As children with autism spectrum disorder become adults, social participation continues to be an area of need. Within creative arts, there is a growing body of literature about the use of theatre arts, improvisational theatre, and improvisational techniques as a way to address social participation for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. The…

The ability to understand and effectively interact with others is a critical determinant of academic, social, and life success (DiPerna & Elliott, 2002). An area in particular need of scalable, feasible, usable, and scientifically sound assessment tools is social-emotional comprehension, which includes mental processes enlisted to encode,…

The main purpose of the present study was to explore how social competence reduces behavioral problems. Based on previous findings, we assume that increased social competence can be regarded as a mediating factor in reducing behavior problems. All participants (children and adolescents, n = 112) received an intervention intended to increase social…

Children begin forming social and emotional intelligence at birth. They need the support of a caring adult at first, and then later interactions with peers, in order to encounter the experiences that will guide their brain development in the social and emotional domains. With the help and input of others, children begin to understand, express, and…

Social-emotional learning (SEL) skill includes the ability to encode, interpret, and reason about social and emotional information. In two related studies, we examined the relationship between children's SEL skill, their ability to regulate their own behavior, and the competence of their social interactions. Study 1 included 158 typically…

This article discusses the theoretical rationale for visually cued instruction and provides examples of pictographic and written language cues used to enhance the organizational skills, general skill development, academic learning, communication, socialization, and self-control of children with autism and pervasive developmental disorders. (DB)

An alternative model of social skills instruction that does not assume social skill deficits, but rather deficits in self-regulatory behavior, was used with three boys with severe behavior disorders. Self monitoring procedures were used to cue social skills, were effective in altering participant's social behaviors, and created maintained positive…

Pressures to improve test scores and avoid lawsuits are causing many schools to cut back play time. According to the American Association for the Child's Right to play, nearly 40% of the nation's 16,000 school districts have either modified, deleted, or are considering deleting recess. Moreover, where playtime does still exist, it has become…

Field-tested with 400 elementary school students, this curriculum focuses on developing the cognitive skills behind appropriate social behavior rather than teaching children a set of specific behaviors to enact. Along with a thorough overview, teachers will get 66 activity-based lessons on social skills, organized around topics that build on each…

This study proposes a model of associations between young children's social cognition and their social behavior with peers. In this model, two latent structures -children's representations of peer relationships and emotion regulation -- predict children's competent, prosocial, withdrawn, and aggressive behavior. Moreover, the model proposes that…