1. Social Emotional Development and Friendships
sensory support service
Social Emotional Development and Friendships

2. Aims
To remind us of the importance of social emotional development and its impact on academic achievement
To understand the main issues that can prevent CYP with VI having a good social understanding
To share experiences and learn from each other
To understand how you can promote social emotional development, inclusion within your role

3. Social emotional development
Plays an important role in children’s lives
Children need healthy social emotional development to be prepared and ready to learn
Dynamic interaction between social emotional development and academic achievement

4. Activity
Sim specs
In a group
Make an umbrella out of newspaper

5. What do we want? Children and young people who:
Get on with other children, young people and adults
Make friends
Feel secure and valued
Explore and learn confidently
Feel good about themselves (realistic)
Belong - who are included
Are independent

6. What does Social Exclusion mean?
Not being listened to
Having no friends
Finding it difficult to do the kinds of things that non-disabled people of their age do
Being made to feel they have no contribution to make
Feeling unsafe, being harassed and bullied
(Morris, 2001)

7. Discussion Think of the child or young person you work with.
What are their interactions with their peers like? How do they join in a group during break / free time?

8. Children with vision impairment
Every child is an individual
Wide range of situations
Different eye conditions and implications
Different personalities
Different family styles / cultures / values
Different contexts, socio economic status, etc
We will learn from each case but need to be careful not to over generalise

9. Issues for children with VI
Less experiences
More time needed
Not so consistent experiences
Limited access to feedback from others
Limited access to what is
happening around them
Difficulties with social
understanding

10. Early social interaction with peers
Young children spend a lot of time watching their peers,
Imitation,
Offering objects as a way to initiate interaction,
Taking objects.

11. Play Play gives children opportunities to:
explore the world around them, learn about objects, what happens when, how things work, how objects relate to each other, etc
but also:
Learn about how people think, act and what they believe

12. Friends resolving conflict
Conflict situations between friends are less hostile and friends seem more able to resolve them.
Friends are more likely to use reasoning and take account of the other person’s point of view or feelings.
Issues – at times adults intervening too early

13. ?
What issues could there be in the school years?

14. Social interaction in the school years
Children continuously develop understanding of their social world - identity
Peer culture - access
Joining in a group – how is it done? And for the child with VI?
Fitting in and keeping up – needing adult support
Role models and realistic feedback

15. School years (cont.) Locate a friend in the playground
Compete at similar levels
Tend to look for quiet areas and to interact with adults
Adults’ view of good interaction as lack of physical or verbal abuse rather than the presence of positive social interaction

16. Teenage years and the dreaded spotlight
Move to secondary school
Self awareness
Organisational issues - so much to take in and at a fast pace
Changing rules - (e.g. hands up)
Time spent in trying to fit in, making sure
you do not stick out - spotlight

17. Bullying
Most bullying takes place in settings that are not monitored by teachers.
Children with special needs are twice as likely as their peers to be bullied.
Be alone at playtime
Male
Having less than 2 good friends
Having extra help in school

18. Bullying and Friendships
Most helpful factors in preventing or helping pupils in dealing with bullying are:
friendships,
avoidance strategies and
learning to “stand up for yourself”
Friendship can protect children from bullying to a certain degree but this depends on the quality of the friendship and the characteristics of the friend.

19. ?
What can you do in your role to promote development in this area?

20. Promoting development: your role
Encourage curiosity in other people and opportunities to enjoy the company of others
Describe social environment, other people’s feelings, wishes, intentions and events
Help peers understand needs of child or help the pupil explain his or her own needs
Support communication - but do not speak for the child
Ensure child/young person has the independence skills

21. Your role (cont.)
Liaise with teacher for VI about how to develop child’s awareness of their condition and to provide training to peers
Environmental issues: physical layout and social context (role models)
Monitoring social interaction and friendships:
standing back
promoting independence

22. Your role (cont.)
Remember that social skills need to be experienced in context so there is a need for:
Using any incidental opportunity to promote social understanding
Planned sessions to cover some skills which then need to be put in practice e.g. to learn about body posture, active listening, turn taking, staying on topic, etc.
Time to discuss issues or learn specific skills (particularly sensitive issues)

23. You role (cont.)
Work as part of the team supporting the child / young person
Circle of friends - using the child’s natural peer group to support the child
Social Stories - help children anticipate situations or reflect on events
Implementing individual programmes of work