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Social skills interventions differ by age because students have different developmental needs. For younger children, instruction is more hands-on and play-based, focusing on simple skills like sharing, taking turns, greeting others, and using polite language. For older students, interventions focus on more complex skills such as understanding social cues, navigating group conversations, building friendships, handling conflicts, and using self-advocacy in social situations. As students get older, lessons become more structured, age-appropriate, and tied to real-life situations they will encounter at school, work, and in the community.

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SEL (Social-Emotional Learning) is broader than social skills. SEL focuses on understanding and managing emotions, building self-awareness, making responsible decisions, and developing healthy relationships. Social skills are one part of SEL and focus more specifically on how to interact with others—such as taking turns, communicating, using polite language, and understanding social cues. SEL teaches the emotional foundation, while social skills teach the behaviors used in everyday interactions.

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We can infuse social skills instruction into daily activities by modeling and practicing skills during natural routines such as greetings, transitions, group work, and play. During these moments, we can prompt students to face the speaker, take turns, use appropriate personal space, and ask for help when needed. We can also describe visual social cues they may miss, reinforce polite language, and give them guided practice in real interactions with peers. Using everyday situations allows students to learn social skills in meaningful authentic contexts.

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Other areas of the ECC, such as self-advocacy, are strongly affected by social skill acquisition because students need social understanding to express their needs, ask for help, and communicate their preferences. When social skills are limited, it becomes harder for a student to know when to speak up, how to approach others, or how to explain what accommodations they need. For students with visual impairments, missing visual cues can make these interactions even more challenging, so strong social skills support their ability to self-advocate respectfully and confidently. As social skills improve, students become better able to participate in conversations, assert their needs, and build the independence required in self-advocacy and other ECC areas.

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Additional disabilities can affect the acquisition of appropriate social skills because students may process information, communicate, and interact with others in different ways. For students with visual impairments, missing visual cues such as facial expressions, gestures, or body language already makes social learning more challenging. When additional disabilities are present, students may also rely on alternative communication systems like PECS, gestures, or AAC, making it even harder to notice or interpret social signals. Motor, cognitive, or sensory challenges may further limit their ability to initiate interactions, respond consistently, or practice social routines with peers. These differences do not prevent students from learning social skills, but they require more intentional teaching, clear verbal explanations of visual cues, modeling, repetition, and individualized support to help them understand social expectations, communicate effectively, and build meaningful relationships.

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The TVI plays an important role in teaching social skills by helping students learn the visual parts of social interaction they may miss. We teach skills such as facing a person when speaking, using appropriate personal space, taking turns in conversation, using a polite tone, and understanding greetings and other social routines. We can also explain facial expressions and body language, model appropriate behavior, and give students guided practice so they can interact confidently with peers and adults.

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With younger students at the elementary age group, social skills interventions will be focused on building the initial skills to start interacting with others. At this age, students are coming to understand their environment and as their brain develops they are coming to learn about others and come to understand that they exist in the same space. For middle school students, they are expanding their relationships and still learning how to use their social skills. Interventions for both these groups will be very structured and will also include how to maintain relationships outside of a structured environment like a classroom.

High schools students and older students will need interventions that address more mature situations and will focus on understanding social cues relative to their age group. Accurate information about relationships between teens and between adults will be important so that students do not have a skewed perspective of these relationships. Older students can also greatly benefit from interventions that provide real-world experience in the workforce.

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Social skills refers to the specific ways people can interact which include word choices, appropriate vs inappropriate behavior, noticing when to take turns in a conversation and making sure to wait until another person has finished speaking. Social emotional learning (SEL) is related to social skills but it encompasses more of the individual's emotions and behaviors with their understanding of them. with social-emotional learning, students will develop and use their social skills build and maintain healthy relationships with others.

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Social skills can be integrated into daily activities by following with situations that a student encounters. For example, during playtime if a student wants to play something that requires another player, the teacher can prompt the student to go ask someone and if they do not know what to say then the teacher can model a question to ask and have the student go up to another student with that question. In other cases, a story may serve a way to pre-teach some social skills by presenting a story that revolves around social interactions like solving a conflict. Additionally, creating a play in which students can take up a role to act out the story can be a good way to teach how people interact socially and can be a good model to teach how to solve conflicts as well as teach appropriate ways to speak to others.

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Other areas of the ECC are affected by social skills because social skills are necessary for some areas like career education, self-determination, social interactions, and independent living skills. Social skills will affect how they interact with others in the job market for job interviews and how to interact with colleagues in a job setting. The social skills will allow students to have the appropriate social etiquette when eating out and interacting with others. Students will learn how to communicate using the correct tone for the situation and the appropriate word usage like being formal and informal. This can also fall into the recreation and leisure aspect of the ECC as students can engage in pretend play with other students.

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Students with visual impairments already have challenges with social skills, when a student has additional disabilities, other factors will affect how social skills are taught and learned. Some students with additional disabilities may learn social skills using different modes of communication like sign language and communication devices. Additional disabilities will make learning some social skills more difficult due to the uniqueness in their disabilities. Some students may be more sensitive to sensory input than others and some may be non-verbal which will affect the acquisition of social skills.

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The TVI plays an important role in providing instruction for all social cues that are learned visually. A TVI will teach skills such as appropriate body language when speaking to others and teach what is appropriate/inappropriate in a public setting. All of these skills are crucial for students to interact socially with their peers and create friendships. A TVI can model the different ways to interact with others and provide the context that comes with some social interactions. Students with visual impairments may have difficulties picking up on social cues, facial expressions, gestures, and body language. This will also show when the student presents themselves and they may not be using the same gestures and facial expressions as others.

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Annabelle Gonzalez

SEL and social skills differ because SEL is more of a process of acquiring skills while social skills are the abilities or "skills"" used to communicate and interact with others.

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Social skills interventions differ for different age groups because social expectations and developmental needs vary greatly between childhood and adolescence. For example, primary grades may focus more on foundational play skills such as sharing, turn-taking, and using words rather than acting out behaviorally. On the other hand, middle school interventions may be more complex, focusing on social dynamics and independence. For example, navigating friendships, self-advocacy, digital citizenship, and collaboration on projects. Social skills interventions start off as more concrete when students are younger and become more abstract as they get older.

