Social Skills of Children With Specific Language Impairment

Abstract

The social skills of 19 elementary school children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 19 chronological age-matched peers were examined. Children in both groups were selected from those children between the ages of 8 and 12 years. Each child with SLI was individually matched to a classmate of the same age. First, the Social Skills Rating System-Teacher Form (Gresham & Elliott, 1990) was administered to provide a general measure of social skill. Following this measure, the quantity of peer relationships was assessed in both groups using an informal picture task. This measure provided an indication of the peers with whom each child interacted while taking part in a variety of activities. The quality of peer relationships was then assessed using the Williams and Asher Loneliness Questionnaire (Williams & Asher, 1992). It was found that children with SLI differed from their peers on all three measures. These results suggested that the children with SLI had poorer social skills and fewer peer relationships, and were less satisfied with the peer relationships in which they participated when compared with their age-matched classmates.

Creating Inclusive Environments for Children with Autism

“…Opportunities for increased and successful social interactions are strongly correlated with the achievement of communicative competence (Prizant, Wetherby, Rubin, & Laurant, 2003). Research indicates that limited communication skills are strongly associated with peer rejection for children with ASD in inclusive classroom settings (Fujiki & Brinton, 1996;Humphrey, 2008;Walker & Berthelsen, 2008). A universally designed classroom is one which provides options for language, optimizes access to assistive technologies and fosters collaboration and community (CAST 2011).…”

“…Children with ASD often face challenges socializing in general education classroom settings and have trouble interacting with others (Embregts & van Nieuwenhuijzen, 2009;Fujiki & Brinton, 1996;Humphrey, 2008). Inclusive school settings should set the development of social competence as one of their primary goals (Walker & Berthelsen, 2008).…”

Self-Esteem, Shyness, and Sociability in Adolescents With Specific Language Impairment (SLI)

“…Young children with SLI are less socially competent and less successful in peer relations (Fujiki et al, 1996;Gertner, Rice, & Hadley, 1994;McCabe, 2005). Older children with SLI demonstrate poor social competence, poor social cognitive knowledge (Conti-Ramsden & Botting, 2004;Marton et al, 2005) and difficulties with particular social skills, including negotiation strategies (Brinton, Fujiki, & Mckee, 1998) and accessing established interactions (Craig & Washington, 1993).…”

“…Traditionally, SLI has been studied with a focus on psycholinguistic and cognitive implications (Bishop, 1997), but it is now clear that language difficulties are also associated with social functioning. Recent research has indicated that children and young people with SLI have a range of social difficulties, including poor social competence and poor peer relations (Conti-Ramsden & Botting, 2004;Durkin & Conti-Ramsden, 2007;Fujiki, Brinton, & Todd, 1996). Young people with SLI may be at risk for lower self-esteem due to their language difficulties and/or problems in other areas of functioning, particularly social difficulties.…”

Adolescent language development and disability: Introduction

“…This may be attributable, in part, to what has often been previously disregarded in research, social and health-care policy, and educational practices; that is, the way in which adolescents' language and communication skills underlie other aspects of their social and academic performance (cf. Camarata, Hughes and RUM, 1988;Fujiki, Brinton and Todd, 1996;Catts, 1997;Sanger, Hux and Belau, 1997).…”