The Importance of Social Language Skills
Social language skills can be described as the way in which we communicate verbally and non-verbally with the world around us. These skills are important because they form the basis of all human interaction and the foundation on which caring relationships are built.
Some examples of social language skills include:
- Posture and body language
- Facial expressions
- Maintaining appropriate proximity to a speaker
- Maintaining eye contact and attention
- Staying on topic
- Taking turns appropriately in a conversation
- Appropriate listening behaviors
- Humour
- Figurative language
- Asking and answering questions appropriately
Many of these skills come naturally to most people. For others, these skills need to be developed and refined to ensure effective communication is achieved.
When a child does not have developed or appropriate social language skills, they may become increasingly isolated. Fearing rejection, teasing or bullying, they may avoid social situations.
Speech-Language Pathologists are highly educated professionals, trained to identify and treat such challenges. If you have a child who needs some assistance in this area, the clinicians at S.L. Hunter & Associates would be pleased to help. Intervention may initially involve one-on-one intervention and as skills are developed the child is given the opportunity to practice using these skills in a group setting.
The offices of S.L. Hunter & Associates are located at 5195 Harvester Rd. Unit 4B. They can be reached by telephone at 905-637-5522 or online at www.slhunter.ca.