Social Skills Worksheets

Download Social Skills Learning Worksheets, Handouts, Exercises, And Activities in PDF for the Social Communication Needs of Your Students

These social skills worksheets and activities for individuals with Autism and Social Pragmatic Communication Disorders target a variety of social skills, including the development of empathy, perspective taking, kinesics, listener/reader presupposition, and conversational skills.

Time Sensitivity

This interactive social skills activity is specifically aimed at high school students with autism and is designed to boost their social awareness. Through participating in this activity, students will gain the skills to adjust the content of their communication to better fit the needs of their listeners, thereby improving their social skills and ability to effectively connect with others.

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Improve Social Skills for Teenagers Worksheets

Editing Verbal Narratives Worksheets

This educational resource is crafted to nurture the abilities of empathetic listening and perspective-taking in students, beginning with an exploration of the necessity to consider the listener's viewpoint and adapt our expressions for optimal communication. Offering a variety of polite expressions to enhance requests and viewpoints, the worksheet enables students to learn and practice rephrasing their language to show more consideration for their audience.

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How to Teach Empathy in the Classroom in PDF

Entering Conversations

This instructional guide outlines key strategies for effectively joining an existing conversation, encompassing elements such as attentive observation, appropriate distancing, well-timed input, relevant commenting or questioning, understanding acceptance cues, and exit strategies. It serves as a valuable tool for discussions and role-plays, particularly for individuals on the autism spectrum, assisting them in enhancing their conversational abilities and their understanding of social interactions.

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Polite Wording

This practical resource focuses on cultivating skills in listener presupposition and perspective-taking, initiating with a textual conversation about the importance of considering your audience's perspective before speaking and adjusting your dialogue for maximum effectiveness. With examples of courteous phrases and multiple sentence constructions, students are given the opportunity to practice refining their language while taking into account their listener's point of view.

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Perspective Taking High School Worksheet

Tact

This social skills worksheet engages students in identifying the properties of tactless statements, including offensiveness, bragging, over-generalization, and prejudice, and helps them develop their perspective-taking skills by discussing provided examples.

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Autism Communication Strategies Activities and Worksheets in PDF

Speaking to Different Communicative Partners

Theory of mind, which entails understanding other's viewpoints and empathizing with them, is crucial, but equally essential is the subsequent skill of modifying one's behavior based on that understanding. These downloadable worksheets, designed for individuals on the autism spectrum, facilitate their ability to adjust their communication based on the listener's identity; they include a series of written questions, followed by an exercise in selecting or omitting information based on the listener, and a final section of receiver-specific queries, all of which promote extensive discussions around decision-making rationale.

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Perspective Taking

This assignment is an excellent follow-up to the 'Developing Empathy and Conversations' activity, and it initiates with an in-depth discussion on fostering perspective-taking and empathy in individuals on the autism spectrum, incorporating some of my professional insights. The subsequent homework task encourages students to observe real-world social interactions, empathize with others, and conclude by considering how they could have intervened to better a distressing social situation, thereby linking observation and understanding to problem-solving and proactive behavior.

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Developing Empathy

This highly effective and personally favored activity aims to cultivate perspective-taking and empathy through conversational exercises, commencing with an in-depth exploration of empathy's significance and thorough clarifications of terms such as "spatial inclusion," "conversational participation," "social distress," and "mood." With the provided session handout, students can engage in social observation and ascertain others' viewpoints, and the 'homework' handout aids in applying these skills in real-life scenarios; the package also contains guidelines for optimal utilization of these materials and recommendations for adaptive activities.

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Writing a Letter of Complaint Exercise in PDF

Writing A Complaint Letter

This unique and personal favorite activity adeptly merges writing and social skills, focusing on the delicate art of composing text with the reader's perspective in mind, and modifying language to create a specific impression, thereby enhancing a vital life skill. Starting with an actual complaint letter and comprehensive therapy notes that guide the activity, students are given the task of crafting their own complaint letters for new situations, with the aim of portraying themselves as honest and reasonable, which I've found not only to be a hit with teenagers but also a valuable tool in significantly refining their perspective-taking skills.