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Social skills are a specific component of a more broad concept called social-emotional learning (SEL). Social skills focus on more specific, behavioral tasks such as turn-taking and using appropriate language in conversations, whereas SEL is a broad framework that covers a student's ability to understand and evaluate their own behaviors. For example, understanding and managing emotions, building relationships, and goal-setting.

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Social skills instruction can be naturally infused into daily activities through pre-teaching social concepts, narrating social situations, embedding social goals in everyday routines, using cooperative learning techniques, engaging in role-play, and facilitating peer interactions such as classroom buddies or shared jobs. Social skills are often learned best when they are turned into real-life experiences rather than simply taught in isolation.

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Many other areas of the ECC, including self-advocacy, social communication, independent living skills, career exploration, recreation and leisure, and even O&M are affected by social skill acquisition. For example, students must be able to interpret social cues, use appropriate tone, understand conversational turn-taking, follow social expectations in the community, and build social competence. These skills cover nearly all areas of the ECC. If students build strong social skills, it is more likely they will develop confidence, independence, and self-advocacy skills.

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When a student has a visual impairment paired with additional disabilities, learning social skills may be even harder. Students with visual impairments are already missing out on the visual cues such as facial expressions and body language, but when cognitive, motor, communication, or behavioral disabilities are added as well, the student may receive even less information, making social interpretation even more challenging. Additional disabilities may affect ability to access information, understand skills cognitively, participate, and generalize. Social skills must be taught explicitly and instruction will need to be highly individualized depending on student needs.

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The TVI plays a crucial role in teaching social skills to students by providing direct instruction and collaborating with other team members to apply these skills into the real world. The TVI can teach social skill concepts that are typically learned visually, such as facial expressions, body language, eye contact, and spatial awareness. Teaching these social and communication skills will increase independence.

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In the classroom, social-skills instruction can be naturally infused by encouraging students to use polite phrases such as “yes please,” “no thank you,” and “thank you” during daily routines. For example, when receiving materials students are prompted to use these expressions consistently. By modeling, reinforcing, and providing positive feedback, these simple phrases become a natural part of classroom interactions, helping students develop respectful communication.

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Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and social skills are related, but they are not the same. Social skills are what students do by doing specific or certain behaviors.

While SEL is why and how they do it, encompassing emotional awareness, regulation, and interpersonal understanding.

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Social-skills interventions vary across age groups because students’ developmental levels and social contexts change over time. For young children, the focus is on basic interactions like turn-taking, sharing, and simple communication, often taught through play-based routines and family support. Adolescents and young adults focus on self-advocacy, conflict resolution, and community engagement. TVI's coaches students to apply social skills in school, work, and real-world settings to promote independence and meaningful relationships.

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Teaching Students with Visual Impairments

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By: Carmen Willings
​teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
Updated June 27, 2025

Teaching social interaction skills to students with visual impairments is essential for their success in building relationships, navigating social environments, and preparing for future academic and professional experiences. Because reduced vision can limit a student's ability to observe and interpret nonverbal cues, facial expressions, and social nuances, explicit instruction and guided practice are necessary. Below are key areas and strategies for fostering strong social skills in students who are blind or have low vision.

Provide direct instruction in key social behaviors:

Greeting others appropriately

Initiating and maintaining conversations

Listening actively and taking conversational turns

Joining and leaving group activities respectfully

Use:

Role-play and skits

Social stories

Video modeling

Peer buddy systems

These tools help students practice and generalize social skills across various settings.

Guide students in handling everyday social interactions:

Expressing emotions clearly and appropriately

Interpreting tone of voice and context

Managing conflicts or misunderstandings

Demonstrating empathy and support for peers

Engage students in collaborative projects, team games, and class meetings that reinforce appropriate behavior and communication.

Empower students to:

Clearly communicate their needs and preferences

Request accommodations or help when needed

Explain their visual impairment in age-appropriate terms

Assert their rights respectfully

Create structured opportunities for students to practice advocacy, such as during IEP meetings, group work, or transitions between classes.

Partner with speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and other specialists to:

Address pragmatic language development

Practice interpreting and using nonverbal cues

Develop conversational turn-taking and active listening

Address speech clarity or expressive language needs, if present

This team-based approach strengthens both social and communication foundations.

​Social skills are not just learned through observation-they must be explicitly taught, practiced, and reinforced. For students with visual impairments, social instruction is a critical part of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) and should be woven throughout the school day and across environments.

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By: Carmen Willings ​teachingvisuallyimpaired.com Updated June 27, 2025

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Strong social-skills acquisition directly supports other areas of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC), especially self-advocacy. When students understand how to communicate their needs, interpret social expectations, and interact confidently with others, they are better able to request accommodations, explain their needs, and seek help appropriately. For example, students who can communicate clearly can ask for assistance and directions in O&M. Asking for directions, confirming bus routes, or communicating with crossing guards or peers while traveling. When students develop both social competence and self-advocacy, they are better equipped to navigate environments.

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Additional disabilities can make it harder for students to access and interpret social information, especially when they already miss out on visual cues. These students often need highly individualized, explicit instruction in communication, turn-taking, and understanding others’ emotions, supported with tools like tactile modeling or AAC.Creating consistent opportunities for students to practice and generalize appropriate social skills across environments is important.

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TVI plays an important and unique role in teaching social skills because students with visual impairments often miss out on incidental learning. A TVI helps bridge that gap by making social information explicit, by teaching social cues. Students with visual impairments may not see facial expressions, gestures, or body language. A TVI: can describe and models social cues verbally and teach students how to interpret tone of voice, personal space, and social expectations.

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SEL is the bigger component of how to acquire skills such as social awareness, self-management, relationship skills, etc. Whereas social skills are a part of that process but focus on behaviors and abilities to interact with others.

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We can infuse social skills into instructional activities by providing small group or peer interactions to practice working alongside their peers. Another way to incorporate social skills into everyday instruction is to do a guided reflection after lessons to help the students learn to articulate what they like, what they didn't like, what they can improve on and what they did good with.

