Using Interactive Computer Programmes to Teach Social Skills

O.k. - I know it might sound odd - sitting a child in front of a computer to learn social skills??

But think about it for a while...
Children who have difficulties with social skills often really love their technology. I found as a home tutor, that I was spending an hour or two each week trying to teach social skills - which are not the easiet thing to teach.
I can write social stories, play games and develop role-plays. I use puppets and make mini-books. I use their friends and siblings where I can to encourage social skill development.

Over the years of home tuition, I noticed basic elements of social intreaction were missing.
They were the inspiration behind the 'Hello' game:

1. Many children did not reply with their name when asked 'What's your name?' 
2. Many children did not reply with 'Hello' in response to greetings
3. Many children did not respond with their age when asked 'How old are you?'

When you bring your little on to the shops, or anywhere in the local community, one of the most common questions other's ask is: 'What's your name?' and 'How old are you?' 
The reasoning behind 'Hello' is based on my experience as a tutor. If we teach children their response to those questions, we will be giving them a key to social inclusion.
Children who do not understand these questions will not understand how to make their response, and so withdraw from this type of basic social interaction.
SO - if we can teach that a cup is a 'cup' and a chair is a 'chair' then we can teach that Paul is 'Paul' and Paul's age is '6' - and that Hello is a 'Hello' response.
In 'Hello' - the CD-ROM game, there are 8 characters - four girls and four boys. They each have a name, a social interaction with the player, and something they like to do. The thing they like to do teaches children the reinforcing value of friends - such as a birthday party or playing cars.

For me, spending a lot of hours trying to get kids who don't enjoy social skills teaching, to work through a lesson, to then allow them 20mins on their computer started to not make sense!
Why don't I use the reinforcing value of a computer game - that they will want to play, learning social skills at the same time?
So we did. There are video narrations about each social skill, interactive characters and great games, including the Birthday Party game you can try for free here: http://www.hometrain.ie/hello/

'Hello' and 'How Are You?' come with a a great range of printable teaching resources too. I suggest printing off a couple of pages for each teaching session, encourage your child to do the worksheet and then get to play the game. What could be better!! 

 There's a summer offer too - with 20% discount in our online shop with this voucher code: htusacan1
Happy Days!
Claire.