Leadership Assignment

1. Leadership Assignment Additional Qualification Course Special Education Part 2 Summer – 2010 Instructor: Cheryl Strickland Prepared by: Ekta Taneja & Tsetan Dolma

2. Social Skills and Learning Disability

3. Social Competency • Children are born with innate social skills that allow them to form relationships with others. These social skills may vary greatly even between siblings, and play a major role in their daily interaction, and allow them to create strong bonds of friendship and acceptance amongst their peers. Special Ed students are especially at risk of lacking the social skills needed to function, and develop relationships with their peers or interact within the community at large.

4. “School is not only a place where children learn reading, writing and math. It is also a place where they learn to get along with other people and develop social skills. Social skills are the skills we need to interact adaptively in our cultural environment. Although students don't get grades on social tests from their teachers, their peers are constantly giving them "grades" on "social tests" every day. If a child does well on these "tests", he is apt to be well liked and happy. He will enjoy school and look forward to coming to school. If a child fails these tests, she is apt to feel disconnected and left out.” http://www.cdl.org/resource-library/articles/social_skills.php

5. Agenda • Understanding social Inability. • Classification of social Inabilities. • Common skills deficits in children with social inabilities. • Other social dysfunctions. • Managing Social Inabilities in School • Managing Social Inabilities at Home • Video Presentation- Rick Lavoie: Social Skills and LD

6. Socio-metric Classifications Children can be classified among the following groups • Popular Children • Amiable Children • Neglected Children • Controversial Children • Rejected Children

7. I would like to focus on rejected children who are the most vulnerable group. Such children are usually disliked by their peers, and may face obvious or covert rejection since they lack the social graces that are needed for wider acceptance. • Rejected Children usually face verbal or even physical abuse from fellow students and social rejection in situations where other students may feel that association with these rejected students may portray themselves as also lacking the same social skills. • “Special Children on the autistic spectrum often lack a natural interest in play and will need extra help to learn to play. The restricted social skills in autistic children and some other special needs children make it difficult for them to accept social interaction during play.” http://ezinearticles.com/?Special-Needs-Children-Learn-Language-Development-And-Social-Skills-In-Play&id=497415

8. Peer Pressure in social ‘hot spots’ where other children congregate will inevitably lead to hurt feelings and may even lead to physical harm from those students who may feel that bullying these socially inadequate may move them up the rung of social status. Special education children are especially susceptible to bullying from their peers because they may lack the ability to defend themselves adequately, both verbally and physically. • Sometimes these rejections may leave a stigma that may last a lifetime, since it preys on their minds, that they have been found wanting compared to their peers. This creates self esteem issues and may manifest itself as anxiety attacks when they are called upon in certain social situations, which may leave them more withdrawn and isolated.

9. Symptoms of Socially Inadequate Learning Disabled Students • Trouble forming and maintaining friendships • Tendency to be loners • Maintaining friendships with people of different age groups with whom they can relate versus children their own age.

10. Common Deficits in Socially Inadequate Children • Poor greeting skills • Poor social prediction • Inappropriate presentation • Problematic conflict resolution • Reduced affective matching • Social self-monitoring failure • Low reciprocity

11. Misguided timing • Poor verbalization • Failure of code switching • Lingo dysfluency • Poorly regulated humor • Inappropriate topic choice • Weak requesting skill • Poor social memory • Unregulated assertiveness • Social discomfort Ref: Educational Care by Dr. Mel Levine (page 254-255)

12. Classification of Social Inability Socially Inadequate children can be classified into two groups • Shy and Withdrawn – Such students are extremely passive and may remain quiet so as to avoid drawing attention to themselves and may portray anxiety in social circumstances that require them to speak or take a leadership role. • Aggressive and Disruptive – These students may behave in a manner that is inconsistent with their social circumstance and may arouse feelings of anger amongst their fellow students.

