A child faces many challenges while growing up starting from early childhood till he/she is mature enough to handle affairs of the materialistic world. One such challenge faced by many kids is regarding their poor social skills. Lack of social skills is one of the primary causes that leads to loneliness and stress among children. And it becomes very frustrating for parents to see their kids struggle to fit in a certain social environment, to make friends, and to deal with uncomfortable situations.

In this blog, we are going to discuss ways which could help parents to improve the social skills of their children. But before that, we must understand why it is important for a child to have social skills? Or why do we need to raise socially abled children?

Why are Social Skills important?

Social skills are forms of communication that helps in enhancing human relationships. Basic behavioural aspects like starting a conversation, gelling with pals and handling bullies effectively are some such things that are included in a child’s social learning.

It is expected that a child with well–developed people skills is more confident in handling or approaching any situation. They are likely to be more capable of gaining success, be more independent, more observant and capable of solving problems.

Though we can’t exactly say that these skills serve as predictors of a child’s future success, however, it does play a pivotal role in its life for sure. So, it is important for parents to try and improve the social skills of their socially detached children.

Here we are focussing on some of the primary ways in which parents can help kids to improve their social skills.

How to develop Social Skills?

Some children are socially more active, while some lack the basic skills. However, social skills are something which we keep learning with every passing day.

It is a huge task for parents to ensure that their kids pick up such soft skills and communicate effectively with people at an early age.

Here are few ways that might help parents in improving it in kids:

• By encouraging eye contact : Encourage your kids to keep eye contact with people while communicating with them. This helps in effective communication as well as builds confidence within the child.
• By making them communicate as much as possible : To interact – verbally or non-verbally, is of course the most important thing for your kid to learn. To express and respond to social requirements is something that a child should be preached to enhance his/her communicability.
• By presenting them the best environment : Many times, it is seen that a lonely child has difficulty in making interactions. Thus, it is important to allow your child to have the right exposure primarily in the form of sports and company to be able to interact with different people so that they can gain confidence and improve on their soft skills. 

• By teaching them to be empathetic : When a child cares and understands the feelings of other people, they are more likely to create good bonding with them. Parents can try to teach kids to be empathetic by talking to them about different situations of different people. This way, you can improve on their social skills as well as enhance their listening skills.
• By understanding their limits : All the kids have different limitations and requirements. Some are more vocal and outgoing, while some may be shy and reserved. Thus it is important for parents to know the limitations of their kids to be able to help them and make them comfortable.  

Depending on their age, most children with poor social skills find excuses to stay away from interacting with people or social gatherings. Moreover, such children are also not good listeners. They avoid eye contact while communicating and often lose their cool. 

If parents fail to trace poor social skills of their kids at the right time, they might have to work really hard in controlling and limiting the same later. Moreover, lack of such skills can also make kids prone to autism and related disorders which are characterised by poor social interaction and unusual manners.

A study has stated that 1 in 100 children in India under age of 10 suffer from autism. Another report by the Indian Scale for Assessment of Autism says that nearly 2 million kids are Autistic in India.

A medical research conducted on Autism with a specific group of school children confirmed that most kids were aged 5 or above at the time when they were first diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The study also stated that kids aged between 6-17 years were more prone to autism in India.  

Early support from parents and counsellors could help in preventing disabilities associated with autism in toddlers, but due to lack of knowledge many kids stay away from proper help. However, parents should understand that there is no quick remedy for autism. Only with regular therapy and medical intervention can a child overcome the condition gradually. 

Besides autism, there are other behavioural disorders in children in India like conduct problem, peer problem, emotional problem, and hyperactivity problem.

Most of these disorders require parents to take help of professional therapists to allow proper help to the child. Zoylu’s specialised child counsellors and parenting counselling are always there to guide you with their expert advice to help you manage any behavioural disorder in your child and to relieve him/her of the condition gradually.