A study of 4 children with autism and 12 typical children (ages 5-8) investigated the effectiveness of a social skills program. Typical peers were provided disability information and training in behavior management strategies along with social skills training. Results showed increased frequency and duration of interactions for all children.…

Discusses the role of friendships in children's development. Examines the meaning of the term friendship; the roots of friendship development; the role of parents, teachers, and siblings; and concerns about children's choices. Suggests that positive attitudes, when established early in life, can affect physical and mental health and the quality of…

Followed 8-year olds' friendship dyads through school year to determine if they remained friends, and compared their interaction in structured potential conflict with nonfriend dyads. Found that friends made more proposals than nonfriends to negotiate object sharing, spent more time negotiating, compromised more, and showed more competitive…

Research has shown that the classroom social environment is a chief psychological determinant of academic learning. A recent study showed students who gave their classrooms high ratings on cohesion, challenge, satisfaction, and absence of friction and favoritism on the Learning Environment Inventory achieved more academically, had better attitudes…

A student survey at a relatively inclusive Rhode Island elementary school revealed some environmental deficits. Many students saw the atmosphere as unsafe, uncomfortable, divisive, and unwelcoming. To facilitate community, staff began questioning before advising, and devised structures that allow students to welcome new students and to succeed on…

Describes aspects of self-concept that develop in toddlerhood: (1) self-recognition; (2) self-representation; (3) self-description; (4) self-assertion; (5) self-evaluation; and (6) self-regulation. Intervention ideas for children with special needs are presented based on three dimensions of the socializing environment: provision of inanimate…

Children ages 9-10 (n=30) were given social skills training and their scores on computer tasks were compared with 30 controls. Males scored highest on the pre and posttest. Females in mixed-sex groups scored better than females in girls-only groups. Girls who received social skills training had the highest rate of improvement. (SK)

Examined the relation between 3- to 5-year-olds' beliefs about the tendency for antisocial behavior to remain stable over time and their reasoning about peer interactions. Found that children who endorsed sociomoral stability beliefs were less likely than their peers to make prosocial inferences, were rated by their teachers as less likely to…

The skills and social impairments of 146 adolescents and young adults in London who had been found to have severe intellectual disabilities and/or autism as children in the 1970s were assessed. Classification as socially impaired or not remained relatively stable over time. Within the socially impaired group, there was a significant increase in…

A study examining the impacts of camp on staff interviewed 29 former seasonal camp staff. All respondents reported positive benefits in their personal and professional lives and the strong influence of camp in shaping career choices. Reflections on camp fell into three categories: uniqueness of camp, making memories for kids, and freedom. (TD)

This article offers suggestions on enhancing emotional vocabulary in early childhood education settings. A schematic of children's emotional literacy is followed by ways to build emotional vocabulary by teaching directly, teaching incidentally, or utilizing special activities. Suggestions also address teaching children to recognize feelings in…

Outdoor behavioral healthcare (OBH), using wilderness therapy and related outdoor programming, is an emerging treatment for adolescents with behavioral, psychological, and substance abuse disorders. A literature review examining OBH outcomes related to self-concept, interpersonal skills, substance abuse, criminal recidivism, and behavioral and…

Surveyed public school teachers regarding their perceptions of conflict in their schools, noting grade-level differences. Teachers perceived students as being pulled out of school due to student- and family-related factors. Students perceived they were pushed out of school due to school environments. Crucial elements in working with youth were…

This response to a paper on risk and resilience models in learning disabilities research supports this framework for research and practice with regard to the social and emotional functioning of children with learning disabilities. Research is urged to address the effect of family functioning and parenting, peer victimization, and the interaction…

Specific linguistic characteristics of responses to requests for clarification given by 4 children (ages 3-6) with intellectual impairments were investigated. Analysis focused on children's ability to locate the specific errors that provoked neutral requests for clarification and produce repair. Three children could locate errors and partly…