Jane Sinagub

Social Competence/Social Skills of Students with Learning Disabilities: Interventions and Issues

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of social competence, and focuses on instructional methods for enhancing the social competence of students with Learning Disabilities (LDs). Addressing social incompetence of students with LDs is critical because students who experience peer rejection are at greater risk for a myriad of negative outcomes, including later adjustment difficulties, school dropout, loneliness, and juvenile delinquency. Teachers take courses that focus on teaching language arts, math, reading, and academic subjects for which they are responsible, and may even take courses on how to structure and manage behaviors in the classroom. A Social Skills Program for Adolescents (ASSET) is designed to teach adolescents the social skills they need to interact successfully with peers and adults. The programs teaching procedures are based on success, successive approximations, mastery, and multiple exemplars. Materials include videotapes of eight teaching sessions, skill sheets, home notes, and criterion checklists. A skill sheet provides the step-by-step sequence of sub skills needed to effectively implement each target skill. Step six focuses on modeling the skill itself. Videotapes model how a student can implement particular skills.