I was talking to the mother when her child came up to me and interrupted, and, without pausing once for breath said,
"Here, here is a picture I drew. You can have it. It's supposed to be a picture of a horse but my friend over there on the other side of the room, says it looks like a buffalo. I have a book that shows you how to draw different animals. I think he is right that it doesn't really look like a horse. Maybe it is really a lumpy horse. I'm 11 years old but I'm almost 12. Do you think I look like I'm almost 12. Most people think I don't, but maybe that will change now that I put on some weight. I gained six pounds in the last two months, so now I weigh 106 pounds but I'm not sure I got any taller. I'm supposed to be losing weight from this medicine I am taking but it's just the opposite. I have to take medicine every day because I have ADD. Do you know what that is?"
Exactly what are social skills?
Social skills are the skills we use everyday in dealing with other people. They are generally skills we take for granted. Social skills include: listening when someone is talking, being patient, taking turns, helping others, communicating ideas, sharing and the list goes on.
Most people are taught these skills at an early age and they become second nature. However, with a child with a learning disability is much more likely to have difficulty with social skills. As a result, they often need special attention when it comes to this subject.
Social skills are usually divided into three groups – social intake, internal process and social output. It may help to think of these groups as being
- Listening and seeing what other people are seeing or doing,
- Thinking or processing what is being seeing/heard and deciding how one wants to react and finally,
- How one reacts.
The very nice student above failed to demonstrate social skills in several ways. First, he began talking without apparently noticing that his mother and I were already talking. Second, while it was nice of him to hand me a picture, he also did not think about the fact that I was holding a briefcase in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, so I had to find some place to put down what I was holding to take the picture. As an adult, such thoughtlessness does not bother me, especially from a child. However, to another child it could be quite irritating.
Next page: Why social skills matter