SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING: WHICH ONES AND WHERE TO DO IT?

Abstract

The importance of social skills training for learning disabled youth is discussed, and several commercially available social skills programs are noted. Three reasons for questioning their use are given: the identified skills may not match the needs of a particular group of youngsters, the teacher may be inclined to instruct one skill at a time, and the teacher might set aside a certain period of the day to deal with social skills. Collateral teaching, an alternative approach for developing social skills throughout the day, is explained. Moreover, strategies for instructing social skills are noted: coaching, modeling, reinforcement, cognitive behavior modification, and cooperative intervention.