What is Social Competence
Social competence refers to the social, emotional, and cognitive skills and behaviors that children need for successful social adaptation.
It defines a child's ability to establish and maintain high quality and mutually satisfying relationships and to avoid negative treatment or victimization from others. In addition to social skills and emotional intelligence, factors such as the child's self-confidence or social anxiety can affect his or her social competence.
Socially competent children could be described as friendly and cooperative and able to engage readily in conversation. Peers may describe them as helpful, nice, understanding, and good listeners. They are able to consider the perspectives of others, sustain attention to a play task, and are able to remain self-controlled in situations involving conflict. They are agreeable and have good problem-solving skills. Socially competent children are also sensitive to the nuances of "play etiquette."
Children who struggle with social competence may experience...
Peer Rejection
Many children with social competency deficits struggle to get along with peers. They tend to feel rejected, and some may prefer to be alone, or might say they don't need friends.
Low Self-Esteem
Children who struggle socially typically have lower self-esteem, feel lonelier, and are more dissatisfied with their social situations.
Discipline Problems
Children who struggle with regulating their responses to different social situations may find themselves in the principal's office much more often than the average student.
Interventions and the Importance of Fidelity
YES! There are things you can do to help your child's Social Competence!
Approach matters. As you begin to look for supports, you may find many practices who offer a "social skills group" or "social skills training." Even though such groups may have been formed by some very well-intentioned individuals, the problem is that the large majority of them do not follow a specific curriculum and deliver its interventions with fidelity.
What does fidelity mean and why is it important?
Implementation with fidelity means using a curriculum and its instructional practices consistently and accurately, as they were intended to be used. It is important to use interventions as intended, or with fidelity, so that the aspects that make the intervention effective are not lost due to modifications or deviations by those using it.
Social Skills Instruction
Individual and Group
Advocates In Education offers both individual and group social skills instruction. Within these sessions, we utilize curriculums such as Superflex®, Social Thinking®, and The Zones of Regulation®. The choice of curriculum used is based on the age and ability of students.
Superflex
Superflex® combines a curriculum and a comic book! This instructional approach develops in each student’s brain their own super heroic thinking processes that can overcome the challenges that arise in different social situations. This curriculum is most often suited for K-5 students.
Think Social
Social Thinking® is a developmental, language-based, and thinking-based methodology. It uses visuals, vocabulary, strategies, and activities to promote social skills. This curriculum is used with older students and works best with students who possess strong language and cognitive abilities.
The Zones of Regulation
The Zones of Regulation® curriculum is intended to help students regulate their actions and reactions, leading to increased emotional control and problem-solving abilities. Using a cognitive behavior approach, these learning activities are designed to help students recognize when they are in different states called “zones.” Students explore calming techniques, cognitive strategies, and sensory supports, providing them with a toolbox of strategies.
Individual vs. Group Instruction
Group
*Meets once a week for 5 weeks
*Works on social interactions with others;
A supervised therapeutic event where the goal is to help students gain skills in social interactions.
Benefits of Group Work:
1. Increase social interactions with peers;
- Starting conversations
- Continuing conversations
- Showing empathy
- Understanding body language
2. Develop problem solving skills
- In group settings, students can work through conflicts together.
3. Increase self-confidence
- In a group setting, students may feel a sense of community and purpose, providing the opportunity in make long term friends
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The curriculum offered for groups is based on the whole groups’ strengths and needs.
Individual
*After initial consultation, number of sessions can be determined.
Benefits of Individual work:
1. Individual work allows for personalized lessons tailored to the student.
2. The curriculum utilized is determined by students’ strengths, needs and interests.
3. Provides the opportunity to expand upon interpersonal and social skills topics to reach mastery.
How do we differ from others offering social interventions?
Advocates In Education, LLC, uses an individualized approach to ensure optimal outcomes.
- We invest in the purchase of effective curriculums and their materials.
- Each educator responsible for the delivery of instruction has received specific training in each of the curriculums being used.
- We implement interventions with fidelity.
- We provide training and visual supports for in-home use to promote the generalization of skills.
Interested in our Social Skills Instruction?
Advocates In Education uses an individualized approach to ensure optimal outcomes for all students. Please send us your information and we will work with you to set up a time to discuss your student's specific needs and our services.