For some children with attention disorders and related executive skill difficulties, their challenges involve more than consistent inconsistency: they also suffer from a handicap that isolates them from other children. Boys and girls with social skills weaknesses seem immature and seem to lack good judgment at times. They may less sensitive to the needs of others. As a result, some children with attention challenges are rejected by their peers, and their social relationships can seem “out of synch.”
Social difficulties can become far more anxiety provoking for a struggling child than problems with reading, writing, or math. A child can carry a calculator to help with arithmetic and a computer can help with spelling and writing, but there is no mechanical or computerized invention that can take her successfully through a classmate’s birthday party or any other social situation. At times, she may be more worried about being left out of activities with friends on Friday night than failing a spelling test on Friday morning.
The goal of Social Skills articles on this site is to suggest ways parents and teachers can help children with attention difficulties improve their skills in five different social areas:
Starting Up Relationships
What does it take to be a friend?
Keeping up relationships
Active Listening: Part I , Part II
Manners Matter
Parties and Other Social Situations
Talking too much or too little
Speaking and Understanding Social Language
Saying the Right Thing at the Right Time to the Right Person
Understanding the Effects of Mood and Behavior
Impulsiveness and Perseveration
(c) 1995-2009, monte w. davenport, ph.d.
