This article discusses an action research project that targeted the social interaction skills of seven students (ages 5-7) with autism. Through group games at recess and award stickers each day for playing the games, children increased their participation in the games, learned new games, and demonstrated good sportsmanship. (Contains 10…

Describes cooperative learning in three high school classrooms showing that the cooperative learning strategy may be a potent instrument in work-mate preference stability and change. The examples also demonstrate the value of this strategy for maximizing intergroup interaction for the promotion of learning experiences. (JD)

Discussion of shyness and how it affects performance focuses on a training program that was designed to assist trainers in reducing shyness and in-building interpersonal competence. A questionnaire and other methods to help identify shyness are described, and HyperCard software that organized and presented exercises for treatment is explained. A…

When entering the play of children they did not know, disliked children were less responsive to peers and more likely to make irrelevant comments than were liked children. With acquainted peers, disliked children were not only less responsive and more irrelevant than liked children, they were also less likely to clearly direct their communication…

Naltrexone hydrochloride was administered to an autistic mentally retarded male, age 14, to investigate the endogenous opiate release theory of self-injurious behavior (SIB). Results yielded a marked decrease in SIB and increased social relatedness during two phases of drug treatment. SIB did not revert to original placebo levels during a second…

The principal's office is frequently a collection point for problems and demands. Secondary school principals often average 1,000 interactions daily. Principals can manage stress by declining to solve every problem, delegating responsibility, reexamining their supervisory role, developing networks of trusted friends, and engaging in…

A study examined the differences between elementary school students with learning disabilities and other high- and low-achieving students on three social dimensions: sociometric status, behavior as rated by teachers, and self-ratings of social competence. Results indicated children with learning disabilities may be at higher risk socially than the…

Insecurely attached boys were less liked by peers and teachers; were perceived as more aggressive by classmates; and were rated by teachers as less competent and as having more behavior problems than were secure boys. No such association emerged for girls. Participants were 89 children assessed before and after they entered first grade and their…

Examined social cognitive skills in aggressive and nonaggressive delinquent youths with high or low behavioral functioning. Found significant interaction on problem-solving skills, with higher functioning, non-aggressive youths performing better than lower functioning counterparts; no differences occurred within aggressive groups. (Author/NB)

The social competence of 40 learning-disabled and 37 nondisabled Israeli children in grades 4-7 was evaluated by the students themselves and their teachers; cognitive and emotional aspects that mediate its level were assessed. Variables analyzed were level of cognitive, social, physical, general, and academic competence; task orientation;…

Low socially accepted learning-disabled intermediate-grade students (N=86) were paired with 86 high socially accepted, nonhandicapped classmates for 8 weeks in 4 groups: mutual interest group, cooperative academic task group, Hawthorne effect/control group, and classroom control group. Evaluated were changes in classmates' ratings of…

Ten children and adolescents with severe mental retardation were assigned in matched pairs to either a lexigram augmentative communication condition (graphic symbols) or a control condition (social stimulation). The three subjects who successfully acquired lexigrams also exhibited changes in attention, intentional communication, and sociability.…

Three papers comment on a paper by Abrahamsen et al (EC 212 728) on concomitants of success in acquiring an augmentative communication system (AAC) by persons with severe mental retardation. Comments focus on design and methodological requirements, principles of AAC, and sequence and process in indirect aspects of communicative gains. (DB)

Academic, intellectual, and behavioral correlates of sociometric status among elementary-age children with learning disabilities (LD) were investigated. Peer rejection was unrelated to IQ or achievement scores but was related to LD children's social status, acting out, and withdrawn behaviors. Teachers rated rejected LD children as more…

Describes cultural considerations associated with American Indian adolescents coping within a transactional, cognitive-phenomenological framework. Discusses select cultural values and beliefs of American Indians associated with death in terms of person variables and situational demand characteristics that interplay in coping process. Suggests…