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The other areas of the ECC are greatly affected by social skills. Social skills are the foundation for a lot of different areas in the ECC and should be focused on greatly. Social skills affect other areas by providing the student with independence and communication. Self-advocacy is greatly affected by social skills because it focuses on standing up for yourself and telling people what you need. This is only possible with communication skills and confidence which are outcomes of strong social skills. Another area that is affected is career education. By researching and speaking to people about careers, our students need to have those basic conversational skills and be able to express themselves and ask questions. Social skills is a crucial component of the ECC and can be seen as the foundational skill for other important skills to build on.

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Students with additional disabilities are affected by the acquisition of appropriate social skills because they have even more reduced incidental learning. Students with a visual impairment along with additional disabilities may take a longer time to understand social cues/skills. By providing direct instruction more frequently, collaborating, and practicing patience, this can help bridge the gap. Students with multiple disabilities can learn social skills with differentiated instruction and practice.

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The role of the TVI in teaching social skills is extremely important. TVI's provide direct instruction on various skills such as; making eye contact, body language, and taking turns in conversation. TVI's also help students fill in conceptual gaps which are harder to comprehend without sight. By working together with family and other service providers, students can build their self-esteem and confidence.

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Annabelle Gonzalez

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-q6lgrR5oE

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Understanding Vision: How Visual Impairment Affects Social-Emotional Development

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Annabelle Gonzalez

Social interventions have to be developmentally appropriate and adapted to each age group. As students mature, their cognitive and social understanding depends, requiring interventions that align with their current stage of development and build upon existing skills.

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Annabelle Gonzalez

Ways to infuse social skill instruction into daily activities are things such as morning meetings, and teamwork projects. These activities allow students to use their skills to effectively communicate and problem solve with interacting with peers in positive ways.

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Annabelle Gonzalez

Other areas of the ECC such as self-advocacy are influence by the development of social skills. Social skill acquisition provides students with foundational abilities in social behavior and interactions that support decision making, independence and effective communication. As students strengthen skills such as nonverbal communication and self-advocacy, they build upon these foundational social competences, with each skill reinforcing and enhancing the others.

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Students with visual impairments who have additional disabilities may experience unique challenges in developing social skills due to variations in cognitive understanding. However they are capable of achieving functional social competencies such as making choices, participating in daily routine and interacting meaningfully with others.

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The role of the TVI in teaching social skills to students is vital. The TVI provides direct instruction in social skill development and collaborate with other team members to create opportunities for students to practice and apply these skills in real life situations.

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Imagine walking into a crowded lunchroom and looking for a seat. You notice a group of people about your age and similarly dressed. One of them is wearing a baseball cap with the name of your favorite team. You watch them leaning in towards each other talking and smiling. Their body language appears welcoming and approachable. You sit down and strike up a conversation.

Now imagine walking into the same situation with your eyes closed. You are led to the first available seat. You don't know the gender or age of the person sitting beside you and you can't rely on visual cues to find common ground.

When it comes to developing social skills, people with vision have the advantage of incidental learning as they naturally observe their surroundings and the interactions of other people. But for students who are visually impaired, social skills must be explicitly taught in the curriculum.

Every day people with vision get flooded with a torrent of images that are constantly reinforced. They watch family members interacting. They observe postures, body language, and how closely people stand next to each other. They watch people eat and learn to keep their mouths closed when they chew. They notice how people dress in different types of weather and indoors versus outdoors. Through all of these visual observations they learn and imitate socially acceptable behaviors.

Jeff Migliozzi teaches social skills and sex education to students in Perkins Secondary Program. Migliozzi, who grew up blind himself, understands the unique social challenges faced by adolescents who are visually impaired. When his eighth grade teacher told him that people who are sighted make eye contact during conversation, Migliozzi asked, "Well, where do I look?" The teacher told him he was looking just below the mouth. "It was a 50/50 shot," Migliozzi explained. "I was looking towards the sound and I could either look above it or below it. After he told me that I changed what I was doing."

As Migliozzi can attest from his own experience, the social skills students who are blind need for daily life in school, at home, and in the community, must be strategically taught and integrated into all aspects of their education.

Migliozzi said it is common for people who are blind to engage in self stimulating behaviors like rocking back and forth in a chair. It feels good and unless they are told differently, students who are blind might not realize that people around them aren't doing the same thing and that others may find the behavior as off putting.

Just as he doesn't want students to alienate themselves in social situations, Migliozzi said it is important for students who are blind to understand they need to reciprocate during social interactions. Sometimes, he said, students become used to people bringing things to them, anticipating their needs, and initiating conversation.

"What does that teach you? It teaches you the world comes to me and nobody expects anything from me," Migliozzi said.

At the end of a class, one of Migliozzi's students stayed behind. When someone new entered the room the student immediately turned toward the doorway and said: "Hello, who is that?" For each question answered another was asked: "Are you sighted or blind? What do you do here? Do you live on campus?" The student was using conversation starters and gathering information about this new person without the use of visual clues and assumptions.

Migliozzi teaches his students to use safety precautions when interacting in the community and on the Internet - where teenagers today are spending more and more time socializing. If a student gets lost in the community Migliozzi advises them to go into a business and talk to the person behind the counter who likely has ties to the community rather than approaching someone on the street.

"Everybody's blind on the Internet," Migliozzi tells his students. Just as all teenagers must be careful because they never know who is really on the other end of an online chat room, students who are blind are even more vulnerable if a potential predator finds out they have a disability.

Migliozzi said making students aware of dangers and giving them the tools to advocate for themselves is an important piece of both the social skills curriculum as well as sex education. When it comes to sex education, it's about creating an equal playing field between students who are blind and their sighted peers. Appropriate greetings, kissing, and where it is and is not acceptable to touch someone else all have to be explained because the students cannot rely on learning these details by watching others.

"We forget how much of our social interaction is visual," said Tom Miller, former Director of Perkins Educational Partnerships Program, which offers early intervention and school age services from birth to 22 years old.

Miller said instilling social skills begins with the family/child relationship. There's a natural progression from solitary play, to playing beside someone, to playing with someone and interacting. In the beginning, adults must facilitate socialization and create opportunities for interaction. When you observe how toddlers naturally interact they tend to hand each other toys and run around. The child who is blind needs to be directly addressed and included in the activity. The experiences sighted children take in visually must be interpreted in a way the child who is blind can understand and in a way that empowers him/her to participate in what is happening.

