Teachers in a mainstream elementary school setting initiated a program called "Circle of Friends," to provide support for a student with deafness and behavior problems and for other students having difficulty making friends. Learning activities involved interpreting the term "friend," helping students get to know each other, celebrating their…

Examination of 53 children with autism supported the validity of the subtypes "aloof" and "active-but-odd" as predictors of behavior across language/communication, reciprocal social interaction, and stereotyped behavior/restricted interest domains. Partial support for an intermediate, "passive" subtype was garnered. (Author/JDD)

A study of 46 male and 10 female experienced pharmacists and 44 male and 84 female fifth-year pharmacy students found that, in counseling patients about side effects of a drug, practitioners and students identified as having androgynous sex-role identification or engaged in same-sex counseling were more comfortable than others. (Author/MSE)

Twenty-four socially rejected children were coached on the importance of displaying behaviors known to be used by peers in making inferences of liking and then were encouraged to communicate these behaviors toward selected friendship targets within their own classroom groups. Significant treatment-related improvements were found in these…

A review of literature on sensitivity as an affective characteristic of gifted persons is presented. A multifaceted approach to sensitivity is proposed, conceptualizing it as consisting of cognitive and affective dimensions of both interpersonal and intrapersonal sensitivity. The psychological concepts of self-awareness, perspective taking,…

Problems faced by deaf students developing social skills are discussed, and suggestions are provided for what teachers can do to specifically cultivate these skills. Teacher modeling, cooperative learning, and the integration of social skills lessons into other class lessons and activities are recommended, with sample activities and references to…

Using a series of reversal designs, interventions to improve the active engagement and peer social skills of five preschool boys with autism were investigated. In contrast to intervention for engagement, peer social skill intervention resulted in "free effects" for all participants, including increased engagement with peers and exposure…

Offers advice on dealing with individual workers at childcare centers who whine, complain, and spread unsettling rumors. Suggests that coworkers resist the temptation to argue or immediately propose solutions to problems; accept the negative person as is; ask for "specific" objections to the ideas of others; and try to empower the…

This comment on an article by A. J. Cooper rejects the suggestion that a mentally retarded youth's playing of a "sexual game" with a child may be innocuous. Cooper reaffirms that such "sex offending" is usually merely a crude attempt to fulfill normal sexual impulses in the context of poor adaptive behavior skills, sexual naivety, and social…

Investigated relations among moral reasoning, classroom behavior, and sociometric status. Among boys, hedonistic moral reasoning was associated with lack of social competencies, acting-out behavior, and low social preference. Moral reasoning influenced sociometric status indirectly through social behavior, and explained variance in sociometric…

In a study of 39 college and 43 noncollege youths, social context significantly differentiated self-concept and self-esteem. College youths were higher in self-esteem, adjustment, achievement, and agency. Also, social context was found to differentiate the relation between self-concept and self-esteem: agency predicted self-esteem among college…

This article discusses the theoretical rationale for visually cued instruction and provides examples of pictographic and written language cues used to enhance the organizational skills, general skill development, academic learning, communication, socialization, and self-control of children with autism and pervasive developmental disorders. (DB)

Residential, challenging, learning experiences can provide a powerful and essential education in environmental values and interpersonal relationships. Presents a basic-needs planning guide for residential adventure programs that considers the need for water, air, food, clothing, accommodation, waste disposal, health, energy, resources, love of…

Describes qualitative study of chemistry laboratory groups of undergraduates to explore notion that a critical aspect of the environment in person-environment models is the nature and density of the social interactions of the people in the environment. Holland's hexagonal model of personality types was the framework used to study related…

Used community samples to determine the effects of childhood family support or dysfunction and the extent of parent drug-use problems on adult intimacy issues, such as sexual satisfaction. Results showed that parent drug-use predicted poor family support; family support correlated strongly with good adult intimate relations. (RJM)