The community is our classroom: how a recreation program helps instill social skills.

How a recreation program helps instill social skills.

Youngsters with neurological impairments often have difficulty in developing social skills necessary for participating in activities at home as well as the community. Parents may not provide them the ordinary opportunities in growing up--trips to the park, to the supermarket, or eating out in restaurants--because they fear it can result in a "scene."

Dennis Lake, director of recreation services, and Judi Dinardo, associate director of recreation, of the Albany based Wildwood Programs describe recreation by stating, "This is a life-long process filled with recreational opportunities that will change as the participants age and their abilities to be successful at different experiences develop." The Albany-based Wildwood program has created a Recreation curriculum (one of five provided services) which incorporates fun along with teaching socialization skills to individuals with learning disabilities and other neurologically-based developmental disabilities. This individualized program builds on the skills participants already have developed and, at the same time, tries to introduce them to new experiences at which they can be successful.

Purpose and process

The Recreation program consists of a three-step process.

TEACHING THE SKILLS. First, using role-playing and hypothetical situations, counselors work to prepare the participants for what will happen at a social activity before they venture into the community. Participants practice skills by making the community their classroom. By taking participants out and actually applying the skills they teach, counselors demonstrate how to interact in a community setting. For example, teachers hand the children a menu and explain that when they arrive at the restaurant, they will have to look it over and choose something they want.

Often the individuals involved in the program cannot distinguish and do not know how to read cues that are communicated by voice, facial expression, and gestures. For example, they may not be able to distinguish an angry face from a neutral one. Ms. Dinardo states, "We teach our kids to process the `social cues.' We have to help them understand." They do this by teaching individuals to listen, not only to what is being said, but also to the tone of voice which is used.

The program also teaches age appropriate social skills. For example, a young adult may be taught how to pay for a bus ride. After a few weeks of doing this in a practice setting, the individual will know the correct amount of money that is necessary to ride the bus.

Listening skills and how to apply them to everyday tasks are also a priority. Mr. Lake states, "One of the skills we teach is requests that involve more then one task. `Pick up your bag and go to the other side of the gym.'" Counselors start with a one-task question and when they feel an individual has a grasp on this, they introduce elementary two-step requests. Finally, counselors ask the individual to repeat what was asked of him or her. This is done so that he or she will be able to learn to listen to and understand all parts of the request.

Participants learn a great deal of independent leisure life skills that can be transferred and applied to real-life situations. If a group of kids argue while playing basketball, they will know how to resolve the confrontation in an appropriate manner, by themselves. This is done through counseling techniques. The children are asked what they would do when the situation arises. If their choices are inappropriate, teachers show them how they can look at the situation differently and make better decisions.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT. The second goal of the recreation program is to educate the community on how it should interact with individuals who are learning and developmentally disabled. It is not that simple or obvious as to what the community can do to help people with neurological disabilities. Jude Lilly, assistant director of recreation services, recalls an incident when they took a group of participants--all adults--out for pizza and the waitress brought them children's menus. The counselor politely asked her for adult menus. Not only did this show the students how to ask for something they wanted in an appropriate way, but it also taught an individual in the community how to interact with these young people. Counselors also demonstrate to customer service providers how to allow more time for participants to make their choices by rephrasing questions so that they are easily understandable, and by breaking questions down into smaller components.

FUN WHILE LEARNING. Finally, the program wants all those participating to enjoy themselves and have fun while they learn. By incorporating social skill development into community activities, recreation counselors do more then just apply what is taught into real situations, they allow participants to enjoy what they are doing. Associating the skills with the pleasant experience enables participants to remember more easily what they have learned.

The individuals are also taught through peer modeling. Through this process they observe and interact with peers from the community who are non-disabled, as they demonstrate age appropriate social skills. Often, it is much easier and less embarrassing to learn from a peer's behavior than a counselors instruction.

Once social skills are learned, the counselors reinforce them by reworking a common scenario which might unfold in a given social situation. By changing the time frame, or the order of events, or wording of requests, counselors can test participants' abilities to interpret and understand correctly. This serves to better prepare them for real-life encounters. For example, first they will ask what they would like on their pizza. Then the counselors will ask how the students would like to eat their pizza. Both questions warrant the same answer but are asked in a different manner.

Counselors will also place the participants in familiar situations but in an unfamiliar place to see if they can still perform the learned skills. Counselors do this in hopes that participants will be able to apply the social skills they learned to different situations and handle them independently. Mr. Lake explains, "We are always trying to broaden their quality of life. By the time the individuals become adults, we would like them to be able to enjoy a vacation or any of life's social pleasures."

Success story

Mr. Lake and Ms. Dinardo recall a number of individuals, who in the beginning of the program, were terrified of trying new places or things. "They had heightened levels of anxiety because they did not know what to expect." The staff helped these individuals by developing trust. The program's goal is to get participants to understand that: no one will ask them to do things that will make them uncomfortable, that they will be safe, that they can be comfortable with their surroundings, and that they can clearly identify the expectations for any given situation. "This helped a great deal in easing their anxiety. One boy in particular has been with us for about a year and he always looks forward to participating in the program. In the beginning, because he was unsure and anxious, he was afraid to leave the car and enter the building. His mother says that because he has developed confidence and self-assurance by working with staff, he is much more willing to consider putting himself in an unfamiliar social situation."

Not only does the recreation program help the students and the community in an immeasurable way, it also provides great respite for the family. It may be the only opportunity parents get to go out on their own and know that their child is safe. The stress of inappropriate or "acting out" behaviors force families to either forgo social events or exclude the family member with a disability. Mr. Lake states, "Families say now they can go as a family to a restaurant because their family member learned the necessary social skills." Because Wildwood works in partnership with families, the staff often learn from families the most successful approaches they use. Parents in turn, become aware of how they too can reinforce the skills their child learns.

Possessing social skills and knowing the appropriate way to interact, facilitates the activities of daily living and heightens independence and self-esteem. Lake observes, "I don't believe leisure education skills are any different from any other subject area. Like math, you have to learn how to add and subtract before you can move onto more involved functions."