Parents should understand, Miller said, that progress comes at a different pace for children who are blind due to the loss of incidental learning. When the child enters school, Miller said, parents and educators can help them find a common social language with their peers by getting involved in clubs and keeping up with popular books or music.

"It takes a lot of effort on the part of the parent, the child, and the school to make sure not just the academics but the whole life of the school is accessible to the student who is visually impaired," Miller said.

Brian Heneghan, who was a teacher in Perkins Deafblind Program, also believes in the value of shared experiences. Once a week, Heneghan took his students off campus for community experiences which can include everything from pumpkin picking to going to the movies.

Heneghan stressed the importance of students with disabilities having the same experiences and milestones as other kids their age. One year he accompanied students on a senior trip to the Bahamas. He talked about all of the social skills practiced when students go to the Perkins Prom; shopping for a tux, going out for dinner, learning how to appropriately get someone's attention and request a dance.

"Our students want to engage and we have to give them opportunities to do that," Heneghan said.

To give students the tools they need for successful social interactions, Heneghan worked with a group of students using a script and modeling to teach them socially acceptable behavior. To deter students from yelling to get someone's attention staff members talked to the group about more appropriate options. First you should look at the person and wait for a response and if that doesn't work, the next step could be tapping on a desk and waiting. Finally, the student might try lightly tapping on the person's shoulder.

Teachers model the behavior and eventually Heneghan had the students practice with each other. In all of the environments where this situation might naturally arise - classrooms, cottages, and the workroom - there are charts outlining the script. If a student yells for attention, staff can remind the student to use the steps on the chart.

"Eventually the students begin to internalize the behaviors and do them on their own," Heneghan explained.

Lunchtime is another opportunity for students to practice social skills in a natural environment. Students with multiple impairments, Heneghan said, live in a "communication bubble" and must be told directly how others are behaving and what is socially acceptable. For example, his students might not know they are making a loud noise slurping soup noodles or that other people aren't doing that.

When students come to weekend and vacation programs at Perkins Outreach Services, Kelly Cote said she and the rest of the staff make students aware of how their behavior might be perceived by other people.

"We're honest with them," said Cote, adding that posture is a big issue with students tending to scrunch up or slouch over in chairs. "We'll let them know everyone else is sitting up straight with their heads up. We explain, 'We can't hear what you say when you sit like that and what you have to say is important.'"

Outreach programs offer fun activities while teaching essential life skills and giving students who are visually impaired an opportunity to socialize and share experiences with peers. This can be especially important for those who may be the only student with a visual impairment in their school.

Beth Caruso, Director of Outreach Services, said parents often come to Outreach worried their child doesn't have friends at school. When they try to get their child involved with activities in the community, the people running them may not know how to make adaptations to include a child who is blind. The staff members who run Outreach programs are experienced in working with students who are visually impaired and promoting social skills.

To initiate socializing, staff might sit with a table of students and invite another student over to sit down and tell them what everyone is talking about. The staff get students started on a topic and help them identify what they have in common. Soon the students are interacting on their own, forming friendships, and building confidence.

Sometimes students are used to socializing with mostly adults and may not know what other kids their age are interested in. Caruso said it can be helpful to give students a topic and conversation starter question to keep in their back pocket, such as, "What kind of music do you like?"

Throughout the programs, students learn communication skills such as showing someone you're paying attention to them with your body language. They also go into the community, eating in restaurants, using public transportation, grocery shopping, and going to the YMCA.

"We're out there in realistic situations and we want them to know what's socially acceptable," Caruso said.

With the holiday season approaching, Cote and Caruso said it's important to include children who are visually impaired in what's going on around them. Instead of watching television or playing a game alone, they can be helping to set the table. Caruso said giving children information beforehand can help them make the most of the social experience. Parents can talk about what they'll be doing for the holidays, who is coming over, and what toys or games other children might like to play.

Because we live in a social culture, people who can't interact with others become isolated and miss out on opportunities that arise from connecting with other people.

"Our ultimate goal is to help students become well rounded individuals with a good arsenal of skills and experiences to bring with them wherever they go - to employment, to college, to life in general," Caruso said.

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Developing social skills in students who are blind - Perkins School for the Blind

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For students who are visually impaired, social skills must be explicitly taught in the curriculum.

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In my experience, social skills interventions shift pretty dramatically depending on the age group, because students’ needs, maturity, and social environments change as they grow. More specifically, with younger students, I find myself modeling behaviors more directly using visuals and very concrete language to teach things like sharing, turn-taking, or identifying feelings. As students get older, especially in middle and high school, the focus turns toward more nuanced skills like interpreting social cues, navigating group dynamics, managing conflict, and understanding boundaries in both in-person situations and digital spaces. In fact, older students usually benefit from real life practice, peer collaboration, and guided reflections rather than step by step instructions. Overall, I’ve learned that the intent of the intervention stays the same, supporting communication and connection, but the delivery has to coincide with where the student is developmentally and socially.

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For me, the difference between SEL and social skills comes down to scope and depth. More specifically, social skills focus on the specific behaviors we want students to use in everyday interactions. For instance, things like greeting others, taking turn in conversations, or understanding personal space. On the other hand, SEL goes much deeper and helps students better understand their emotions, manage stress, build empathy, make responsible decision, and form healthy relationships. Social skills are definitely an important aspect of SEL, but SEL also gives students the tools to regulate themselves, understand others, and handle more complex social or emotional situations. When I teach both together, I’m not just helping a student interact appropriately in the moment I’m helping them understand why those interactions matter and how to apply them across all parts of their life.

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I try to infuse social skills instruction naturally throughout the day by taking advantage of the small moments that already happen in the student’s routine. Whether it’s greeting staff in the hallway, participating in group work, ordering lunch, or navigating a classroom discussion, I use these real-life situations to model behaviors, prompt the student when needed, and reinforce what appropriate social interaction looks and sounds like. I might quietly coach them before an activity, give them a cue during the moment, or reflect with them afterward about what went well and what they could try next time. By embedding social skills into everyday experiences, the instruction feels more meaningful, less forced, and helps the student build confidence in authentic, natural environments.

