How to Teach Social Skills to High School Students
 From the January 2002 Disabilities newsletter.
In The Transition Handbook: Strategies High School Teachers Use that Work!, authors Carolyn Hughes and Erik Carter offer a multitude of research-based strategies to prepare students with disabilities for adult life. Below are some strategies, excerpted from chapter 9, for teaching social skills for employment and daily living situations:
- Using acceptable social skills during an interview can mean the difference between getting a job and being passed over for another applicant. If scheduling problems make it difficult to interview with business managers off campus, try having students rehearse their skills in mock interviews with school administrators on campus. Principals and school counselors are experienced in interviewing and can provide valuable feedback about a student's social skills.
- Although teaching social skills in the actual environments in which they will be used is usually the best context for learning, role-playing social behaviors at school can provide students with additional practice and preparation for future interactions. For example, a student could role-play and get feedback from her peers on how to ask her mother to let her choose her own clothes.
- Students can be very creative when brainstorming which behaviors are appropriate in a particular situation. Hold small-group discussions with peers in which students problem solve which social behaviors would be acceptable during a certain interaction, such as when telling a clerk that you have not received the correct change.
- The IDEA Amendments of 1997 emphasize the need for teachers to be good role models for their students. During the school day, remember that you are one of the most visible role models of appropriate social skills that your students will see. For example, if you treat others kindly and with respect, your students are more likely to do so, too.
- Role playing can be helpful in encouraging students who are hesitant or shy to participate in groups. Peers can provide a nonthreatening atmosphere in which students can practice new social skills, such as speaking up in class or asking a friend for her telephone number.
- Have students role-play interviewing each other. Then follow up these sessions by having students interview guest speakers in class.
  To read a case study on how you can convince general education teachers and potential employers of your students' strengths, see this excerpt from The Transition Handbook.
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