5 Basic Steps For Teaching Social Skills

Teaching social skills to a child with autism or other developmental disability can be challenging. Here are five basic steps to remember when teaching social skills:

First, help the child to want to perform the skill you’re teaching. You can use a creative social story, show a video vignette, or discuss events the skill could be related to. Second, show the student how to perform the skill. Discuss and demonstrate the responses that make up the skills that include examples and non-examples. Third, provide guided practice and help the child to perform the skill. Have the child attend to your model, provide corrective feedback and reinforcement, and practice until the child no longer needs your guidance. The child should know what the skill is and what it is not. Fourth, now it’s the child’s turn to perform the skill independently. You can practice by role playing, using games, or discussing the skill with books and films. And lastly, consider generalization. Guide the child to perform the skill with other people, at other times, and in additional settings. Call on the help of significant others, such as parents, teachers, and peers to reinforce the new social skill.