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Elaboration in Conversation

This teaching material offers examples of varied responses to the same question, setting the stage for a practical conversation exercise. It illustrates to individuals on the autism spectrum how detailed responses can seamlessly foster extended dialogues, beginning with a written exploration of conversational elaboration and social dynamics.

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Kinesics - Interest vs. Disinterest

This exercise is an excellent tool for instructing students in the art of kinesics (the skill of accurately comprehending non-verbal social signals) and how to apply that knowledge in everyday conversations.

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Communication Skills Questionnaire

This questionnaire empowers students to identify the social skills they wish to improve, spanning categories like Conversational Skills, Practical Skills, Non-Verbal communication, Dating, and Conflict management. It not only provides educators, speech language pathologists, and therapists with valuable insight into the individual needs and preferences of their students or clients, but also enhances the self-awareness of these individuals and guides them towards potential areas of focus.

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Set The Scene

'Narratives: Set the Scene' is a highly effective tool I've designed to help individuals with attention deficit disorders, executive functioning impairments, or those on the autism spectrum to share stories in an organized, detailed, and listener-friendly way, as many of these students often struggle to respond to straightforward requests like "tell me about your summer" or "share your internship experience." Given their difficulty in understanding what their listener doesn't already know due to challenges with theory of mind, this tool specifically targets this skill, offering a clear, practical method for students to remember the necessary information to share at the beginning of a verbal narrative and to practice disseminating that information.

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Being a Good Conversationalist

Improving conversational skills isn't just beneficial for individuals on the autism spectrum, but for everyone, including our neurotypical relatives, friends, and coworkers who may tend to dominate conversations, interrupt frequently, or indulge in overly detailed storytelling. It's a pleasure for me to guide my students in refining their social etiquette and conversational abilities, delving into each aspect of 'Being a Good Conversationalist' and practicing in varied ways, sometimes concentrating on a single aspect at a time - refer to therapeutic notes for further details.

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Choosing Conversation Topics

When my students express a desire to improve their ability to choose conversation topics, I highlight three key attributes: the topic should be interesting to all parties, commonly understood (or at least relatable), and appropriate for the group—though there are exceptions, such as when one participant is narrating a story or sharing about a certain topic, or when discussing sensitive topics like sex, politics, or religion with close confidants. We utilize the handout as a checklist during group sessions, marking each proposed topic based on its interest, relatability, and appropriateness, and the topics that are universally approved become our "good topics" for conversation, emphasizing that what constitutes a "good topic" varies depending on the composition of the group.

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Interviewing Others

Emphasizing my belief that genuine interest in another person's experiences is fundamental to effective conversation, I often encourage my students to interview staff members, high school seniors, or family members to hone various conversational skills, particularly their ability to respond to the interviewee's statements with relevant comments and follow-up questions. I educate my students on how this skill not only prolongs conversations but also makes their conversation partners feel genuinely heard, and I provide various interview forms and notes on therapeutic interventions for their use.

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Post-Conversation Questionnaire

Engaging my students in both authentic and "naturalistic" (semi-artificial) conversations is a key part of my teaching strategy, whether it's a casual chat on the way to my office or a more structured conversation during our sessions focused on specific skills such as topic shifting, turn taking, and interpreting non-verbal communication. To encourage reflection and deeper understanding, I often ask students to complete a post-conversation questionnaire that prompts them to consider their conversational partner's perspective, identify the impressions they've given, and analyze non-verbal behaviors, sometimes even briefing them on the questions prior to the conversation so they know what to observe.

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Tone of Voice

Understanding that non-verbal communication extends beyond facial expressions and body language to include tone of voice is crucial, as the way we say something can carry as much weight as the words we choose, and misinterpretations in this area can lead to confusion, as evidenced by many text and email exchanges. To help individuals on the autism spectrum who may struggle with interpreting or effectively using tone of voice, I have devised an activity that focuses on both aspects, which can serve as an assessment tool and aid us in better responding when a student's tone does not align with their intended message.

