"Sometimes when you're different you just need a different song."
~Giles Andreae
Author of "Giraffes Can't Dance"
Social Skills
An individual may say words clearly and use long, complex sentences with correct grammar, but still have a communication problem - if he or she has not mastered the rules for social language known as pragmatics .
Pragmatics involve three major communication skills:
An individual with pragmatic difficulties may:
Source: www.asha.org
Pragmatics involve three major communication skills:
- Using language for different purposes, such as
- greeting (e.g., hello, goodbye)
- informing (e.g., I'm going to get a cookie)
- demanding (e.g., Give me a cookie)
- promising (e.g., I'm going to get you a cookie)
- requesting (e.g., I would like a cookie, please)
- Changing language according to the needs of a listener or situation, such as
- talking differently to a baby than to an adult
- giving background information to an unfamiliar listener
- speaking differently in a classroom than on a playground
- Following rules for conversations and storytelling, such as
- taking turns in conversation
- introducing topics of conversation
- staying on topic
- rephrasing when misunderstood
- how to use verbal and nonverbal signals
- how close to stand to someone when speaking
- how to use facial expressions and eye contact
An individual with pragmatic difficulties may:
- say inappropriate or unrelated things during conversations
- tell stories in a disorganized way
- have little variety in language use
Source: www.asha.org
“People do not have the exact same thoughts and feelings about everything. They have different ideas and opinions based on their experiences in life. Taking another’s perspective means trying to see things from his/her point of view. When we are willing and able to see things from another’s perspective, we can learn things we didn’t know before.”
At Center/Sylvester School we run social language groups to help students acquire and practice social language skills that are necessary to develop and foster strong peer relationships at school. Our social groups follow the "Social Thinking" Curriculum by Michelle Garcia Winner. We focus on "whole body listening", conversational exchanges, problem solving, nonverbal communication, perspective taking, and many more topics depending on the needs of our students at the time.