Perspectives Winter/Spring 2018

supervisor has her head down typing at her computer. Joanna notices this and knocks quietly. Her supervisor looks up, and Joanna asks her if she has a minute to talk. She asks her question quickly and thanks her supervisor for her time before leaving. Joanna’s supervisor’s nonverbal body lan- guage indicated she did not have time to talk for an extended period of time, which Joanna understood, so she adjusted her approach accordingly. Example 2: James returned to high school after a European family trip over winter break. Upon returning, Tom noticed his friend James looking at him and waving him over to his lunch table. Tom and James shared stories about their vacations. They asked each other questions and spent the majority of their lunch laughing and comparing notes of their trips. James asked Tom questions and followed up his responses with an on-topic comment. James demonstrated turn-taking conversational skills with his friend, sharing details of his own vacation, but also listening to his friend’s vacation details. Both of these examples illustrate the inconspicuous details of social encounters we appropriately use to interact with our peers, coworkers, friends, and family. We do not think about them until others violate these unspoken rules. An individual with pragmatic problems may • say inappropriate or unrelated things during a conversation • not understand how to properly greet people, request information, or gain attention • have a tendency to be overly literal and not understand humor and sarcasm • have trouble understanding nonverbal communication, such as facial expressions SPG clinician graduate student Brittney Hernandez, left, works with Elliot Marten (age 7), Evan Fox (age 5), and Braden Grabowski (age 7). Pictured at right is SPG clinician graduate student Natalia Golomb. Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences 51 ) ) ) ) ) Role of Groups Social skills groups best support children with social com- munication challenges who may have trouble picking up on social cues like body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions. Some topics introduced in the group include listening to others and learning effectively to negotiate needs and wants, increasing attention toward peers, using good eye contact and active listening posture when interacting, and understanding personal space. The hope of the NSU group is to foster age-appropriate social pragmatic language skills for the participants, as well as teach their families strategies they can effectively implement in everyday situations. The SPG is in its third consecutive semester and is considered a success by the parents, participants, and graduate students. ●