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Social skills and self-advocacy are deeply interconnected, especially for students with visual impairments. In particular, a student’s ability to interact appropriately with peers, recognize social cues, and navigate group situations directly impacts their confidence and willingness to speak up for themselves. Furthermore, if a student struggles with social interactions they may hesitate to request accommodations, ask for help, or communicate their needs, which can limit access to learning opportunities and participation in the classroom setting. In contrast, as students develop stronger social skills, such as initiating conversations, responding appropriately, and understanding social expectations they gain the confidence and strategies needed to advocate for themselves effectively. For instance, if a student is able to explain a need for tactile or auditory materials, negotiate group roles and expectations, or request clarification in a respectful way they are demonstrating both social competence and self-advocacy. Ultimately, fostering social skills supports self-determination, independence, and the ability to navigate school, work, and community environments successfully.

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When a student has additional disabilities in addition to having a visual impairment, learning appropriate social skills can become even more challenging. More specifically, each student’s individual combination of needs affects how they perceive and interpret social cues, whether it’s understanding tone of voice, reading body language, or knowing how to respond in different situations. For instance, a student with a cognitive or learning disability may need extra repetition and step-by-step guidance to remember social rules, while a student with anxiety or behavioral challenges may struggle to apply what they know in real interactions. As a TVI, I can focus modeling, direct instruction, and opportunities to my students in multiple settings, using strategies like social stories, tactile or audio cues, and guided peer interactions. By tailoring instruction to the student’s strengths and needs, I will help them build confidence, understand social expectations, and engage meaningfully with others, even when learning social skills is more complex due to multiple disabilities.

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The role of the TVI in helping students develop social skills is vital in helping students develop social skills that many of their peers learn incidentally. More specifically, students who are blind or have low vision may miss visual cues like body language, visual cues, or facial expressions which communicate messages socially to others. As a result, a TVI can provide explicit instruction, modeling and guidance to help students with these social skills. In addition, a TVI can teach students how to initiate and maintain conversations, interpret tone of voice and other nonvisual cues, and participate appropriately in different social contexts. Furthermore, a TVI can also facilitate peer interactions, mediate misunderstandings, and create opportunities for practice in both structured and unstructured settings, including online environments. These approaches as a TVI can help students interact confidently with peers and educators employing positive social skills.

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(Tim Jang) https://aphconnectcenter.org/familyconnect/browse-by-age/elementary-school/development/learning-how-to-make-friends/

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Most people and adults are somewhat social by nature and being able to form ongoing relationships contributes in an important way to your child's overall development. However, your child is blind or has low vision may need help from you and other family members in learning how to make and keep friends. There are a number of things you can do to make it easier for your child to socialize with others their age.

Find out what kinds of activities, books, and television shows are "in" for children the same age as your child and expose them to these things at home. Suppose they are familiar with things other children enjoy. In that case, they'll be more comfortable joining in a conversation about them and have topics to start a conversation that another child will be interested in.

We live in a society that often judges people by their appearances. You don't need to agree with that idea to realize that other children are more likely to socialize with your child if they dress and act like others in the group. If you pay attention to the clothes and hairstyles of other children their age, you can help dress to fit in.

Encourage your child to invite one or two classmates to your home. It may be easier for your child to follow what's going on in social situations and to respond to other kids if the group is small. Be prepared to make some suggestions if your child needs help figuring out what to do. Perhaps you can involve the kids in doing an art project or playing a game. If your child is holding their own socially, then back off and give some space to interact with the other children.

A child who is blind or has low vision is often in the position of being helped. Encourage your child to think of ways they can help others in order to reciprocate. If your child is good in math, for example, they can offer to help another student with the homework. But avoid having your child give things such as cookies, candy, or toys to other children as a thank you; they might look like a "bribe" for friendship. Sometimes a verbal "thank you" is all that is needed.

Practice is Important

Because children with typical vision usually learn how to interact in social situations by observing and copying others, we may not always realize that specific social skills can be taught and learned: for example, how to approach a potential friend, how to ask and respond to questions in a conversation, and what kinds of gestures to use when talking and listening. As with many areas of development, your child may need to practice social skills like these in order to master them.

Role play with your child about how to approach another child they would like to be friends with. You can take turns with you each playing your child and then the new friend and practice different ways to start and maintain the conversation. Give your child realistic feedback about what they are doing.

Use role playing also to practice having longer conversations with other children. Give your child suggestions about how to keep a conversation going with another person, such as saying "uh huh" to show you're listening and asking questions about what the other person is saying. Give her opportunities to talk with other family members and friends. Encourage these people to give them feedback on what they are doing well and what they can improve on.

Teach your child body language, like facing someone in an alert, relaxed, and friendly way, and talk to them about how and when people use body language and gestures for communicating and socializing. Your child may miss interacting with others because they don't see their smiles, waves, nods, or winks. Practice these nonverbal gestures together so that they understand them more fully.

Stand back when your child has an opportunity to interact with another child their age. Afterward, when you are alone, give them feedback on what they did well and what they might have done differently. You may find that with feedback they are able to learn to monitor their own social interactions.

Focus on Common Interests

Just like adults, children tend to gravitate toward others with whom they have a common interest. Think about your friends for a minute, and you may realize that in many cases your friendship began because you had something in common. Your child may similarly be more likely to make a true friend if they have something in common with that person. So, help your child find something they enjoy doing that they can do with others. If your child likes animals, perhaps volunteering at the local animal shelter with other children will give a way to make a new friend. If your child likes to read science fiction, then a classmate who also likes science fiction may want to come over to your house to watch the latest video based on a book by a popular author.

With your encouragement and some practice, your child can enjoy the rewards of socializing and friendship. If you can provide opportunities to meet other children, and provide a chance to practice socializing skills and may have a good time as well.

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Helping Your Child Who Is Blind or Has Low Vision Learn How to Make Friends

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Tips for Promoting Friendships Most people and adults are somewhat social by nature and being able to form ongoing relationships contributes in an important way to your child's overall development. [...]

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(Tim Jang) Social skills interventions differ form different age groups due to their cognitive stage. For example, a first grader wouldn’t have a meaningful conversation with a 10th grader in high school. This is due to the varying stages of cognitive development, where the first grader wouldn’t’ have the vocabulary or comprehension of a high schooler. This can also be examined through the grouping of elementary, middle, and high school. The social skills interventions differ of maturity is also developed at a later stage of cognitive development along with SEL.

