By Beth Rubio, Chief Clinical Officer
My child with special needs is not interactive with other children. What can I do?
A child with special needs requires additional skill development in multiple areas. Children with special needs often do not pick up social skills on their own or learn them in the same manner as other children do.
One way to help your child with special needs learn social skills is to engage them in certain activities. Focus on activities that develop social and emotional skills. Involve other children and family members. These activities not only help improve your child's physical and social skills but are also fun and can be enjoyed by everyone. Here are some examples of activities that help develop and strengthen skills.
Fine Motor Skills
- Drawing and coloring
- Manipulating play dough
- Folding or scrunching paper
- Cutting shapes with paper and scissors
- Picking up small objects
Gross Motor Skills
- Kicking and throwing a ball
- Dancing
- Pretend play
- Riding tricycles
- Balancing
- Swinging, climbing, and sliding on playground equipment
Speech and Language Skills
- Blowing bubbles
- Licking ice cream
- Creating sentence strings
- Singing silly songs
- Tongue twisters
Just playing with your child can go a long way in teaching social and physical skills and in having a great time!