13. Certain social inabilities may be paired with other dysfunctions that may impair or disguise a clear understanding of the inability in question. When the student in question suffers from ADHD, DD, Autism, Learning Disability etc. it is very hard to isolate the true cause of the inability, and may require the teacher to spend more time analyzing and isolating the cause of the disability in order to better address the child’s inability. • Verbal pragmatics is a case in point where students with poor language skills may not be able to regulate tone, vocabulary or other verbal skills to fit in socially. This may be confused with weak greeting skills, social self monitoring failure and misguided timing/staging. • Since Canada is such a diverse society with students from so many cultures where English may not be the primary language, it is important to distinguish between poor language skills vs. poor social ones.

14. Children that tend to demonstrate impulsive behavior may portray poor self monitoring skills that make them blurt out things in an inappropriate manner or at a time that is inconsistent with expected social mores. This is due to poor attention controls that prevent the student from realizing what the appropriate time may be, or a lack of self control in picking a more appropriate moment. • In the case of special education students, this may be paired with a physical mannerism such as flapping of their arms, physically tapping an object, inability to sit still or portraying other symptoms that they are unaware that they are doing.

15. Children with learning disabilities lack basic social and motor skills, seem unable to decode body language and sense the feelings of others, avoid eye contact, and frequently talk about their interests to which others may no be able to relate. They are prone to getting into trouble with teachers and other figures of authority, partly because the subtle cues that define social hierarchies are invisible to them. They may have a tough time dealing with complex social cues at school, as a result that they do not fit in well with others leading to social rejection.

16. Social inabilities are also complicated by other factors like poor motor skills, obesity, unusual physical appearance, height, wealth, societal status, cultural background, religion, environment etc., and it is very important to distinguish between these factors as opposed to a social inability. • “A teacher who works with children with special needs such as autism, ADD or the like needs to have oceans of patience because these children are almost always non-responsive in the initial stages. They do not react, they do not answer, they do not imitate easily. For this purpose, the teacher needs to work out a routine chart, which will span over a period of three to six weeks depending upon the response of the children. First, however you would need to prepare a list of social skills you need to teach the children.” http://www.ehow.com/how_4464653_teach-social-skills-students-special.html#ixzz0uYpEkmqn

17. Managing Social Inability in the Classroom • Since a child spends a great deal of time in the classroom, a teacher can play a vital role in helping socially lacking children to blend within the classroom or amongst their peers. • This may take the role of preventing bullies from victimizing such students by pointing out the punishments for doing so, to pointing out that true leadership and bravery comes from those who help others who are weak or unable to help themselves. This should be done without singling out the student who may otherwise feel slighted or humiliated by the process.

18. Teachers can reinforce the need to integrate themselves to those with a social inability, by pointing out those behaviors in a private conversation with the students. Students can then be praised when they follow social mores and behave appropriately so that positive reinforcement can play an active role. • Giving such children a leadership role that will help them overcome their passiveness or withdrawn behavior should not come at the expense of putting the child in a position where their ineptness in exposed to the class in a manner where they can become subject to ridicule. • In other words a child should be asked to take a leadership role only when both the teacher and the student are comfortable that the student will be able to handle the task.

19. Teachers can also help the student by letting them know that they are aware of the students social issues, and that they are there to support them in any way they can. This can be done by praising appropriate or correct behavior and guiding them through inappropriate ones. Sometimes a child may have no idea of the appropriate behavior in a circumstance because they have never encountered it before, and in such cases, the appropriate behavior has to be taught, rather than relying on society, or their peers to teach them the correct social mores.

20. Collective rewards are another effective strategy to foster peer relationships. Teachers often develop the unfortunate habit of issuing collective punishing to entire class for one’s misbehave rather than rewarding them for one’s behaves appropriately. • Another way to promote social acceptance is to make the isolated child more appealing by giving him something the other kids want. Appoint Jessica as the "foreman" of the Friday crew. ("Class, I know that you enjoy doing the Friday chores and I keep forgetting to schedule the crew to get that done. Jessica, I would like you to be the foreman of the crew. Every Thursday, please give me the names of six children whom you would like to assist you.")