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Interpreting Non-Verbal Communication Homework

To help individuals on the autism spectrum become more proficient at interpreting non-verbal communication, a skill they often struggle with, I assign a homework task that involves observing and interpreting others' behaviors, focusing on elements such as facial expression, body language, and tone of voice. Through various in-class activities and this homework, my students learn to interpret others' perspectives based on non-verbal cues and respond appropriately to others' feelings, thereby encouraging regular observation and a heightened understanding of emotions.

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Impressions from Appearances

In my teaching, I emphasize to students that they are frequently assessed based on their appearance, which, while not necessarily fair, is a reality of human interaction. Using the "Impressions from Appearances" activity, we explore this concept, stressing that impressions drawn from appearances can often be misleading, and focusing on elements within their control, such as attire and grooming, while debunking common stereotypes linked to certain appearances.

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Attaining Targeted Impressions

As a social skills instructor, I often highlight the significance of projecting the right impressions in various situations, and I have found an activity where students contemplate the impressions they aim to convey and how to achieve these impressions to be particularly useful. This practice not only enhances their awareness of their actions' influence but also equips them with the necessary strategies for effective and context-appropriate communication.

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Impressions and Altruism

As a social skills teacher, I often asked my students with autism to interpret others' feelings in various scenarios, but I realized they struggled with these tasks due to a lack of inherent understanding. Consequently, I developed a reference sheet outlining typical emotions and perceptions in social interactions, which has proven immensely helpful for my students when tackling perspective-taking exercises.

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Understanding Others Reference Sheet

While teaching social skills, I recognized the difficulty my students on the autism spectrum faced in understanding others' feelings and perceptions, particularly when I asked them to predict or identify these. In response, I designed a reference sheet detailing common emotions and views during social interactions, which my students have found significantly useful for their perspective-taking tasks, not only for the three social situations provided but also whenever they're tasked with understanding others' viewpoints.

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Greetings Worksheet

As a social skills teacher, I find that students on the autism spectrum often have less innate understanding of social customs due to their lower frequency of observing others. Recognizing this, I've developed a reference sheet detailing various greetings and their appropriate contexts, which can be used alongside discussions to assist these students in mastering such an essential yet complex social interaction.

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Getting Someone's Attention

As a social skills educator, I recognize that seemingly straightforward skills can be quite complex for those with social impairments, a reason why I often incorporate real-world experiences, such as walks or visits to public places, into my teaching. These outings allow me to observe and address unexpected issues, like proper walking etiquette or initiating a conversation, while also providing opportunities for students to practice nuanced social tasks such as appropriately gaining someone's attention, taking into account different scenarios and possible variables.

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Restaurant Etiquette

As a social skills instructor, I emphasize that even activities like dining out, which require interaction with staff and potentially other customers, are social experiences that necessitate perspective-taking. Through this, we discuss how individual behaviors can impact others, underscoring the importance of considerations such as avoiding late arrivals at restaurants and the significance of politeness.

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Answering Job Interview Questions

As a social skills teacher, I provide comprehensive guidance to my students on navigating job interviews, including detailed instruction on answering the four most common questions. We delve into the concept of listener presupposition, encouraging students to consider the interviewer's perspective and strategically tailor their responses to create desired impressions, with role-play sessions for practical application of these concepts.

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Passive Aggression

As a social skills teacher, my aim is to equip my students with the ability to identify and effectively address passive aggression, as they should not have to endure hostile comments or behaviors. Through a comprehensive worksheet, we explore examples of disguised insults and discuss the underlying aggression and the passive nature of such behavior. I encourage my students to calmly confront the hostility, promoting self-advocacy and discouraging future instances of passive aggression, although I recognize that individual circumstances may influence their choice to speak up.

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Social Skills Activities Packet

This comprehensive Social Skills Activities Packet, consisting of 28 resources, equips professionals such as speech language pathologists, social workers, psychologists, teachers, and life skill coaches with the tools needed to effectively assist their students and clients in developing vital social skills essential for thriving in social settings. The packet covers various aspects of social interaction, including conversational skills, interpretation of non-verbal communication, perspective-taking, understanding others' feelings, and practical real-life interactions such as restaurant etiquette and job interview preparation.

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Social Skills Worksheets & Activities in PDF for Middle School and High School