This paper defines social withdrawal from a social skills perspective and presents a fourfold classification system of children's social skills deficits. The paper reviews the literature in discussing assessment procedures; social skills training strategies (modeling, coaching, peer-mediated interventions, and group contingencies); and…

An alternative approach to mainstreaming is suggested whereby handicapped children would be taught the requisite social skills for effective social interaction and peer acceptance. Social skills curricula for use by both special and regular classroom education teachers are suggested. (Author)

The proposed modified definition of learning disability by the Interagency Committee on Learning Disabilities, which includes social skills deficits as a specific learning disability, is presented and analyzed from primary, secondary, and social learning theory causative hypotheses. Development of an adequate assessment technology is urged.…

Reviews past and present conceptualizations and summarized narrative and meta-analytic reviews of social skills training (SST) outcome studies. Overall, modest effect sizes are reported in the meta-analytic literature, suggesting that SST is a relatively weak intervention strategy. Recommendations for rebuilding SST are provided. (Author/CR)

Traces the evolution of the social competence concept from the 1970s to the present, and addresses matching social skills training to social skills deficits, understanding contextual issues in social skills training, generalization of social skills training, and developing and using meaningful outcome measures in social skills training. (Author/CR)

Six methods for assessing children's social skills are described and evaluated. They are sociometrics, ratings by others, naturalistic observations, behavioral role plays, behavioral interviews, and self-report measures. Issues of definition, classification, and social validity are examined to provide a context for understanding problems and…

Reviews various methods of social skills assessment with children. Found that behavioral observations, sociometrics, and teacher ratings have been the most often used methods. Suggests school psychologists should utilize all three measures to secure a comprehensive picture of children's social behavior and to obtain some measure of social…

Four challenges in the emotional/behavioral disorders field are discussed: implementation of empirically validated screening procedures; better understanding of the curriculum and instruction currently used to educate students with emotional disturbances; investigation of the relationship between underachievement and externalizing behaviors; and…