Children with ADHD who have
social skills deficits may behave in a very annoying manner to both their peers
and adults. Parents and teachers know very well of these children’s behavior
and how others respond to it.
These children may talk excessively without
realizing that they are doing so or they may talk so infrequently that people
do not even know they are in the room. Their
parents seemingly do not like them; their teachers seemingly do not like them;
and other children do not like them. I felt so sad hearing a mother
describing her child in such negative terms. I guess she was being realistic, but
even so.
As far as social
skills go, I do think that kids with ADHD have significant issues with this.
Sometimes it seems to be a matter of the fact that they do not notice their own
behavior as being unusual or inappropriate in any way. Thus, they make no
effort to control it. But, even when pointed out, they often seem unable to
control odd or inappropriate behavior.
Okay, so let’s get to the bottom
of these children’s social skills difficulties. Children with ADHD of all types
may have social skills problems, even though their behavior may be varied.
Why? They have social skills
deficits. These deficits typically have been described as either “can’t do”1 or
“won’t do” (Gresham et al., 2001, p. 33). They either do not know how to behave
in a socially appropriate manner or they know how to behave in a socially appropriate
manner, but do not do so. Children with ADHD have social skills deficits that
prevent them from developing positive social skills. These children typically
do not pick up and internalize positive social skills.
Children with ADHD do not learn positive
social skills that are modeled by their parents at home in the same way as children
without ADHD do due to the following
- Lack of knowledge
- Lack of practice of feedback
- Lack of cues or opportunities
- Lack of reinforcement
- Presence of interfering problem behaviors. (pp. 28–29).
To be continued….
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