Suggestions for teaching social skills

1. SOCIAL SKILLS
INSTRUCTION
Suggestions for teachings
social skills to students with
emotional disabilities

2. WHAT TO TEACH
- Social skills lessons can come from many sources
- Consider age and ability level
- Select lessons related to IEP goals
- Select lessons related to desired replacement behavior
- Teach one skill until it is mastered

3. WHEN TO TEACH
As a general skill
– Lessons of character, task management
In response to a behavioral incident
- Strategies for managing anger/aggression
- Strategies for reducing “shut down” behavior
As a maintenance skill
- Lesson for problem solving, conflict resolution

4. HOW TO TEACH
- Address skills targeting recent behavioral incidents
first
- Provide time for modeling and practice
- Role play and/or technology use
- Review the lesson several times
- Get feedback from the student on how they are
using the skill
- Give specific positive feedback when the student
demonstrates the skill
- Collect data on the mastery of the skill
- Once mastered, over to another specific or
general social skill