Children's social skills are a popular topic for parents as their child advances through school. Parents are often concerned if their child is displaying functional or appropriate social skills. Some commonly known social skills elements for early age children are eye contact, staying on topic, accepting or inviting peers to play, giving compliments, offering help, etc. If you feel that your child needs to improve their socialization skills or enhance a skill or two, there are a few steps you can take. Behavior skills training (BST) is an effective method for parents to utilize when teaching their child a new or struggling social skill. BST consists of providing clear and concise instructions as to what the social skill is, modeling the skill with various examples, role-playing the skill in different situations, and then providing feedback such as verbal praise for a job well done or corrective feedback. This popular approach is feasible for parents and takes minutes to complete. The first step, known as instruction, is the main factor that helps your child understand the social skill in the vocabulary they can use with you or others to communicate. The second step is modeling. In modeling, parents will recognize that most of their child's understanding and learning is better if they demonstrate the skill instead of just saying the skill to their child of what it is or how to do. Parents serving as the model for social skills during BST is a critical step and leads to success for the child in new situations with new peers. Parents will note that the goal of social skill practice (role-play) with their child to increase fluency in the use of multiple elements of social skills. Always remember to allow multiple opportunities for your child to practice and master the skill, and most importantly have patience.
For more information on social skills interventions and/or parent training, please email toricae.director@myfloridatherapy.com.
