Deficits in social skills and social competence play a significant role in the development and maintenance of many emotional and behavioural disorders of childhood and adolescence. Social skills training (SST) aims to increase the ability to perform key social behaviours that are important in achieving success in social situations. Behavioural SST methods include instructions, modelling, behaviour rehearsal, feedback and reinforcement, frequently used in association with interpersonal problem solving and social perception skills training. Effective change in social behaviour also requires interventions that reduce inhibiting and competing behaviours, such as cognitive restructuring, self- and emotional-regulation methods and contingency management. Research suggests that SST alone is unlikely to produce significant and lasting change in psychopathology or global indicators of social competence. Rather, SST has become a widely accepted component of multi-method approaches to the treatment of many emotional, behavioural and developmental disorders.

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Social skills training with children and young people: Theory, evidence and practice

Maximizing the interaction between pupils with and without special needs is generally considered an important aspect of inclusion. However, it is frequently questioned whether pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in regular classrooms have interactions and friendships with their peers. In order to be able to evaluate these relationships, it is necessary to clarify concepts such as social participation, social integration and social inclusion. At the moment there is much ambiguity regarding these concepts. This article aims to elucidate on these concepts and reveal its characteristic themes. An analysis of literature was carried out to identify these concepts. In the final analysis, 62 articles were included. This analysis showed that the concept social integration and the related concepts of social inclusion and social participation are often described inaccurately, with only a few researchers providing explicit definitions or descriptions. In the majority of articles, implicit descriptions can be derived from instruments used to measure social integration, social inclusion or social participation: it is apparent there is much overlap among the use of concepts by researchers. Based on the analysis of the 62 articles, it can be concluded that the concepts social integration, social inclusion and social participation are used as synonyms. In our opinion, social participation is the most suitable concept. The analysis of literature reveals four key themes central to all three concepts: friendships/relationships, interactions/contacts, perception of the pupil with SEN and acceptance by classmates.

Being part of the peer group: a literature study focusing on the social dimension of inclusion in education

Background Over the past 20 years or so policy and practice on the education of children with special educational needs (SEN) has been aimed at placing increasing numbers of children in a mainstream school environment. Although this policy has been supported in principle by many teachers, parents and local authority officers, there has been much less agreement about whether this principle can be realized in practice, and even if it can, about what the impacts might be on the achievements of pupils with SEN in mainstream schools and, in particular, on their peers. Purpose This paper discusses the key findings from a systematic review of the literature carried out by the Inclusion Review Group, on behalf of the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information (EPPI)-Centre, the purpose of which was to review research evidence on whether the placement of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) within mainstream schools has an impact on academic and social outcomes for pupils without SEN. Design and methods T...

The impact of placing pupils with special educational needs in mainstream schools on the achievement of their peers

Outcomes of 28 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 1981 and 2007 were evaluated quantitatively to assess the effectiveness of classroom-wide interventions for the improvement of social...

A meta-analysis of classroom-wide interventions to build social skills: Do they work?

This qualitative research explored parental views about critical social skills for adolescents with high-incidence disabilities. Parents in this study shared their beliefs that emotional intelligence and character play critical roles in the social and emotional development of their children. Findings indicate that although parents agree that academic performance is important, they want their children to develop skills in two major areas: (a) interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, which include skills such as communicating, listening, interpreting, and discerning; and (b) moral development, which includes areas of character, empathy, and perseverance/motivation.

Critical Social Skills for Adolescents with High Incidence Disabilities: Parental Perspectives:

Peer relations play a major role in the social development of children and youth. Social workers are well aware of the potential negative consequences for children who are socially excluded, and th...

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Social Skills Program for Preadolescents

This article describes a study that explores the social integration of children with emotional disabilities in the educational setting. The results of the study suggest that the children with emotional disabilities benefited from their participation in the school setting. Furthermore, the able children participating in the study also benefited from their interaction with special needs children.

Social Integration of Children with Emotional Disabilities and Nonhandicapped Peers in a School Setting

Children with learning disabilities are at risk for poor peer relationships even in the mainstreamed classroom. Possible negative consequences include poor school performance, delinquency, and mental and emotional problems as adults. The author discusses the implementation and evaluation of a social skills program for fifth grade children with learning disabilities (LD). A unique component of this program is the inclusion of nonhandicapped (NLD) children in the intervention. The author argues that modifying the negative attitudes NLD children have towards LD children is critical if we are to improve the social environment of children with learning disabilities.

Evaluating a Social Skills Program for Children with Learning Disabilities

Many of the studies conducted in clinical research use small samples. This is especially true for small group research. These samples may present problems in the statistical analyses, as they reduce or limit the ability of the statistical tests of significance to detect differences between experimental conditions. This problem may befurther exacerbated when effect size is smalL This article discusses the application of a power analysis when such samples are used. The analysis is conducted after the study is completed and provides information concerning the actual power of the tests and important trends in the data that may have reached statistical significance if larger samples had been used

Juanita B. Hepler

Papers

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Social Skills Program for Preadolescents

Social Integration of Children with Emotional Disabilities and Nonhandicapped Peers in a School Setting

Evaluating a Social Skills Program for Children with Learning Disabilities

Using Power Analyses to Examine Post Hoc Trends in Small Samples