Social Skills Therapy for Children

Social pragmatics (i.e., social skills) are “social rules” that need to be processed and applied when we interact with others. Being able to use the right words, at the right time and deliver it in an appropriate manner can be challenging. To convey a message, we utilize various aspects of communication. More than just the words we say, we alter our non-verbal language (e.g., eye contact, facial expressions, posture) to signal our intentions. We also flexibly adapt to the social environment and our conversation partners as well. Due to the dynamic nature of social interactions, we also need to process the ‘social cues’ that our conversation partners are sending to us at the same time and make quick adjustments at each moment! Social skills affect our ability to build meaningful relationships with others. It also impacts on how well we can regulate our emotions, handle conflicts and successfully collaborate with others.

Children with social skills difficulties may have the following signs and symptoms:

• Difficulties starting and sustaining conversations
• Not being able to take turns in conversations or during play
• Misinterpreting or not picking up on others’ facial expressions, intonation, intentions
• Having trouble with making friends, joining others in play or initiating an interaction
• Repeatedly talking about the same topic or having abrupt changes in topics of conversation
• Difficulties with physical boundaries (e.g., moving too close to others) and mental boundaries (e.g., asking about personal information)
• Having big emotional reactions to changes, disagreement or losses (e.g., losing a game)