocutors.

  • Talk about problems calmly, without raising your voice. Do not put pressure on the child with parental authority unnecessarily: the child is a separate person who has the right to an opinion.
  • Do not judge people for views that differ from those of your family but do not affect your well-being. Show your child that the world is very different.
  • You can demonstrate to children the basics of a civilized dispute, explain what arguments are, etc. It is advisable to teach this child in kindergarten.

7. Self-confidence

Stable and adequate self-esteem is a quality that not all adults possess.

It is formed under the influence of many factors: relationships between parents, the role of the child in the family circle, the characteristics of the environment that surrounded the child in early childhood.

It is important that the child does not grow up to be either a narcissistic narcissist with fragile self-esteem, or an overly shy person.

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