THE CONCEPT OF «SOCIAL SKILLS» AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE SOCIAL COMPETENCE OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

Abstract

The growing number of children with psychophysical development disorders and special educational needs makes it necessary to develop, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at social skills development. The deficit of such skills manifests itself in violations of varying degrees of severity of communication, social interaction and social cognition and leads to disruption of social functioning in school, home and social environments, causing difficulties in learning, interpersonal relationships, behavior, and mental health. Empirical inaccuracy and a vague understanding of the social skills concept make it difficult to plan and implement interventions for their development in children with special educational needs. The purpose of the article was to reveal the essence of the concept of “social skills” and their impact on the formation of social competence of children with SEN. To achieve the goals and objectives of the study, the format of desk research was chosen. The search for information was carried out in the scientific databases Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, Research Gate, and its processing was carried out using methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison and generalization of qualitative data. It is established, that the construct of social skills covers skills of different levels and character, which to varying degrees take into account personal factors and the social context of interaction. A common aspect in different definitions of social skills is their connection with communication, interaction, dependence on the context of the social situation and implementation in individual behavior. Social competence is a general evaluative process of a child’s behavior determining their ability to function effectively. Social skills are the components of social competence that are used in a particular social situation. The competent social activities of children with special educational needs are determined by factors such as peer acceptance and recognition, social goals, needs and norms of a particular social situation, and contextual factors such as ethnicity or cultural affiliation. There are different categories of social skills (according to their level of complexity, tasks, or functions), the understanding of which is important for planning, implementing, and evaluating interventions aimed at their development.