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Peer Awareness
A common theme in much of the on going research and studies about social skills in the child with ADHD is that the work intended to help the child needs to involve other children to at least some extent. If the focus is upon peer interaction, there is little logic in seeking to improve performance by using only one to one sessions.
It would therefore be desirable for perhaps two or three non-ADHD peers to participate in the activities or video watching so that there could be a shared discussion and an actual possibility to practice some of the skills by the children in various make believe situations and not simply by target child and adult. This latter arrangement risks being somewhat abstract when evidence suggests the value of working on social skills within a social context.
Also, if peers are involved in the training strategies and share the same rules, this may reduce stress upon the ADHD child and increase the rate at which (s)he internalises the targeted behaviours in real situations they can identify with.
The idea that simply placing a child with ADHD in a mainstream class will not actually be the solution for that child to develop socially appropriate behaviours. There needs to be direct teaching or modelling of the behaviours, and it is likely that the number of such behaviours needs to be limited to one or two at a time if true learning and consolidation is to take place.
Learning from peers can take three forms:
Where the target child is placed within a group of peers whose positive social skills will be modelled constantly by others and where it has been made clear to the ADHD child what to observe and imitate. So the need to explain carefully what you want your child to watch the other children doing needs to be fairly specific - e.g. watch how this group take turns to throw the dice in the game.
The training approach involves peers being shown how to prompt some particular response from the child with ADHD and then to offer praise when the child acts appropriately. So the group you are working with need to know exactly what you are wanting your child to learn - e.g. turn taking so they can go round with the dice with the person with the dice passing this to the next child saying it is now your turn to throw the dice all round the group until it comes to your child's turn. Then the child before can hand your child the dice and say clear that it is now their turn to throw the dice and thank them for waiting nicely for everyone else to have their turn. Then once the child has thrown the dice for them to then pass the dice to the next child saying it is now your turn to throw the dice when that child can then say thank you for giving me my turn. Things like this although may sound very strange help our children to learn the idea of turn taking by constant reinforcement as they learn much better by various forms being taken - watching - speaking the instruction and then interaction of praise for getting it right.
The peer-initiated approach involves showing peers how to talk with the ADHD child and how to invite him or her to respond. It enables the other children to learn that this particular child has a problem and that you are trusting them to help the child to learn how to take part correctly, this therefore also helps the other children to work on the skills they need to continue to involve the child in other activities by asking them in the right manor and how to explain the rules in a way your child will understand in the future.
There is evidence that involving all children in the development of social skills has more benefits than working with the targeted child(ren) only ; there is also the point that this approach avoids singling out the child with the ADHD characteristics which might otherwise introduce a further disadvantage before one even begins ! There is a similar risk in a constant pairing of the ADHD child with a support assistant in that a dependency may be established, and any need or motivation to interact with other children is reduced.
A further implication behind all this is that there will be benefits in providing some sensitive awareness-raising among classmates of the nature of ADHD characteristics and behaviours. There is evidence ( e.g. Roeyers 1996) that giving peers this kind of information can improve the frequency and quality of social interaction between the ADHD child and classmates ; and that it can increase empathy towards the ADHD individual whose idiosyncrasies become more understandable and are not seen as provocative or awkward.
The whole point of this being a Social problem leads everyone to realise that the best way to help your child is to involve them in controlled social situations as this helps not only your child but it also allows others to learn how to involve your child in other situations without this causing as many problems as it may have done in the past.
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REFERENCES
- Roeyers H. 1996 The influence of non-handicapped peers on the social interaction of children with a pervasive developmental disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 26 307-320
- Novotini M 2000 What Does Everyone Else Know That I Don't
- Connor M 2002 Promoting Social Skills among Children with Asperger Syndrome (ASD)
- Gray C My Social Stories Book
- Searkle Y, Streng I The Social Skills Game (Lifegames)
- Behaviour UK Conduct Files
- Team Asperger Gaining Face, CD Rom Game
- Powell S. and Jordan R. 1997 Autism and Learning. London : Fulton.
(With particular reference to the chapter by Murray D. on autism and information technology )
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