TIP of the WEEK: Teaching Social Skills

April 24, 2015

Underdeveloped social skills and difficulty interacting with peers is on the top of the list of challenges that people with PWS live with everyday. Here are some ways to teach and improve your child’s social skillls:

Social stories. Using social stories before new or out of the ordinary events will give your child a blue print of what to expect and what is expected of them.

Role-play. Using role-play allows your child to see both sides of social interactions which is something that is very difficult for them to do on their own. Use role-play every chance you get. It can be done while your driving in the car, during meals, or any time you have a few minutes alone.

Debrief. If your child has a challenging social interaction use that as a teachable moment. Go over the interaction from start to finish and help them pinpoint where the struggle occurred.

Check yourself. If you see your child struggling with social interactions be sure that this is not a learned behavior. Are you kind and respectful in your interactions with family members, store clerks, school personnel? It will be difficult to teach your child to be compassionate and appropriate if you are not being a good example.

The number one thing to remember is that consistency is key. Our kids will often rise to our expectations if those expectations are clear and reasonable.

Patrice Carroll
Manager of PWS Services