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Introduction to Social Skills

June 10, 2020 GBC admin

Social skills help us connect with others and build meaningful relationships with the humans around us. We start developing them from a very early age as we go through daily life experiences. Is there someone in your life who is not picking up these skills from their natural environment? There are ways we can help!

From birth, every animal starts developing their social skills, even humans (yes that’s right we are animals). Having effective social skills are essential to being successful in life. Social skills teach us what to say, how to respond to others, and what behaviors are appropriate in certain situations. Social skills enable us to do well in several areas of our life, school, work, relationships, extracurricular activities, and so on.

Understand the importance of direct teaching in social skills training for your child

Most children are able to learn and strengthen their social skills through everyday interactions with parents, caregivers, and peers. These interactions can occur directly and indirectly. Direct teaching occurs as it sounds, you are teaching the individual directly.

Direct Example: Mom and Billy are at the grocery store. Billy reaches up and takes a sample from a sample stand. Mom steps in and teaches Billy how to ask for a sample appropriately.

Indirect learning occurs through osmosis. So you are just kind of picking up the skills through daily interaction. Children learn though their own observations of others and trial and error

Indirect Example: Billy is on the playground at school. He goes over to Sarah and demands her to hand him the ball she is playing with. Sarah calls him rude and walks away. Later in the day, Billy sees another student go over to a student and request an item, by saying “Can I have a turn”. Billy thinks, “hhmmmm maybe I’ll try that next time!”

What happens when these skills aren’t able to be taught directly or aren’t picked up indirectly? That’s where social skills training comes into place. Social skills training is as exactly as it sounds, we are training an individual’s social skills. We are taking the communication tools they already have, even if it’s not that many, and shaping them into more successful and socially appropriate skills.

About GBC

At GBC Autism Services, we provide ABA therapy to children with autism in the areas of Chicagoland, Peoria, Normal, Rockford, Springfield, Dekalb, and North-West Indiana. Our services include in-home and clinic-based ABA therapy, early intervention services, school consultations, and social skills groups.

The team at GBC doesn’t only focus on the behaviors that might be seen as weaknesses in children with autism. We accept and appreciate each child’s unique abilities and incorporate them into our programming. In fact, we love to learn about each child’s interests and strengths and only look to help them navigate the world better.

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