Goal Setting and Social Skills

Some children are natural socializers and fit in with other kids with ease - without even thinking about it.

But many are not so lucky. Shy kids, kids who have had to move a lot and in particular kids with some type of autism may find it difficult to interact with their peers.

For kids that have these kind of difficulties, it can feel sad, scary or even depressing to go to school, play with others at the park, or meet new people.

Goal setting can help with these problems as it can with many others. Encourage your child to take baby steps and set achievable goals. It might be a good idea to avoid goals that require a lot of input from others like "I'm going to have a best friend who will walk to school with me every day," or "I'm going to be voted president of my sports club," - rather, focus on what your child can achieve by taking baby steps towards better social skills all on his own. For instance, "I'm going to remember to give my three favorite people at school a big smile at least four times this week!"

Help your child develop his social skills with mini-goal setting like this and maybe in a year's time he really will be able to have the best friend he has been dreaming of!

Happy goal setting with your kids!

Cassie