Social Skills Therapy for Children

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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 abilities to build meaningful relationships with others. It is also impacts on whether 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)    

Social skills difficulties may commonly present in conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD),  Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder and Asperger's Syndrome. Social skills group and individual therapy can help to improve a child's ability to participate in social settings and build meaningful relationships with others.   

If you are concerned about your child's social skills or would like to learn strategies to expand on your child's skill set, you can schedule an appointment with our Speech Therapist. At Jubilant Speech Therapy Singapore, we provide individual social skills therapy and social groups to build on social skills for children. 

Given the importance of social skills across the lifespan, social skills therapy is available for young kids, school-aged children, adolescents and even adults. Therapy intervention will be tailored according to each individual's goals.