Megan K. Rich, MS, CCC-SLP: No financial or non-financial relationships to disclose
Abstract: This presentation will review elements of effective social language groups focusing on social interaction and social cognition skills for K-2nd grade students. Hands-on, high interest activities addressing social attention; participating in small and large groups; understanding expanded feelings/emotions; understanding classroom and school expectations; perspective taking; thought flexibility; and building positive peer relationships will be presented. In addition, examples using popular children's literature; original games/activities; adapted commercial games; and dramatic play elements will be provided. Suggestions for goal writing and promoting generalization of skills to the classroom/school environment will also be reviewed.
Summary of Presentation : Strong pragmatic or social language skills are crucial for children to succeed in elementary school. Students with difficulties in this area struggle to build and maintain peer relationships; sustain positive connections with teachers; and engage in many expected classroom behaviors. This can lead to student and teacher frustration and impact student achievement and self-esteem. According to the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) social communication consists of pragmatics, social interaction, social cognition, and language processing (https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/clinical-topics/social-communication-disorder). Most elementary school speech/language pathologists have students on their caseload who exhibit deficits in social communication skills, but many therapists have difficulty identifying a scope and sequence of intervention that addresses both social interaction and social cognition skills. Therapists also struggle with determining appropriate intervention targets and writing incremental goals. Often a clinician will overlook requisite social cognition competencies and revert to writing goals that focus solely on conversational turn-taking or topic maintenance skills. These difficulties result in social language groups that lack specificity, direction, and ongoing student engagement which contributes to reduced mastery and generalization of critical skills. Additionally, many intervention models focus on correction of behaviors rather than teaching children to use social thinking skills which further impacts generalization of skills and can lead to negative student connotations regarding terminology or social language group itself.
This presentation will review elements of effective social language groups that promote sustained learning over an extended time for K-2nd grade students. These components engage students in hands-on, high interest activities that emphasize mastery, generalization, and authentic use of targeted skills. Activities focusing on social attention; participating in small and large groups; understanding expanded feelings/emotions; understanding classroom and school expectations; perspective taking; thought flexibility; and building positive peer relationships will be presented. In addition, examples using popular children's literature; original games/activities; adapted commercial games; and dramatic play elements will be provided. Suggestions for goal writing and promoting generalization of skills to the classroom/school environment will also be reviewed.
Learning Objectives:
At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to:
Upon completion, participants will be able to describe components of an effective social language group incorporating social interaction and social cognition skills for K-2nd grade students.
Upon completion, participants will be able to implement effective social language group sessions for K-2nd grade students using children's literature, games, and dramatic play elements to facilitate hands-on, authentic learning.
Upon completion, participants will be able to develop measurable goals and objectives targeting requisite social interaction and social cognition skills appropriate for kindergarten-2nd grade children.