Fostering Social
Competencies in Deaf
Children
Cindi Sternfeld, Ed.S.
March 16, 2013
Who’s on the case?
•
Researchers and Teachers of deaf students
across the country are using standardized
and home-grown programs to work with
Deaf students & they are getting results.
Who’s looking at the work?
 Asiah Mason, Ph.D. , Laurent Clerc National Deaf
Education Center, Gallaudet
 Diane Morton, Ph.D., Gallaudet University
 Dorie Noll, Washington University School of
Medicine
 Maria Suarez, University of La Laguna, Spain
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Helping Children to survive and
thrive in today’s social landscape
 Survive
– To not die or disappear,
to live through something
vs
 Thrive – to grow vigorously and
healthily, to do well
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Alphabet Soup
CASEL – Collaborative for Academic
and Social Emotional Learning
SEL = Social Emotional Learning
EI – Emotional Intelligence
EF – Executive Function
Collaborative for Academic, Social
and Emotional Learning, CASEL


CASEL works to advance the science of
social and emotional learning, expand
integrated evidence-based SEL practice
and to advance the field of Social Emotional
Learning.
Founded by Daniel Goleman & Eileen
Rockefeller-Gorwald in 1994
◦ Researches SEL curricula
◦ Develops list of evidence based SEL programs
◦ Evidence Based SEL Practice…….what does
this mean for our population?
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Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is
the process of developing social
and emotional skills in the context
of safe, caring, well managed and
engaging learning environments.
CASEL, 2006
From MindUp:
Creating the optimistic classroom –


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

Remind students not to talk over you or each
other and to give everyone a chance to be
heard.
Always….Pause for a moment before calling on
students to answer questions.
Give students the option of answering with “I
need to think about that some more” and then
schedule a time to return to the discussion.
Encourage students to take a moment to write
notes before group discussions.
Allow students to formulate follow-up
questions after they have had time to digest
learning.
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Social Emotional Learning
CASEL
“So, what’s this got to do with Math?”
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Instruction in SEL has been
found to improve:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Promote positive youth development
Attitudes – Motivation & Commitment
Behavior - Participation and Study Habits
Performance – Grades and Subject Mastery
Learning-to-learn skills
Adaptability
Develops skills employers want
Zins, J., Weissberg, R., Wang, M., and Walberg, H. (Eds.) (2004). Building Academic
Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What Does the Research Say?
New York: teachers College Press
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CASEL’s SEL 5 Core Areas
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Self-Awareness
Self-Management
Social Awareness
Relationship Skills
Responsible Decision Making
As we examine the components of each, make
notes of the specific skills that your children….
…would be really good at
…would really struggle with
Why?
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Emotional Intelligence
Being able to motivate oneself
 Being able to persist in the face of
frustrations
 To control impulse
 To delay gratification
 To regulate one’s moods
 To keep distress from swamping the
ability to think to empathize to hope

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SEL Core
Areas





Self-Awareness
Self-Management
Social Awareness
Relationship
Skills
Responsible
Decision Making
E.I. Skills
Ability to:
 Self motivate
 Persist - even when
frustrated
 Control impulses
 Delay gratification
 Regulate mood
 Keep distress from
swamping
◦ the ability to think
◦ to empathize
◦ to hope
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Suarez and others have observed social
learning delays among Deaf children in:
Empathy
 Social Perception
 Social Problem
Solving
 Social Attribution

Communication
 Role-taking ability
 Moral
Development
 Impulse Control

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Suarez found that Deaf children, given
SEL instruction showed gains in
several areas:



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Emotional adjustment  Assertiveness
 Increased control over
Social adjustment
behavior
Self image
 Ability to stop and
Problem solving
think in order to avoid
More effective social
impulsive behavior
behavior
Maria Suarez, Promoting Social Competence in Deaf Students; The Effect of
an Intervention Program. University of La Laguna, Spain. 2000
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Asiah Mason, Ph.D.
Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center
Early (language-based) skills
that support EI development:
 Self
Regulation
 Attachment
 Emotional Expression
 Social Pragmatics
 Feelings of Belonging
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Diane Morton, Ph.D., Gallaudet University
Language Competence enables
us to:
Interact with others
 Acquire information
 Question information
 Form own opinions
 Be a thinker
 Be independent

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Being competent in a
language is the key to social
and emotional success and
well being.
Diane Morton, Ph.D., Gallaudet University
What the research shows:
 Deafness does not preclude one’s ability to
develop Social Emotional Competence.
 Deaf children from Deaf families consistently
score on par with hearing children from hearing
families.
 Children who lack ongoing access to
experiences mediated through language, and
lack expressive and receptive skills to be a full
participant in their worlds will have significant
social difficulty.
 In the brain, social difficulty begets social
difficulty.
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Self Awareness
 Accurately
assessing one’s feelings,
interests, values and strengths;
maintaining a well grounded sense of
self confidence.
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CASEL, 2006
C.Sternfeld
Self-Management
Regulating one’s emotions to handle
stress, control impulses, and persevere in
overcoming obstacles;
 Setting and monitoring progress toward
personal and academic goals
 Expressing emotions appropriately