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(Tim Jang) SEL differs from social skills in the way that it emphasizes more emotion. Standard social skills refers to more concrete skills. With social skills, it is emphasized to make the goal effectively communicate with others and understand social norms and cues. SEL however, focuses on social skills that involve emotion, such as being empathetic towards others or understanding emotional highs and lows. In SEL, emotional tones are also examined and practiced upon, which are still used in everyday conversations.

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(Tim Jang) Ways we can infuse social skills into daily activities include performing daily activities with a peer or group. Performing daily activities with a peer or group allows all participant to gain social skills through collaborative effort. An example of this can include group work in an academic setting. Homework and education is an inevitable daily activity that can be enhanced through group work to promote social skills. Social skills being used in group work include communication skills, teamwork, and empathy in avoiding social loafing. Another way to incorporate social skills into daily activities is to turn daily tasks into games. For example, cooking is a daily activity. One person can be blindfolded and the other is fully sighted, guided the blindfolded individual to cook a meal. This reinforces the social skills or listening and verbal communication.

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(Tim Jang) Other areas of the ECC, such as self-advocacy, are affected by social skills. When it comes to self-advocacy, it is important to have basic social skills that involve communication in some way. To self-advocate for oneself, students must be bale to have the social skills that of communicating their need or want. This can also overlap with the ECC component of career and education. In every career, social skills are a key component to either performing the job or getting the job. Without social skills, the ECC component of career education becomes a challenge, With education, it is important for the student to communicate using effective social skills to tier teacher about any accommodations or reminders of their vision impairment.

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(Tim Jang)- the acquisition of appropriate social skills can be affected by additional disabilities. Having a vision impairment can already affect social skills, especially when a lot of social skills are visual, such as body language and eye contact. In addition to the vision impairment having an additional disability, it can impact the social skills department even more. Some additional disabilities prohibit some students to communicate verbally, which is a key social skill. Other additional disabilities make it difficult for the student to learn and retain information in general. This means that when a teacher is instruction about social skills, that student would have trouble retaining the information provided that teaches about social skills.

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Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired (PRCVI)

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Social Interaction Skills | Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired (PRCVI)

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Social skills interventions should grow and change with the students. For younger kids, it starts with modeling and play, to teach how to share, join a group, and express feelings. As students get older, it becomes more about teamwork and understanding social situations. For teens, it shifts toward reflection and learning how to handle more complex relationships. The best approach meets students where they are and gives them skills they can actually use every day.

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SEL and social skills are connected but they are not exactly the same thing. Social skills are the things we do when we interact with people like saying hello, taking turns, or knowing how to start a conversation. SEL, or Social and Emotional Learning, goes a bit deeper. It is more about understanding emotions, managing them, showing empathy, and making good decisions. Basically, social skills are part of SEL, but SEL helps students understand why and when to use those skills so they can build better relationships and handle situations in a healthy way.

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There are plenty of easy ways to build social skills into everyday routines. Simple things like greeting others, asking for help, or working with a partner can turn into great learning moments. I like to include sighted peers whenever possible—when a sighted student tutors a VI student, they learn how to engage and communicate more effectively, and when the VI student tutors a sighted peer, it helps build their confidence and leadership skills. Teachers and TVIs can also model how to start conversations, share materials, or give compliments during normal class activities. Even times like lunch or recess are perfect chances to practice communication, teamwork, and getting along with others in a relaxed, natural way.

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Danny Olvera - The TVI plays a key role in finding ways for their students to engage with peers and others around them. They should encourage students to step outside their comfort zones and look for chances to build social skills while also addressing other areas of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC). Many students who are blind or visually impaired can become isolated from their peers, and over time, that isolation can feel normal. While we often focus on teaching students with visual impairments how to interact with others, it’s just as important to teach sighted peers how to connect with them. When this barrier is broken down, students become more socially connected, confident, and included in their communities

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When a student has other disabilities along with a visual impairment, learning social skills can take a little more time and support. Communication or sensory challenges can make it harder to pick up on social cues or know how to respond in social situations. There’s also often some hesitation from others who haven’t had much experience interacting with someone who has disabilities, which can make forming connections even harder. These students benefit from clear examples, guided practice, and small-group activities that help everyone feel more comfortable and confident. With patience and teamwork between teachers, families, and peers, students can develop meaningful friendships and stronger social skills.

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Social skills and self-advocacy really go hand in hand. When students have strong social skills, they’re more comfortable speaking up, asking for help, and explaining what they need. But if a student doesn’t have basic social skills or confidence around others, it becomes really hard to develop self-advocacy skills because they may not feel comfortable reaching out or starting conversations. Not being able to engage with others also limits their chances to learn from those interactions and pick up on new social or communication skills. Building social confidence opens the door for students to connect, grow, and take charge of their own needs.

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Additional disabilities can affect the acquisition of appropriate social skills by limiting a child’s ability to understand social cues, communicate effectively, and interpret others’ emotions, while also reducing opportunities to interact with peers and practice these skills in natural social settings.

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Teaching Social Skills to Students with Visual Impairments: From Theory to Practice(Print) | American Printing House

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Addresses the systematic development of skills in listening for and interpreting auditory information as they relate to literacy, independent travel, and se…

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Social skills teaching looks different at each age. Young children practice sharing, taking turns, and using words to talk with others. School age students work on joining group activities, understanding feelings, and handling disagreements. Older students practice speaking up for themselves, having conversations in work or community settings, and keeping friendships over time. The skills grow as the student grows.

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Social skills focus on how we interact with others in daily situations, like taking turns, asking questions, or joining a conversation. Social Emotional Learning is broader. It includes understanding and managing emotions, making choices, and building healthy relationships. Social skills are just one part of social emotional learning. Social emotional learning encompasses the overall development of how a student understands themselves and others.

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We can build social skills into everyday routines by using natural moments to practice things like greetings, turn-taking, and conversation. For example, the student can practice saying hello during morning arrival or taking turns during classroom jobs or games. They can practice asking simple questions during snack or group work. Allowing students to engage in role-play before a new situation and describing what others are doing can help the student understand social cues. You can also pair the student with supportive peers.

