Social Interaction Skills

What Are Social Interaction Skills?

Well-developed social interaction skills are critical for developing positive self-esteem, building relationships, and ultimately for acceptance into society. To communicate effectively with others, establish friendships, positive social relationships, and be perceived as likable, a person must demonstrate good social skills.

Inherent in social interaction are the verbal or signed expressive and receptive language skills required to converse. Mastering nonverbal communication is vital. It involves recognizing the subtleties of facial expressions and body language to express various emotions and feelings.

Social skills are key for interaction. Often, these skills are picked up by casually watching others. However, children who are blind or have low vision are unable to observe these interactions. They require structured, deliberate teaching to acquire social skills.

Why Teach Social Interaction Skills as a Specific Area?

Research has shown that youth with blindness or low vision are at risk in social skills. They also tend to have smaller networks of friends and acquaintances.

Research also showed significant relationships between youth who are blind or low vision engaging in social activities and being employed. The importance of children and adolescents with blindness or low vision participating in structured learning of social skills is supported in research, and these activities can and should be supported by families, the TVI, school staff, and service providers.

Infants and Toddlers

Humans begin to learn social skills in infancy. For young children, social development focuses on bonding and communicating effectively with parents, caregivers, and other significant people in the child’s life.

Infants and toddlers with blindness or low vision may show unique signs of seeking attention, differing from sighted children. Instead of becoming noisy to signal a parent’s approach, they might quiet down. This quietness allows them to listen for cues of feeding, diaper changes, comfort, or playtime. Sighted parents could misinterpret this silence as a desire for rest or lack of bonding. However, it could actually mean the child is actively engaging and seeking interaction.

Primary caregivers of infants with blindness or low vision must learn a different “social dance” to communicate effectively with the child. Instead of visual cues and eye contact, these interactions use hearing, touch, smell, and taste to establish social connections. These children benefit from caregivers providing auditory descriptions and cues, such as speaking to explain what’s happening before touching the baby or bringing food to the child’s mouth.

The parent may also want to hum, whistle, or make other pleasant noises when approaching the child’s room to let the child know someone’s coming.

Interactions with family members in the first three years of life set the course for a child’s social development. Therefore, early intervention is especially important as parents of newborns with visual impairments learn to cope with their feelings about having a child with a visual disability.

Understanding Behaviors

Teaching parents how to read their child’s behaviors can help prevent difficulties later. Parents may need to be encouraged to use touch as a substitute for visual cues like smiling; for example, massage or cuddling while rocking and a soothing voice may be more rewarding for the child than things they can’t see. The critical thing is for parents and other caregivers to bond with the child so that they feel safe and loved.

Elementary Age

As children mature, their siblings and other children will play an important role in their social development. For example, siblings and peers might teach children with blindness or low vision skills such as turn-taking and social interactions as they pretend to play or play games: “Watch this,” and “Did you see that!?!”

For elementary-aged children, social skills development moves from building relationships within the family to developing relationships with others: classmates and friends, teachers, or adults in schools and community settings.

Middle School and Beyond

By the time kids reach middle, junior high, and high school, they’re expected to understand common social rules in their community. Thus, children and adolescents with blindness or low vision should have mastered basic social skills. This knowledge enables them to fulfill their social objectives.

At this stage, they will be expected to recognize social challenges, problem-solve, and resolve those difficulties. Teachers and family members should offer verbal feedback to students with blindness or low vision. It’s important to highlight which social skills are effective and identify areas for improvement. These students might not notice cues from their sighted peers or the community. Therefore, insights from sighted friends, family, and teachers are crucial. This feedback helps them grasp how their actions affect others.