Social Skills & Pragmatics

Social skills and pragmatics are the rules of language and behavior we use in everyday social situations. These rules involve: using language for different functions (i.e. greetings, requesting), altering language to different speakers (i.e. talking to a baby versus an adult), and following rules for conversations (i.e. turn taking and staying on topic). Someone with a social skills and pragmatics disorder may have difficulty with the following:

• Making or maintaining friends
• Entering into social situations
• Perspective taking
• Awareness of social rules
• Using “social thinking” strategies
• Being flexible and resilient
• Conversational skills
• Varying language for each social context
• Making appropriate comments
• Using and comprehending social cues (i.e. body/facial language)
• Personal space
• Tone of voice
• Volume control
• Eye contact

If your child is experiencing difficulties with social skills and their pragmatic language seems inappropriate for their age, then an evaluation with a speech therapist would be beneficial. Pragmatic disorders often coexist with other speech and language disorders. These difficulties can lower self-esteem, affect social acceptance and lead a child to avoid social interactions. Speech therapy can provide instruction and strategies on how to function and be successful in various social environments.