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Disability Awareness for 5 year olds
Practical ideas for parents who want to help their child's classmates and playmates understand more about their child and his/her special needs.
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What Are Social Skills?
By: Renata Bursten, Dragonfly Staff
Social skills are the skills we use in every environment that includes two or more people. Some disabilities such as: ADD, ADHD, PDD and autism can make these skills especially challenging to learn.
Social skills include such things as manners and reading and reacting appropriately in 'social environments'. Being able to read social cues is probably the most important skill we need as almost every environment we are in is a social environment.
,Some children have a social disability. They are unable to read the 'social cues' of the many environments of which they are part ~ family, school, recreational activities, etc. If they are lacking in these skills, they are often labeled as being social misfits, loners or having behavior problems.
,As with the disabilities that affect academic achievement, 'social skills' must be taught, practiced and sometimes even over learned.
,To learn more, check out this fine article by By Barb Bidaux, Social Skills Workshop facilitator and co-author of Skills 4 Success.
What Are Social Skills?
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PLAY Tip
Assentive Computer Technology - Using The Touch Free Switch To Click
To use the Touch Free Switch with users with disabilities, just point the camera at an arm, elbow, face, finger or foot. Zoom in or out to capture small or large movements. Select an area in the onscreen video window, then move in or out of the box to trigger a mouse click. Try using it with switch adapted software.