Social Skills

Some children don’t have the social skills needed to feel comfortable with peers, make friends, or even engage in conversations. But they can overcome those challenges with individual therapy and social groups from Nathalia Fonseca, SLPD, CCC-SLP, TSSLD-BE, and the team at Bilingual Speech-Language & Swallowing Therapy in the Forest Hills neighborhood of New York City, New York. Call the office or book an appointment online today to learn more about how speech therapy can enhance your child’s social skills. 

What are social skills?

Social skills include all the abilities children need to play, make friends, and interact appropriately with all people.

To successfully navigate their social world, children need age-appropriate speech and language skills together with the ability to:

• Understand nonverbal communication
• Be aware that other people have different thoughts (theory of mind)
• Identify and value others’ feelings (empathy)
• Coordinate their behavior with others
• Regulate their emotions, feelings, and behaviors
• Negotiate and solve problems

While all children need some guidance, most of them naturally pick up these skills through experience. Unfortunately, some children don’t develop that ability naturally.

What interferes with learning social skills?

Children can’t benefit from the typical advice and guidance offered by parents and teachers when they have challenges such as:

Speech and language delays or disorders

Children must be able to use language to communicate with and understand others. If their speech is delayed, they can catch up with remedial training. Or they may have a speech-language disorder that requires more intensive speech therapy.

Social communication disorder

Some children can’t communicate properly in a social setting, a condition called social communication disorder (and also known as pragmatic language disorder). They may speak fluently with friends or family members, but they can’t figure out what to say or talk about when socializing.

Developmental disabilities

Developmental disabilities like autism significantly affect children’s ability to learn social skills. For example, children with autism often:

• Have social communication disorder
• Have receptive expressive language disorder
• Don’t want to listen to or share others’ interests
• Lack theory of mind
• Can’t engage in imaginative play
• Don’t pick up nonverbal communication
• Struggle to control their emotions and behaviors

Developmental disabilities are often accompanied by other mental health issues that affect social skills, such as anxiety disorders.

How do speech therapists support social skills?

Speech therapists are the experts in teaching children the speech, language, communication, and socialization skills they lack. The team at Bilingual Speech-Language & Swallowing Therapy also offers social groups, giving kids the chance to learn and build their social skills together with peers.

The team runs their social groups in a comfortable, free-flowing, yet structured and safe environment that helps children feel independent, while also having the support they need to learn social skills.

To learn more about their social programs, call  Bilingual Speech-Language & Swallowing Therapy or book an appointment online today.