Teaching Social Skills to Students with Visual Impairment

1. Teaching Social Skills to Students with Visual Impairment Positive Interventions & Strategies

2. Why Teach Social Skills • Students with visual impairments require mediation of the environment • Students with visual impairments acquire social skills much differently than their sighted peers • Social behavior permeates all that we do in the world around us.

3. Why Teach Social Skills: Continued • Having a repertoire of social skills allows students to develop positive friendships. • Socially competent behavior facilitates employment and independent living opportunities in adult life. • The acquisition of socially skills behaviors promotes social competence & nurtures self-esteem.

4. Why Teach Social Skills: Continued • Having a repertoire of social skills allows students to develop positive friendships. • Socially competent behavior facilitates employment and independent living opportunities in adult life. • The acquisition of socially skills behaviors promotes social competence & nurtures self-esteem.

5. Definition of Social Skills • Trait Model • Component or Molecular Model • Cognitive Behavioral

6. Assessment of Social Skills • Observation • Interviews • Social Skills Checklists • Role Play Scenarios • Video & Audio Tapes • Student Self-evaluation • Problem Solving Scenarios

7. Types of Social Skills Assessment • Social Skills Assessment Tool: V.I. • School Social Behavior Scale • Social Skills Rating System • Walker-McConnell Scale of Social competence & School Adjustment • Peer nomination & rating scales

8. Sequential Model for Teaching Social Skills • Awareness---Behavioral • Interactive---Development of Relationships • Student Self-Evaluation--Cognitive Behavioral

9. Social Skills Interventionstions • Structured behavioral • Cognitive behavioral • Problem solving scenarios • Peer-Mediation • Student sself-monitoring • Use of mentors & role models • Audio/video feedback

10. Social Skills Interventions for Students with MD/VI • Use of scripts for promoting age-appropriate communication • Provide real experiences with peers that promote socialization • Teach games & activities that foster interaction • Use social initiators to facilitate interaction

11. Social Skills Intervention Strategies for Teens • Assertiveness Training & Strong Communication Skills • Promoting Self-Advocacy • Taking Responsibility for Ones’s Actions & Belongings • Taking the Role of Others & Reciprocation • Understanding Non-Verbal Cues

12. Intervention Strategies Continued • Interpreting Non-Verbal Behavior • Nurturing Independence • Promoting Decision-Making & Problem Solving • Issues of Sexuality & Positive Social Relationships • Promoting Work Experience & Employment

13. Role of the TVI in Teaching Social Skills • Develop partnerships with general education teachers, specialists, and families. • Create & encourage opportunities for students to practice social skills. • Encourage students to participate in a range of after-school & community activities.

14. Role of the TVI Continued • Provide opportunities for students to discuss their visual impairment with others. • Provide consistent information to the student about social performance. • Have clear & realistic expectations for the student. • Believe that the student can be socially competent.