During early childhood, practitioners and family members are often tasked with determining optimal approaches to support social skill development in young children with developmental disabilities in inclusive and self-contained settings. Eight different evidence based approaches are highlighted (social narratives, scripting, pivotal response…

Two sample lessons are presented to help elementary-school children with behavior disorders understand friendship relationships. Hypothetical student relations are diagrammed, and class discussions deal with the reasons for students' popularity and unpopularity and the acceptability or unacceptability of the reasons. (JDD)

Suggests that many students are not aware of proper etiquette and proposes that business communication instructors offer a short bibliography and a few tips that can help students acquire more polish. (DF)

Research on environmental strategies to increase positive peer interactions has been conducted on a wide range of children, including 2- to 5-year-old typically developing children and children with a variety of developmental and social disabilities. Intervention efforts have been successful with both typically developing children and children…

Social skills training programs offer an effective means of controlling behavior problems in the classroom. Modeling, role-playing, reinforcement, and transfer of training are suggested methods for inducing behavioral change. Several programs to help students control negative behavior are discussed. (DF)

This booklet focuses on teaching individuals with autism some social rules and routines that can be used in a variety of situations and applied across settings. It addresses the selection of interpersonal skill objectives, motivating the person with autism to try to interact, teaching ways to express feelings, helping peers to interact with…

A conceptual framework of social competence is presented to formulate actions that will enhance the social competence of learners with mental disabilities. This chapter discusses the individual's culturally determined inputs; the processes of social affects, social skills, and social thinking; and the desired social outcomes. The history of social…

Research suggests that the use of positive social skills with peers early on can lead to the development of positive peer relationships, acceptance, and friendships. Although many children develop these positive social skills naturally, some children do not. Children who are withdrawn as well as young children with mental retardation, autism,…

Fifteen preschool children with mild mental retardation (developmental delays) were observed during play with nondisabled peers. Children with delays showed less social play, more disruptive entry, more regressive behaviors, and less positive affect; their level of social play related to developmental age and communication ability but not to…

A 36-item observation instrument was developed for measuring appropriate social development in infants and toddlers. Checklist items indicated such behaviors as asking, protecting, comforting, lending, sharing, hugging, playing with, joining, laughing, smiling, looking at, performing request, leading, following, and conversing. Use of the…

Describes classroom approaches for encouraging healthy social interaction: social skills training, and interpersonal cognitive problem solving. Addresses service delivery considerations, such as personnel, purpose, types of children, research and service, and scheduling. (AOS)

Performance by 23 deaf children (ages 7-14) on a role-taking task correlated positively with camp staff members' ratings of emotional adjustment, self-image, communicative effectiveness, and role-taking skill. Role-taking performance, however, was not reliably related to measures of aspects of social behavior such as altruism and helping.…

This paper reviews what is known about social coordination in young children with disabilities, describes how social coordination develops in children with and without disabilities, discusses the role of social coordination in developing social competence, examines how available assessments of social skills address the concept of social…

Parents of 20 children with autism and 14 children with mental retardation, with comparable cognitive developmental levels, completed the Preschool Social Behavior Checklist. Results revealed that autistic children exhibited deficits in imaginative play, peer play, and imitation skills compared to the other group, and that parents are capable of…

Autism is currently identified by a set of diagnostic criteria which are based on observable behaviour, denoting a pattern of impairments in communication and social reciprocity, and a tendency for restricted and stereotyped patterns of behaviour and interests. During the past eighteen years, biographical accounts have enriched the conventional…