Brown (1987) points out that learning disabled children lacking social skills may grow into adults that lack the "vital skills of social interaction" thus their lives may be filled with unnecessary struggles and unemployment. Factors that can help learning disabled students succeed and develop the skills necessary to succeed include creation of strong familial social networks, encouraging children to observe their environment and respond to it, active inquisition of children's observations and encouraging students to observe non-verbal behavior, which will help them understand cues and signals people give off in a social environment (Brown, 1987)
al, 1999). Many of these support the notion that students with learning disabilities lack the ability to interpret nonverbal social cues, thus often have difficulty succeeding in a social environment or climate, and often fail to engage others from a social perspective successfully (Chandler, et
(2003) suggests that a variety of different methods be utilized in the classroom to help special education students develop social skills. Findings suggest that there is not one consensus among educators or researchers regarding the "specific features of social functioning" however most researchers agree that students with learning disabilities must be taught social skills interventions in the classroom, particularly during the first 3-5 years of a student's educational career (Claire, et
" This type of deficit is common when a student has not learned exactly "how" to act. Smith suggests that in the case of special education students they simply have not been given the opportunity or have had limited models for learning appropriate social skills behaviors (Smith, 1994)
There are several different theories and approaches that arise from addressing nonverbal learning disabilities and there affects on social skills development. There are numerous studies which explore the relationship between learning disabilities and a student's ability to acquire and develop appropriate social skills (Strain & Odom, 1986; Rubin, Bukowski & Parker, 1998; Chandler, et
He believed that this would have no repercussions and that both him and the person dying would simply perform their roles in the bigger scheme of things. He virtually came to think that there was nothing wrong with him murdering people, as they deserved it and as their feelings were practically inexistent (Kutner & Olson 6)
Prolonged television exposure was associated with the child being less talented in social skills. "A number of studies have demonstrated negative effects of heavy television viewing in early childhood on a range of subsequent health and developmental outcomes including obesity, poor cognitive skills, and irregular sleeping patterns" (Mistry, Minkovitz, Strobino, and Borzekowski)
Progress is relatively responsible for creating more complex problems and for making it difficult for tutors to address problems that children go through as a result of interacting with diverse media devices. "Historically, the United States has reached a point where most of children's social experiences no longer consist of face-to-face interactions with other people" (Wilson 88)
Parents have the unique ability to teach manners to children because children are born with a desire to please their parents, even if they are not born with a desire to learn social skills. (Heins) Manners are actually based on love, concern, and empathy, not social status
" It is commonly believed that manners and social skills have gone downhill in recent decades, despite the fact that surveyed parents cited manners and religious faith as the two most important values to instill in children. (Post) the majority of the concern in our society comes from women, while men seem less interested in the prevalence of manners and social skills in children
Semantic Differential: measures attitudes towards adults, others, and being active in the community; Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale: Ten-item scale that measures the self-acceptance aspect of self-esteem; Janis-Fields Feeling of Inadequacy Scale: Measures self-esteem tied to social settings; Problem-Solving Inventory: measure the ability to perform four tasks in the resolution of problematic social situations: (1) generate alternative solutions to the problem; (2) actively seek to resolve the problem and accept responsibility for its resolution; (3) Consider the merits of alterative solutions in terms of their consequences; and (4) developmental orientation/considerations used in the resolution of the problem. Conrad and Hedin, 1981) Student's Social Problem-Solving Strengths Checklist: This instrument was developed based on the principles represented by the acronym FIG TESPN as follows: F: Feelings cue me to problem-solve; I: I have a problem; G: Goals give me a guide; T: Think of things to do; E: Envision outcomes; S: Select my best solution; P: Plan the procedure, anticipate pitfalls; practice and pursue it; N: Notice what happened and now what? (Elias & Tobias, 1996; p
" (Elliot, 1995) the 'Responsive Classroom' is inclusive of classroom organization, a morning meeting, rules and logical consequences, choice time, guided discovery, and assessment and reporting to parents." (Elliot, 2005) This project was focused toward answering six questions: Do students exposed to the Responsive Classroom approach exhibit higher levels of social skills and academic functioning than peers with limited exposure? If the Responsive Classroom approach is effective, how can the school system get others to buy into the approach? What is the acceptance level of the Responsive Classroom approach by parents, and does the level of acceptance vary depending on socioeconomic or ethnic/racial group status? What is the level of implementation of the Responsive Classroom approach across the system? What is the level of parent involvement in schools implementing the social curriculum? What are critical structural and environmental elements that need to be in place for successful implementation of the Responsive Classroom? (Elliott, 1995) Conflict Resolution Skill Scale: This instrument measures the ability of students to make suggestion of solutions relating to interpersonal conflict that considers both individual's positions in the solution of the conflict