21. The teacher should carefully observe the interactions of the students in an attempt to find a child who may be a good "friend match" for the isolated student. Be sure to observe the youngsters in formal classroom settings and less structured settings as well (e.g., recess, hallways, physical education). If you see that two students seem to be developing a relationship, seat them together or allow them to work as a pair in classroom activities. Perhaps you could even contact the parents of the isolated child and suggest that they may want to promote and nurture the relationship by setting up a play date between the two children. • Making clear rules that verbal or physical bullying is unacceptable, and disciplinary action may need to taken to punish those who commit these acts.

22. Working with preschoolers • Skills that will help in later instruction (example: listening skills) • Skills that enhance success in school/daycare settings (example: asking a question) • How to make and keep friends (examples: asking for something, asking others to play) • Dealing with stress: what to do when you make mistakes handling teasing and taunting

23. Working with elementary school children • Assign the troubled child to work in pairs with a high-status child who will be accepting and supportive. • Cooperative education activities can be particularly effective in this effort to include the rejected child in the classroom. • The student with social skill deficits invariably experiences rejection in any activity that requires students to select classmates for teams or groups. • Board games and card games can be used effectively to monitor and foster social development in the classroom. Working with secondary school students • The teacher can provide this student with a classroom setting wherein he can feel comfortable, accepted and welcome.

24. Managing Social Inability at Home • Parents are in the best position and ability to monitor their children for social inabilities, and provide feedback to the child when they behave or act in a manner inappropriate with contextual or social mores. • They can help guide the child by reinforcing appropriate behavior and pointing out the inappropriate ones. Behaviors that seem to incite anxiety can be overcome by repeating the activity until the child in no longer threatened by that activity.

25. Parents can provide the role of a mentor and provide specific feedback in a friendly manner or provide coaching to help overcome specific behaviors. • Parents need to think about their child’s specific social skills before they enroll them in a group activity. • As positive reinforcement works best, it is advisable that parents make sure that the child is not be made to feel guilty, merely overcome the issue at hand. • Parents are the most important asset in a teachers arsenal since they have a personal interest in seeing their children assimilate within society so that they do not feel rejected. In extreme cases, the parent should be encouraged to seek alternative help like psychiatrists or community groups if the behavior persists, rather than focus on the stigma normally associated with having a child who needs psychiatric help.

26. Help your child identify his/her own Interests and Skills: Identifying your child's interests is an important first step in building a social network and making friends • Make a list of things your child chooses to do in her free time. • Consider athletic ability. Does your child have a favourite sport? • Is your child musically inclined? • Does your child enjoy arts and crafts? • Gather information on programs related to your child's interests and try to enrols on it.

27. Making good friends:- Helping your child make positive friendsby teaching him/her the characteristics of good friends: • Do not bully others. • Be kind to animals and younger children. • Be respectful of others. • Avoid gossiping and are loyal to other friends, even when they are not around. • Follow school rules and do not try to talk you into breaking rules, lying, cheating, stealing, or other activities that can hurt you or others. • Model these characteristics yourself and encourage others in the household to follow them as well. Build Self-Esteem:-by listening to and valuing your child’s opinions • Tell me about your best activity in school; • Talk about your favourite class work and what you enjoy most; • Tell me about what helps you most when work is hard.

28. References and Resources: • LD Online http://www.ldonline.org/indepth/behavior • http://www.ehow.com/how_4464653_teach-social-skills-students-special.html#ixzz0uYpEkmqn • http://ezinearticles.com/?Special-Needs-Children-Learn-Language-Development-And-Social-Skills-In-Play&id=497415 • Educational care by Dr. Mel Levine • Promoting Social Success: A Curriculum for Children with Special Needs by Gary N. Siperstein and Emily Paige Rickards • Effective School Interventions: Strategies for Enhancing Academic Achievement and Social Competence (chapter 5) by Natalie Rathvon