1. Last One Picked First One Picked On Richard Lavoie Learning Disabilities and Social Skills September 2010

2. The Big Question… Is it our responsibility to teach learning disabled students social skills?

3. Why Should We Teach Social Skills? All environments are social environments Learning Disabled children do not learn Social Skills through osmosis, accident, or exposure The Social Skills must be TAUGHT; inclusion is not enough.

4. Why Teach Social Skills One cannot compensate for a Social Skill Disability. In other words, we can accommodate a reading disability and a math disability through technology, and/or modification and adaptation. There are no adaptations for a Social Skill Disability

5. Why Social Skills are hard to teach To teach the skill, it must be broken down into the most basic skill level. Example: signing the thank-you card 12 out 15 LD students didn’t know where to sign the card

6. The Learning Disability itself can cause the Social Skill problem Interrogoration ADD ADHD Disinhibitory Responses Impulsivity

7. LD students cannot ask questions. What is the social implication of not being able to ask a question? – Social difficulty – finding the lunch room – Academic difficulty-asking for help/clarification

8. Define Distractibility A child with no attention span pays attention to nothing – Lower cognitive level – intellectually impaired The child who is distractible pays attention to everything

9. What are the social implications of selective attention? Friends…. Teachers……

10. Disinhibition OTM-OTM The inability to repress thoughts or actions that may be socially inappropriate Lack inhibitory responses: On the Mind-Out the Mouth Social Implication: What if everything you thought you said out loud?

11. Impulsivity To act without considering the natural consequences of the action Ready, Fire, Aim What is the social implication of such behavior?

12. Social Autopsy The examination of a social error to discover the cause of the error, determine the damage, and prevent it from occurring again. Instead of punishment..make the mistake an opportunity to learn

13. Recommendation from Socially Successful Students Types of students – Rejected – Ignored – Controversial – Popular Fox and Weaver researched what students who are socially successful do right Created a list of skills and positive traits to be taught to other students to make them more socially skilled.

14. What skills can we teach?

15. The Hidden Curriculum: the unwritten, unspoken rules of the school What is the hidden curriculum of your school? Where is the H.C. most frequently seen? What is the effect of the hidden curriculum on the learning disabled students with a social skill deprivation?

16. Top 7 Skills Needed to Succeed in the Mainstream Classroom Listening Follow Directions Stay On Task How to get Help Ability to get started Finish on Time Word Attack Skills All but the last skill is a part of the hidden curriculum

17. How to Find the Hidden Curriculum Ask: – Colleagues – Support staff – Student counsel Look at: – Publications : yearbook, newspaper – Survey, brain storm

18. Directly Teach the Hidden Curriculum to your Learning Disabled Students Examine the Physical Plan of the School Explain how to access the correct Administrator/teacher with problems Insure the child understands the schedule or changes to it Provide specific guidance to actual teacher expectations regarding homework, tests, and being punctual.