Describes Teaching Love and Compassion (TLC), a program designed to teach patience, respect, and cooperation to middle school students as they learn to care for and train dogs. TLC graduates can continue in a Peer Leadership program to train other dogs or teach elementary school students about animal care. (SLD)

Examines the personal side of the problem of counselor impairment. The impact this problem has on people, organizations, and the profession and the reasons why it is ignored are explored. Explains the relationship between these problems and the articles selected for this special issue. (Author/RB)

Describes features of social pretend play and identifies characteristics of young children's cognitive and social play that may inhibit their participation. Describes approaches for supporting the social pretend play of children with mild to moderate developmental delays and disabilities, including assessment of play skills, use of structured play…

Presents a microanalysis of data from the Box Hill Nursery Project, an ethnolinguistic study carried out in the northeast of England, into children's language and social behavior during their first term in nursery school. Identifies characteristics of dense friendship networks. Concludes that understanding friendship networks can help teachers in…

Explored development of interpersonal understanding by observing two four-year-old boys as they played checkers. All interactions were coded and conflicts were isolated and coded for resolution. Found a decrease in impulsive strategies and an increase in reciprocal strategies during the year, and increased ability to resolve conflicts and a…

This study of 91 Canadian children (ages 10-13) investigated the effects of integration, social contact, and information on the attitudes of elementary school children toward their peers with disabilities. Students in integrated classes were found to have more positive attitudes in comparison to those in nonintegrated classes. (Author/CR)

This article presents a strategy to teach young children with developmental delays how to interact cooperatively and effectively on their own initiative. Based on metacognitive research, this social skills training program, called social metacognitive strategy training, is designed to help students generalize social skills from one activity to…

This article addresses three issues concerning the development of social skills in young children with special needs, especially children with severe social limitations. First, the importance of children's social skills is stressed; next, specific peer-related social skills that should receive priority in early intervention are identified; and…

Observed 62 children in 10 preschools and day care centers, and their interactions with their mothers (at home) and with teachers and peers (at school). Teachers rated children's social competence; children rated one another's likability. Regression analysis suggested that quality of child-teacher attachment relationships relates to prosocial…

Studied effects of mainstreaming on the roles of professionals in 16 inclusive preschool programs, using interviews, observation, and document analysis. Found that a sense of shared philosophy or joint ownership of children, when reached jointly rather than being lopsided or imposed from outside, produced more positive experiences, and that key…

Examined age differences in the use and effectiveness of social support processes emitted during conversations about real life negative events between preadolescent, adolescent, and adult friends. Participants were 86 same-sex friendship dyads. Results indicated that talking to friends alleviated negative affect in all ages, but factors predicting…

Studies with 8 children in the United Kingdom and 30 in Finland show that verbal interactions of children doing collaborative writing with a computer are highly task-related and characterized by exchange of information, questioning, judging, organizing, and composing. Exploratory and argumentational use of language was found to be low. (SLD)

Social development of students with disabilities is examined from a developmental synthesis perspective. Issues in the social skills deficit framework are also discussed, along with formation of classroom social networks and their role in behavior development. Social interventions should focus on both the classroom social network and the…

An intervention using natural reinforcement and peer influence with three three-person groups of preschoolers, each containing one child with a disability, was evaluated. The design of the intervention (multiple probe across subjects) was found to be effective in increasing the subjects' positive social initiations. Some generalization was also…

Analyzed children's interactions in 19 Japanese preschools, focusing on conflict resolution and how teachers diminish their role as authority figures to encourage children's sense of self-efficacy and autonomy. Found that the most common Japanese teacher response to conflict is nonintervention, with rare use of commands and rule statements.…