Our Social Skills Program is designed to address the social and life skill needs of students with Nonverbal Learning Disability (NVLD).

Nonverbal learning disability or NVLD is a relatively new “syndrome” that has emerged over the last ten years. It is a cluster of neuropsychological, academic, and social –emotional characteristics that reflects primary deficiencies in non verbal reasoning.

In other words a student with NVLD in a classroom may appear to be knowledgeable in certain subjects that interest them, however will have significant difficulty retaining new information and generalizing that information. The student may have poor fine motor control (ex: pencil grip, too large/too small hand writing) or have an unsteady gait during physical activities. Many of these issues can cause anxious and compulsive behavior for the student.

On the social side of things, a student with NVLD tends not to “fit in” with their peers; however they have a strong desire to be accepted. They tend to not understand the sarcasm or figurative language and on many occasions take the comments literally and end up in a conflict with someone. Many students with NVLD often turn to adults/teachers for conversation and/or socialization as they are less threatening, more predictable and patient with them.

There are strengths associated with NVLD, which include an excellent vocabulary and verbal expression. Students with NVLD also have exceptional rote memory skills, attention to detail, strong simple auditory learning and tend to have a natural inclination of computers and technology.

Many of the strengths and needs of a student with NVLD are worked into an individual education plan, however specific social skills are not always included in the plan or the class as academic work takes precedent at times. Therefore it is important that their social needs are addressed separately and then transferred into other aspects of their lives.

Program Goals and Objectives

The overall goal of the program is to develop appropriate social interaction skills of each student.

The goals are stated as the following:
To determine whether a student has gained a satisfactory amount of functional social skills according to their individual capability and,
To determine the satisfaction with the student transferring of skills gained to situations outside the program.

The objectives are stated as the following:
Students will fully participate in social skills sessions.
Students will gain insight to their social needs based on self assessment and situational role plays
Upon completion of program students will have the knowledge and skills to interact within various environments

It is important to remember that each student is different and has many different strengths and needs, therefore developing individual goals and objectives is key in order to achieve success in the program. Another way to ensure goal attainment of the individual is by including other teachers, friends, and family in each step along the way. Therefore consistency is established and an increased opportunity of skill transfer is provided.

Social Arts accomplishes its goal by breaking down the social interaction process into manageable components and skill sets. Each skill set will be practiced until there is a noticeable generalization of the skill by all parties involved. The students will be assessed three times throughout the school by their teachers, family, and themselves.