Magial Thinking and Social Skills
People who have
Difficulty with Social Skills,
Difficulty Making Friends,
Inability to Read and Interpret Environment and People,
Inability to Create Meaningful Friendships,
Little Thought About Results of Actions, are
Loners, have
Magical Thinking,
Poor Judgment, they
Sometimes Relate Well to Younger Students, and/or
Have trouble with
Peer Relationships.
What is Magical Thinking and Social Skills?
People with learning disabilities often fail to develop those skills that allow for rewarding interpersonal relationships. This causes trouble in class (in addition to their academic problems), on the playground, in the neighborhood, and in the family. This dilemma persists into jobs and dating circumstances; it is often a problem seen very early and having intensifying impact as the individual gets older.
Outright reading problems and their psychological impact are obvious. Reading a menu in front of friends or reading a passage at a Scout Meeting can be very embarrassing, and the toll is easily understood. The failure to develop appropriate social skills is frequently the result of less obvious problems. Language meaning problems (a dysphasic-like pattern) can cause confusion between sarcasm and friendly humor. Similar problems occur when the student misunderstands gestures and body language. If one mistakes a smirk for a smile, one can be out of step with the group. If you fail to pick up sarcasm and assume the speaker is serious, you can be out of step with the group.
Position-in-space problems make it difficult to keep appointments; friends become angry at chronic lateness. This is often seen as a difficulty in timing. One's own position in time-space is important in social relationships. It would be important to look at the section on position-in-space (Reversals).
Anxiety is an issue here, too. When one is anxious about a social situation, one might tend to rush things or be suspicious and nontrusting. Disorganization and sloppiness are a burden to developing friendships. Students who perseverate (repeat the same things over and over again) are quite boring. All of these lead to unsatisfactory social experiences about which the person is confused. Generalizing useful social behaviors is very difficult from these confusing experiences.
Frequent problems of this sort sometimes impact on this student's general status. Chronic anxiety and unstable peer relationships rapidly impact on one's overall reputation with peers. Repeated misunderstandings may cause fellow students who interact with this individual for the first time to assume this individual is less valuable as a potential friend.
Students with poor social skills often become loners. This may not be their intent. They may long for frequent social contacts and be unable to generate this for themselves. They avoid the usual group activities or choose to interact with students who are much younger or much older. Younger children and older students offer fewer demands than functioning with one's peers.
Efficient language is an important means by which one controls one's existence. Students with information processing dysfunctions feel they have less power than their peers. Power is lost through inability to cope with academic activities. Power is lost through inability to function on the playground. One of the most pervasive losses of power is that which occurs because one is not nimble with language.
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