Teaching Social Skills:
A Critical Path to Student
Success in Special Education
For many students with disabilities—especially those with emotional and behavioral disorders, autism spectrum disorder, and other low-incidence disabilities—social interactions can be challenging. These students often struggle with communication, self-management, and following classroom expectations, making it difficult for them to fully participate in the school community. As educators, it’s our responsibility to recognize and address these gaps, providing the guidance they need to succeed not just academically, but socially as well.
Social skills are critical for navigating the world, and when deficits in this area go unaddressed, students face barriers to forming relationships, managing conflicts, and succeeding in both school and life. Special educators play a vital role in identifying which specific social behaviors need improvement and developing strategies to teach these skills explicitly and effectively.
Waddell Hammer, MSW, LSW
Proactively Identifying
Social Skill Gaps
The first step to addressing social skills deficits is understanding exactly what skills are lacking. This can be done using multiple data sources—such as office referrals, classroom observations, and family input—to assess students' social behaviors. This holistic approach allows educators to see the whole child, rather than focusing only on isolated incidents. Once the specific deficits are identified, targeted instruction can be designed to meet the unique needs of the student.
For example, if a student struggles with resolving peer conflicts, breaking down the complex task into smaller, more manageable steps can lead to success. Teaching students how to check for understanding, offer their opinion respectfully, and identify areas of compromise are teachable skills that can make a real difference in their social interactions.
Creating Targeted
Social Skills Groups
Grouping students with similar social deficits can make instruction more effective. Whether it’s communication, problem-solving, or conflict management, students benefit from lessons that are designed around their shared needs. Teachers can break down complex social tasks into sequenced steps that ensure students experience success at each stage. The use of role-playing, examples, and non-examples can further strengthen these lessons, promoting generalization of skills across various settings.
To ensure success, educators should also take students' cultural backgrounds, ages, and natural environments into account when developing examples and teaching methods. The way a student greets a peer, for instance, may differ depending on whether they are in a formal or informal setting, and teaching must reflect these nuances.
Providing Immediate,
Specific Feedback
For students with disabilities, mastery of social skills is often dependent on the feedback they receive. Teachers who provide immediate, specific feedback—both positive and corrective—help students understand not only what they did right, but also how they can improve. It’s this type of clear, consistent communication that leads to real change. Just as with academic instruction, effective social skills lessons should be engaging, scaffolded, and tailored to each student's individual progress.
Gradually fading supports also helps students become more independent in using their new social skills. Over time, students should be given opportunities to practice these skills in a variety of authentic settings, ensuring they can apply what they've learned across contexts. This is a crucial step in promoting generalization and long-term success.
A Collaborative Effort
Teaching social skills is not a one-person job. It takes collaboration between teachers, families, and other stakeholders to create environments where students feel safe and supported as they practice and grow. School leaders play a pivotal role in this process by providing ongoing professional development and coaching to ensure that teachers are equipped with the best practices for teaching social skills. This may include helping teachers understand how to monitor student progress, use data to make instructional decisions, and link social skills instruction to broader school-wide expectations.
Waddell Hammer, MSW, LSW
The work of teaching social skills to students with disabilities is both challenging and rewarding. It requires educators to take a proactive, data-driven approach and to collaborate closely with colleagues and families. By breaking down complex behaviors into teachable steps, providing targeted feedback, and promoting generalization across settings, educators can equip their students with the tools they need to succeed socially, both in school and in life.
written by
Waddell Hammer
Waddell Hamer is a social worker specializing in motivational interviewing and trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapy with children and adolescents struggling through depression, anxiety, and trauma. He has been a school-based and home-based life skills clinician with a focus on bridging services between the school and home settings, wraparound facilitator, home-based therapist through the pandemic, therapist for individuals who were victims of violent crimes, and social worker in a community health network. Outside of his professional work, he has worked to establish a NAMI community organization for mental wealth, integrates art and mental health in black and brown communities, and enjoys being the connector between people of his community. Waddell is a Licensed Social Worker with his Bachelors in Political Science and Masters in Social Work.
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