Alex Kelly TalksAbout Social Skills

Alex Kelly is a Speech & Language Therapist who has specialised in working with people with learning disabilities for more than 20 years, with 10 years' experience in social skills training. 

She has published a number of resources for speech & language therapy and social skills training which include the bestselling Talkabout series (Talkabout - A social communication skills package, Talkabout Activities - developing social skills, Talkabout Relationships - developing self-esteem and relationship skills and Talkabout DVD) and Working with Adults with a Learning Disability. 

In addition, Alex provides training and consultancy in developing social skills, setting up and running social skills groups and developing self-esteem and relationship skills in people with learning disabilities. Alex has now finished filming the Talkabout DVD - an essential resource for anyone running social skills groups.

SOCIAL SKILLS

What do we mean by social skills and do speech & language therapists have a role in developing them?

It seems as if social skills have suddenly (or maybe not so suddenly) hit the headlines. Last year we heard that the Government was allocating money so that schools could teach social skills to mainstream children and this year we have seen schools getting to grips with SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning). But what are social skills and do we, as speech & language therapists, have a role in all of this?

In order to define social skills, it is important to understand the six main facets of social skill:

Firstly, socially skilled behaviours are goal-directed. They are behaviours which an individual uses in order to achieve a desired outcome and are therefore purposeful behaviours, as opposed to chance or unintentional behaviours. An example of this is if someone wants you to speak, they will use certain behaviours to encourage you: looking at you, nodding their head, and using listening noises, ‘mmm’. These behaviours are therefore directed towards the goal of encouraging someone to communicate.

Secondly, socially skilled behaviours are interrelated. A person will use several behaviours in a synchronised way to achieve a particular goal, for example, nodding and smiling to show encouragement.

Thirdly, social skills should be appropriate to the situation in that we adapt our behaviour to particular individuals in specific social contexts. In this way, we may develop a style of communication in one context but will need to adapt our style in other contexts, for example when being interviewed.

The fourth component is that social skills are defined in terms of identifiable 'units of behaviour' which the person displays. We therefore judge whether people are socially skilled based on how they actually behave. These behaviours can be divided into non-verbal, verbal and assertive behaviours and we will look at these in more detail in the next issue.

The fifth component of this definition of social skills is that they are behaviours which can be learned. Social skills are learned through imitation, modelling and reinforcement as a child is growing up. Feedback is essential to this as children will employ those behaviours which are encouraged more frequently and will display less often those behaviours that are discouraged or ignored.

The final component is that social skills should be under the cognitive control of the individual. Thus a socially skilled person has learned when to employ social behaviours as well as what and how to use them – ‘saying the right thing at the wrong time’ may often seem to be as socially inadequate as not saying the right thing at all.

So do speech & language therapists have a role in developing social skills and working with people who have social skills difficulties?

Well, I believe we certainly do. As we know, social competence contributes to quality of life, as our lives are built on positive interactions and relationships with the people around us. Indeed, social competence has been repeatedly demonstrated to be a critical variable in predicting success in future life, and as Frea (2006) says: ‘even communication skills carry minimal power if social skills are not developed to ensure opportunities to communicate’. So what could be more rewarding than working with someone to improve their ability to interact successfully with others around them and improve their quality of life? For me, nothing.

So in the next few months we will consider how we can work on social skills in the most effective way.

We will firstly describe these ‘units of behaviour’ that make up the term ‘social skills’ in more detail. We will then think about how social skills develop; how to assess social skills; how to work with people in the most effective way. In particular, we will consider what makes a group effective, and the Speech & Language Therapist's role in supporting the development of SEAL in schools.

Alex Kelly
Speech & language therapist and social skills consultant

Click here to learn more about SEAL

Reference

Frea WD (2006), Teaching Social Skills to Students on the Austism Spectrum, Impact, 19 (3) 20-21