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CASEL, 2006
C.Sternfeld
From MindUp:
Creating the optimistic classroom –





Remind students not to talk over you or each
other and to give everyone a chance to be
heard.
Always….Pause for a moment before calling on
students to answer questions.
Give students the option of answering with “I
need to think about that some more” and then
schedule a time to return to the discussion.
Encourage students to take a moment to write
notes before group discussions.
Allow students to formulate follow-up
questions after they have had time to digest
learning.
3/16/2013
C.Sternfeld
Prefrontal Cortex
Amygdala
Hippocampus
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Social Awareness

Being able to take the perspective and
empathize with others; recognizing and
appreciating individual and group
similarities and differences; recognizing
and using family, school and community
resources
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CASEL, 2006
C.Sternfeld
Relationship Skills
Establishing and maintaining healthy and
rewarding relationships based on
cooperation; resisting inappropriate social
pressure; preventing, managing, and
resolving interpersonal conflict; seeking
help when needed.

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CASEL, 2006
C.Sternfeld
Responsible Decision Making

Making decisions based on consideration
of ethical standards, safety concerns,
appropriate social norms, respect for
others, and likely consequences of various
actions; applying decision-making skills to
academic and social situations;
contributing to the well-being of one’s
school and community.
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CASEL, 2006
C.Sternfeld
And then there’s
Executive Function…
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Executive Functioning
Refers to our ability to be able to:
 make and carry out plans
 direct our attention
 focus & control our internal states
 our impulses & emotions
 switch from one task to another
It is involved in processes such as planning,
cognitive flexibility, abstract thinking, rule
acquisition, initiating appropriate actions &
inhibiting actions, and selecting relevant
information.
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Ross Greene
“Lost At School”
Behind every challenging behavior is an unsolved
problem or lagging skill.
Challenging behavior often occurs when the demands
being placed on a kid exceed his capacity to
respond adaptively.
One needs to determine what thinking skill the child is
lacking so that the thinking skill can be taught.
One needs to determine the triggers/antecedents: the
what, who, when, and where.
The goal is to develop a plan with the child that resolves
the problem in a realistic and mutually satisfactory
manner.
Slide by: Dr. Caren Baruch-Feldman
New Information = New Possibilities
Technology is teaching us how to
strengthen social function
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What is a Neural Network and how can it
support improved social function?
Neurons that fire together, wire together.
Every time you repeat a behavior, you
strengthen the neural structure of that
behavior, creating more potential for more of
the behavior.
 Using Neurology, Psychology and
Contemplative Practice to increase happiness.
 The importance of a “happy” brain…

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Recognizing “The Brain on Emotions”

Limbic System
◦ Amygdala
◦ Hippocampus
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Prefrontal Cortex
Sympathetic Nervous System Response
Parasympathetic Nervous System Response
Potentiating Neural Networks
◦ Positive Experiences
◦ Negative Experiences
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SEL Programs to check out…
MindUp (Hawn Foundation)
 Nurtured Hearts
 PATHS – Promoting Alternative Thinking
Skills
 The Responsive Classroom
 PeaceWorks
 Social Decision Making, Social Problem
Solving
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
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SEL Programs
MindUp
http://thehawnfoundation.org/mindup/
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The Nurtured Heart
http://www.childrenssuccessfoundation.com/
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PATHS: Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies
http://www.channing-bete.com/prevention-programs/paths/paths.html
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The Responsive Classroom
http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/
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Peachmaking Skills for Little Kids by Peaceworks
http://www.peaceeducation.org
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Information from works of:

Asiah Mason, Ph.D. , Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, Gallaudet
Emotional Intelligence: The Implications for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students

Diane Morton, Ph,D, Professor, Department of Counseling. Gallaudet
University
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF DEAF CHILDREN SAME OR
DIFFERENT?

Dorie Noll, Washington University School of Medicine
Activities for social skills development in deaf children preparing to enter the
mainstream, 2007

Maria Suarez, University of La Laguna, Spain
Promoting Social Competence in Deaf Students: The Effect of an Intervention
Program, 2000

Zins, J., Weissberg, R., Wang, M., and Walberg, H. (Eds.) (2004). Building
Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What Does the Research
Say? , New York: teachers College Press

Dan Goleman, 1996: Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, Bantam
Books

Ross Greene 1998: The Explosive Child. Harper 2009: Lost At School, Scribner
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Please feel free to contact me at:
Cindi.sternfeld@gmail.com
Cindi Sternfeld
4 South Union Street, Suite D
Lambertville, NJ 078530
(609) 510-6092