" (Elliot, 1995) the 'Responsive Classroom' is inclusive of classroom organization, a morning meeting, rules and logical consequences, choice time, guided discovery, and assessment and reporting to parents." (Elliot, 2005) This project was focused toward answering six questions: Do students exposed to the Responsive Classroom approach exhibit higher levels of social skills and academic functioning than peers with limited exposure? If the Responsive Classroom approach is effective, how can the school system get others to buy into the approach? What is the acceptance level of the Responsive Classroom approach by parents, and does the level of acceptance vary depending on socioeconomic or ethnic/racial group status? What is the level of implementation of the Responsive Classroom approach across the system? What is the level of parent involvement in schools implementing the social curriculum? What are critical structural and environmental elements that need to be in place for successful implementation of the Responsive Classroom? (Elliott, 1995) Conflict Resolution Skill Scale: This instrument measures the ability of students to make suggestion of solutions relating to interpersonal conflict that considers both individual's positions in the solution of the conflict
" (Smith, 2002) the following "sequential strategy" (Smith, 2002) was used by Etschedit: Stop and think before acting: Students are taught restraint in aggressive responses through the use of covert speech; Identify the problem: The students are required to distinguish the specific aspects of a problematic situation that may elicit an aggressive response; Develop alternative solutions: Students generate at least two alternative solutions to a problematic situation, either thinking about something else until able to relax and/or moving to another location in the room to avoid further provocation; Evaluate the consequences of possible solutions: Students are taught the benefits of each solution that is available to them; Selection and implementation of a solution: The students carry out the alternative solution that they have selected. (Etscheidt, 1991; as cited in Smith, 2002) The study of Etscheidt involved three comparison groups with the first group receiving the Cognitive-behavioral instruction and the second group receiving the Cognitive-behavioral instruction and the positive consequences
(Wiggins and Winder, 1961) Students are instructed to identify all male classmates that the statement applies to in description of personal characteristics.(Hodges, Malone, and Perry, 1997) Interpersonal Problems Scale: Four factors are identified: Integrative; Avoidance; Distributive; and Indirect (Witteman, 1988) The following table labeled Figure 1 lists each of these instruments for measuring social skills in students along with the age level applicable for appropriate use among student age and school grades, the administration and scoring, and the reliability and validity according to the Character Education Partnership (2007) Social Skills Instrument Index Instrument Age Level Type Administration and Scoring Reliability Validity Teenage Inventory of Social Skills, Inderbitzen M
This instrument was developed for assessing social competence and for identification of behaviors that are needed in social skills training intervention. (Indertitzen and Garbin, 1992) Social Skills Questionnaire: This instrument was established for evaluation of the Second-Step program, which is a violence prevention curriculum for pre-school through middle school
.knows how to give and take constructive criticism; interrupts conversations only when it is appropriate to do so; evaluates their personal strengths and weaknesses; sets their own goals for self-improvement; handles conflicts in a mature and responsible way; and shows respect for each other - and for you as their teacher - in all their actions " (Scully, 2000) Scully holds that when the students "learn to respect themselves, the also learn to respect others, providing a solid foundation for improvement in social skills, as well as in the growth of their character
personally involving and professionally frustrating." (Smith, 2002) Students regardless of age are noted to sometimes "
Others may experience interpersonal issues with other students or school staff that makes concentrating on learning difficult." (Sprague and Nishioka, nd) Stated as 'best practice' in working with these students starts with "early identification of emotional, behavioral, and interpersonal needs, followed by interventions to reduce obstacles to successful school adjustment
For example, the child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) may be "inattentive, impulsive, hyperactive - or any combination of these." (Stanberry, 2002) the work of Stanberry (2002) states that there are three elements of social interaction which include the following three: Social Intake - noticing and understanding other people's speech, vocal inflection, body language, eye contact, and even cultural behaviors; Internal Process - interpreting what others communicate as well as recognition and self-management of emotions; and Social Output - how an individual communicates with and reacts to others, through speech, gestures and body language