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Social skills connect to many parts of the ECC. For self-advocacy, a student needs to ask for help and explain what they need. Without social skills, this is harder. Orientation and mobility can be affected too, since asking for directions or walking with others involves talking and listening. Independent living skills also use social interaction, like sharing space or working with others. When social skills improve, students can take part more easily in these areas.

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Additional disabilities can make social skills even harder to learn. Communication may be more difficult. Understanding others’ feelings may take more support. Joining play or group activities may also be harder, which can lead to fewer social experiences. Students with additional disabilities often need extra time, clear steps, and repeated practice. Giving them consistent support can help them build confidence in social situations.

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A Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TSVI) helps students learn social skills that most people pick up by watching others. These students may not see facial expressions or body language so the TSVI teaches things like how to start a conversation or understand tone of voice. They teach students to respect personal space and self advocate for themselves. They give students chances to practice and explain what others are doing in social situations. A TSVI will also work with the classroom teachers to help support friendships and positive interactions for their student that is visually impaired.

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Social-emotional learning (SEL) is an essential component of every child’s education. Our SEL curriculum provides tools educators can customize including lesson plans, book discussions, videos and discussions, an interactive planner and SEL assessments.

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Social skills interventions differ across age groups because they are tailored to the developmental abilities and social expectations of the student. For young children, interventions often focus on basic skills such as sharing, taking turns, following directions, and recognizing emotions, typically taught through play, modeling, and simple routines. For older children and adolescents, interventions may target more complex skills, such as conflict resolution, perspective-taking, self-advocacy, and navigating peer relationships, often using role-playing, social stories, group discussions, and real-life practice. The strategies, supports, and complexity of instruction are adjusted to match the student’s cognitive, emotional, and social maturity.

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Social-emotional learning (SEL) and social skills are related but different concepts. SEL is a broader framework that focuses on developing a student’s ability to recognize and manage emotions, set goals, show empathy, maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. Social skills, on the other hand, are specific behaviors that allow a student to interact appropriately and effectively with others, such as taking turns, sharing, or using polite language. In short, SEL provides the emotional and cognitive foundation for understanding and regulating behavior, while social skills are the observable actions that put that understanding into practice.

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Social skills instruction can be infused into daily activities by embedding learning opportunities into routines and naturally occurring interactions. For example, during classroom lessons or group work, teachers can prompt students to take turns, share materials, and engage in cooperative problem-solving. Mealtime, recess, or community outings can be used to practice greetings, polite conversation, and appropriate responses to peers. Teachers can also use role-playing, social stories, or guided peer interactions during regular activities to model and reinforce desired behaviors. By incorporating social skills practice into everyday experiences, students have more frequent, meaningful opportunities to learn and generalize these skills across settings.

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Other areas of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC), such as self-advocacy, are closely linked to social skills acquisition. Students who struggle with social skills may find it difficult to communicate their needs, ask for help, or express preferences appropriately, which can limit their ability to advocate for themselves in school and community settings. Conversely, strong social skills enable students to interact confidently with peers, teachers, and others, helping them effectively request accommodations, make decisions, and participate independently. Therefore, deficits in social skills can hinder growth in self-advocacy and other ECC areas, while improvements in social competence often support success across multiple domains.

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The Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI) plays an important role in teaching social skills by providing explicit instruction and modeling appropriate social interactions for students with visual impairments. They help students understand nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions and body language, that the student may not naturally observe. The TVI also facilitates peer interactions in both classroom and community settings and collaborates with families and other staff to reinforce social skills across environments. Additionally, they adapt materials and activities to ensure the student can fully participate in social learning experiences. Overall, the TVI supports students in learning, practicing, and generalizing social skills they might otherwise miss due to limited visual access.

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Social skills lessons change as students grow. Younger children learn basic skills sharing, taking turns, and using kind words. Older students work on more complex skills like problem-solving, teamwork, and understanding social boundaries in school and community settings.

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iPads are used in more and more ways in the educational programs of students who are blind or visually impaired. They can be used to help children to develop basic concepts, to reinforce literacy skills, to support communication, to promote the development of visual skills and for many other purposes. They are also a way in which to encourage the development of social skills, which are part of the Expanded Core Curriculum, in some of the following ways:

Can use shared interest between students to draw students together

Can develop turn taking / sharing skills [Turn Taker - Social Story and Sharing Tool (from Autism)]

Creating and sharing stories with friends (APPs Pictello, Story Creator)

Learning to make eye contact - can turn the camera around so the child is looking at their own face

Can take photos of people in their world so that they can get comfortable looking at their faces on the iPad if they are not comfortable looking at the person directly

Learning about their eye condition - can look at their eyes with the camera

Take photos of people in their world so that they can look at the photo to be able to recognize them

Can use the photos for taking attendance

Take photos of locations (e.g. in their school, community) using the camera and MAPS to be able to know, in advance what to look for

Can create social stories, can practice life skills (APPS: Model Me Going Places, Turn Taker, Conversation Builder)

Group work using the iPad for class projects

Games to develop language (e.g. APPS: Talking Tom and other Talking apps)

Can use Pictello for the sub book - easy to see the routines

Home - School Communication Ideas:

Student can video their activities to share with family, extended family, friends

Pictello / Story creator APPS can be used to show special events both at school and at home

Parent / student can create stories with school from earlier in the child's life as well as sharing about extended family, holidays

(adapted from POPDB Intervenor Conference, January 2013, notes taken by Sheila McIntosh)
Please note that you may need to check whether the app has been updated or whether it only works with certain operating systems. Please let us know if you have any information to share about any of the apps on this page!

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Using the iPad to Develop Literacy and Social Skills - Paths to Literacy

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Paths to Literacy Using the iPad to Develop Literacy and Social Skills. For teachers, families, and others interested in literacy for children and youth with visual impairments

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Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is a broader framework that includes social skills but also encompasses self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, and relationship skills. Social skills focus more specifically on how students interact with others, such as initiating conversations, maintaining friendships, and interpreting social cues. SEL, on the other hand, also emphasizes emotional understanding, empathy, and coping strategies. Together, both support holistic development and positive social engagement.

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Social skills instruction should be integrated naturally throughout the school day. Examples include greeting peers and teachers during morning routines, practicing turn-taking during group work, asking for help appropriately during class, or role playing social scenarios during lunch or recess. TVIs can also use community-based instruction, such as field trips to teach real-world social behaviors. Embedding these lessons into authentic contexts helps generalize skills and makes learning more meaningful.

