Social Skills &
Communication Support

For children who want or need to connect, communicate and take part with other people, but find the social side of everyday life difficult.

Social skills are not just about being talkative, making eye contact or having lots of friends. They include noticing another person, responding, joining in, expressing needs and boundaries, working through misunderstandings and knowing what to do when an interaction does not go as expected.

At Tesserae, our social skills training focuses on practical skills children can use with peers, family members, teachers and other people in their everyday lives.

What do social skills and communication actually mean?

Communication is more than how clearly a child can speak. Social interaction also asks children to use communication with another person, in the moment.

A child may need to work out when to join, how to respond, how much information to give, what another person may be trying to communicate, and how to repair the interaction if something goes wrong.

Expressing yourself

Asking for help, sharing an idea, saying no, setting a boundary or letting someone know when something is unclear.

Responding to others

Noticing another person’s communication and responding in a way that keeps the interaction moving.

Taking part

Joining play, conversation or a group activity without needing an adult to organise every step.

Navigating problems

Clarifying misunderstandings, negotiating differences and finding another way forward when an interaction gets stuck.

What can social difficulties look like day to day?

Social difficulties do not always look like a child who avoids other people. Sometimes the child is very social, but interactions are still hard to manage.

“She really wants friends, but things seem to go wrong once she starts playing with them.”

“He talks a lot, but conversations tend to stay on his topic.”

“She knows what she should have said, but only after the situation is over.”

“He waits for an adult to help him join or sort out problems with other children.”

For some children, these differences are noticeable from a young age. For others, they become more obvious as friendships, group work and playground interactions become less structured and more socially demanding.

Why can a child talk well but still struggle socially?

Knowing language and using it successfully in a social interaction are related, but they are not the same skill.

Knowing what to do

A child may know that conversations involve taking turns, that people can have different ideas, or that they can ask to join a game.

Doing it in a real interaction

The harder part may be noticing the right moment, responding quickly enough, adjusting when the other person reacts differently, and continuing without an adult prompting what to say next.

This is why a child can have a strong vocabulary and still find peer interactions difficult. The challenge may be using their skills flexibly and independently when another person is involved.

What skills do we work on?

There is no checklist of social behaviours that every child needs to perform. We look at where your child is getting stuck and what would help them participate, communicate or advocate for themselves more independently.

Joining & participating

Approaching others, entering an activity, sharing attention and taking part without an adult having to organise the interaction.

Back-and-forth interaction

Responding to another person, contributing an idea, listening for useful information and keeping an interaction going.

Social understanding

Noticing relevant cues, recognising that another person may have a different idea or intention, and adjusting when the situation changes.

Self-advocacy & problem-solving

Asking for help, saying when something is not okay, clarifying misunderstandings and working through everyday social problems.

Does my child need to be more social?

Not necessarily.

Some children prefer one or two close friends, quieter environments or more time on their own. That preference alone is not something we need to change.

Support becomes more useful when there is a gap between what the child wants or needs to do socially and what they are currently able to manage. For example, they may want to join other children but not know how, repeatedly lose friendships they value, or depend heavily on adults to manage interactions for them.

The goal is not to make a quiet child outgoing.

We focus on skills that give children more choice, independence and access to relationships that matter to them. We do not target harmless differences simply because they look less typical.

How can Behaviour Support help?

At Tesserae, we describe what we do as Behaviour Support. Our work is grounded in behavioural science and Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA).

For social skills and communication, that means looking at the situations where interactions become difficult, identifying the skills involved, teaching those skills in manageable steps, and creating opportunities to use them with other people.

Understand

See where the interaction breaks down and what the child is already able to do.

Teach & practise

Practise specific skills with enough support for the child to be successful.

Use it with others

Move beyond rehearsed responses and help the skill work with real people in less predictable situations.

How is this different from Speech Therapy?

There can be overlap. Speech and Language Therapists are trained to assess and treat speech, language and communication needs, including social communication. Tesserae’s lens is behavioural and functional: we focus on helping children use skills more independently in the interactions and settings where they are needed. Where speech or language is the primary concern, or where both disciplines would be useful, we will recommend or work alongside the appropriate professional.

How do skills move into real interactions?

Social skills need other people. A child may be able to answer a question correctly in a quiet 1:1 session and still find the same skill much harder with a peer who responds unpredictably.

That is why the setting should change as the child becomes ready.

Learn it

Build a new skill with enough support to succeed.

Practise it

Use it with different adults, activities or structured peer practice.

Use it with peers

Move into groups, school or other real social situations where appropriate.

Need less help

Fade adult prompts as the child becomes more independent.

Our goal is progress, not dependence on therapy.

Depending on the child, support may begin in 1:1 Behaviour Support and later move into Social Skills Groups, school-based practice, lighter-touch consultation, or eventually no ongoing therapy.

When another page may be more relevant

If the main concern is frequent meltdowns, aggression or broader difficulty managing emotions, see our Behaviour & Emotional Regulation page. If the main concern is following classroom instructions, task persistence or independent learning, see School Readiness, Focus & Learning.

Questions parents usually ask us

My child is very talkative. Can they still struggle socially?

Yes. A child may have a strong vocabulary and still find peer conversations, joining, negotiation or repairing misunderstandings difficult. The question is not how much they can talk, but how independently they can use communication in an interaction with another person.

Does my child need an autism diagnosis?

No. Social and communication difficulties can occur with or without a diagnosis. We work from the child’s functional needs rather than requiring a diagnostic label before support can begin.

Is 1:1 Behaviour Support or a Social Skills Group better?

It depends on the child’s starting point and the skill being targeted. Some children benefit from learning a skill more explicitly in 1:1 sessions first. Others already know what to do in theory and need more practice with peers, where interactions are naturally less predictable.

My child likes playing alone. Should I be worried?

Not simply because they prefer being alone. We are more concerned when a child wants or needs to participate but repeatedly cannot, is distressed by social difficulties, or depends on adults to manage interactions that matter to them.

Can Behaviour Support help with communication?

Yes, when the goal is functional communication, such as asking for help, expressing needs or boundaries, responding to others, or using communication more effectively in everyday situations. Where the primary concern is speech or language development, we would recommend Speech and Language Therapy.

Will you work with my child's school?

Where useful, yes. Social difficulties can look very different in a classroom or playground than in a therapy setting. With parental consent and the school’s agreement, we can observe, collaborate with teachers or provide support within school.

This page provides general information and does not provide a diagnosis. Where a speech-language, psychological, medical or other specialist assessment is appropriate, we will recommend that families speak with the relevant professional.

Social Skills & Communication Support

Social Skills &Communication Support