Teaching social skills to visually impaired students

Abstract

This article describes a study (1992) in which a group of students from RNIB Redhill College were given a programme of teaching in social skills with emphasis on the social use of language. The aim was to assess whether systematic training over a one-year period would enhance self-confidence and improve social interaction skills. The expectation was that students would find real social situations less threaten ing or demanding if they had been given specific training in how to handle them. This programme appears to indicate promising results.

Development and implementation of a Curriculum to Develop Social Competence for Students with Visual Impairments in Germany

“…Despite their awareness of the need to teach these skills, professionals "do not seem to be able to implement a creative, sequential curriculum in this area" (Sacks et aI., 1997). Various programs to teach social skills have been developed in the United States and many other countries over the past decades (Johnson & Johnson, 1991;Stockley, 1994;Stewart, Van Hasselt, Simon, & Thompson, 1985;Thienwiebel, 1996;Van Hasselt, Simon, & Mastanuono, 1982), but most of them were training or intervention programs of short duration (usually 4 16 weeks, followed by a booster session). In addition, these programs generally had a lim-ited focus on social skills in the context of social interaction (for example, teaching nonverbal or verbal communication skills) and did not include a more holistic approach of teaching visually impaired students more of the skills that are needed to acquire and develop social competence.…”