PRAGMATICS: SOCIAL SKILLS
Are worried that;
Your child is having difficulty making friends?
They are always talking about the same topic and cannot adjust their conversation with others?
They are not using conversation conventions (read below)?
They are having difficulty with keeping personal space?
They take things literally or have problems inferring?
Pragmatic social skills
Pragmatics is an area of language that refers to conversation skills.
This includes eye contact, turn taking in conversation, initiating conversation, staying on topic, answering questions when asked, using appropriate voice, intonation and gesturing as well as facial expression.
Effective communication entails more than just words. Difficulty in this area can impact social skills greatly.
A speech pathologist will assess your child’s language and its many aspects depending on your concerns and how your child presents. Although there is always an initial assessment, sometimes, further observation is needed to determine what the difficulties are.