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Social skills are closely linked to self-advocacy. A student must be able to communicate effectively, interpret others' responses, and understand social norms in order to advocate for their needs. Without a foundation in social awareness and communication, it can be challenging for students to express preferences, request accommodations, or assert themselves appropriately. Therefore, instruction in social interaction skills directly supports the development of self-determination, confidence, and advocacy across academic and Community environments.

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When a student has both visual impairment and additional disabilities, learning social skills can be even more complex. These students may face additional barriers in communication, sensory processing, or behavior regulation, which can make understanding and responding to social cues more difficult. The TVI must use individualized, multi-sensory strategies an often collaborate closely with speech language pathologist, occupational therapist, and behavioral specialist to support social development .

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The TVI plays a vital role in directly teaching and modeling social skills that students with visual impairments may not learn incidentally through observation. Because many social behaviors such as facial expressions, gestures, or body language are visually based, students who are blind or have low vision often need explicit instruction. The TVI collaborates with classroom teachers, families, and related service providers to embed social skill instruction into daily routines. They also provide opportunities for guided practice and feedback to help students navigate social interactions across settings.

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(Tim Jang) The role of the TVI in teaching social skills to students is to teach them self-advocacy skills. This skill is the most important since students with vision impairments should be bale to self-advocate for themselves i n certain social situations, Being visually impaired can be viewed as an in visual disability, and others will assume that a visually impaired student is fully sighted. However, in certain social situations where vision is required, the TVI should teach the student with a vision impairments to self-advocate for themselves that they are visually impaired.

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(Jacqui Verdugo) Social skills interventions must develop appropriately and differs across age groups. In early childhood the focus is on foundational skills and instruction emphasizes imitation and modeling. During elementary years the focus is building friendships by initiating play and joining groups. During these years, it is important for students to learn conversation skills and understanding social cues. As students get older, interventions address more complex skills such as the development of autonomy, self-advocacy, and teaching problem-solving skills.

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(Jacqui Verdugo) Social Emotional Learning (SEL) differs from social skills because SEL aims to build and grow students’ capacity to understand and evaluate their own behavior and consideration of others. While social skills focus on the observed behavior and interaction with others such as greeting, body language, and eye contact.

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(Jacqui Verdugo) To infuse social skills instruction into daily activities, I can narrate social situations by describing what’s happening in the environment, what others are doing, and why. In addition, I can create real scenarios for role-playing that will allow students to practice in a safe environment. Scenarios can include student asking for help, ordering food, and saying hello to their classmates.

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(Jacqui Verdugo) The acquisition of social skills is the foundation for students with visual impairments to succeed in the other areas the ECC. In acquiring social skills, specifically self-advocacy, students can confidently interact in social situations, explain their need’s clearly to others, and initiate conversations with authority figures. For instance, the student might need to ask for directions, advocate for safe travel during Orientation and Mobility instruction. For their independent living skills, students learn to ask for help and interact with community members and service providers.

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(Jacqui Verdugo) Additional disabilities can significantly complicate social skills development for students with visual impairments. For example if a student has cognitive disabilities in addition to visual impairment, they may experience delays in understanding social rules, abstract concepts such as personal space. If a student is deaf-blind, both visual and auditory access to social information is more challenging to receive or eliminated. Therefore, for students who are deaf-blind, it will require intensive, tactile communication methods. Each disability compounds the challenges of the others.

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(Jacqui Verdugo) The role of the TVI in teaching social skills to students is to provide direct instruction to establish a sense of identity, enhance self-esteem, provide a role model to students in social situations. The TVI also works with parents and education team to provide guidance in creating social opportunities for the students to grow.

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(Joshua Duncan) https://www.perkins.org/resource/social-skills-children-and-youth-visual-impairments/

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(Joshua Duncan) Students change as they age and therefore their needs change as well. Students who are relatively younger require social skills to be taught to them in a manner that is explicit, modeling-focused, and with considerable amounts of practice. Whereas, older students (i.e., teenagers) require interventions that focus more on SEL skills such as self-evaluation and self-advocacy as they are more often to be engaging in workplace and communal environments that involve more complex social dynamics and behaviors.

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(Joshua Duncan) Social skills are behaviors that are learned (generally by imitating) and put into practice to engage with others in appropriate (and culturally acceptable) ways. SEL, however, is more broad and includes the ability to understand and manage one's own emotions and behaviors (i.e., self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and making responsible decisions) when engaging with others

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(Joshua Duncan) As a TVI there are a couple of ways that social skills instruction can be embedded into daily activities. One such way would include a structured training that clearly defines, models, allows for practice/mimicry, and feedback. Additionally, there is the option of audiovisual self-evaluation, that is, recording the instruction and having it played back at a later time for review with the student. Both of these, along with class discussions and interactions, can serve as ways to infuse these essential skills throughout daily activities.

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(Joshua Duncan) Other areas of the ECC can be positively affected, for instance in regard to self-advocacy, students who are able to engage in expressing themselves are more equipped to advocate for themselves. This compliments nicely with independent living and career education where the inculcation of social competence skills would carry the student through effective routines (personal, school, or work related), workplace environments, and other social settings. In each of these places (i.e., school, work, public, etc.) the acquisition of effective social skills can help foster meaningful friendships and a sense of inclusion which is directly related to recreation and leisurely pursuits.

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(Joshua Duncan) They can have a very strong impact, especially as relates to cognitive abilities and communicative means, for instance those disabilities which affect speech and cognitive function can make it difficult for students to comprehend social interaction and cues. Additionally, physical or behavioral disabilities can also potentially be restrictive when said student is attempting to engage in activities that require certain movements/actions and/or social interaction. Such disabilities may require individualized instruction, engineered environments, and assistive technology in order to gain the required means to be participate fully. Such accommodations would allow for the social skills being taught to be assimilated better.

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(Joshua Duncan) The role of the TVI in this regard is to teach social skills concepts through various means such as structured lessons, guided practice, and role play (i.e., modeled behavior). The TVI also collaborates with teachers and parents in order to allow for crucial opportunities whereby the student can engage in social interactions, applying what they are learning from the TVI and as a result furthering their confidence.