TREATING SOCIAL SKILL DEFICITS IN CHILDREN WITH LEARNING-DISABILITIES- A METAANALYSIS OF THE RESEARCH

Although social skills training or intervention for children with lear ning disabilities has been widely used in the past 15 years, little sy stematic synthesis of its effectiveness is available. The current stud y is a meta-analysis of 53 studies on social skills training completed during this period. The mean effect size (ES) obtained was only .211, with very few differences among teachers, peers, or children themselv es who judged effectiveness of training. This relatively modest effect is discussed in relation to other special interventions for children with school learning or behavioral disorders and possible links betwee n learning disabilities and social skills that might account for poor treatment outcome.