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Communicative Competence: Social

Communicative Competence: Social

skills contributing to communicative competence

Social Competence is about figuring out the

  • who,

  • what,

  • when,

  • where,

  • why,

  • and how

of communicating (or not communicating) in the moment. It is about how “suitable” and successful one’s communication attempts are. And also about the parts of communication that support making and keeping relationships. People with complex communication needs often have significant barriers to relationships.

Skills within the social competence area include knowledge, use, and judgement of:

  • engagement - level of involvement

    • intention to communicate

    • and the way one attaches meaning to symbols

  • participation - active involvement

    • how well one can do turn-taking behaviors or activities

  • pragmatics, or conversation skills

  • starting an interaction

  • taking turns

  • staying on topic

  • code-switching

  • commenting and asking questions that are not needed (e.g., “Cool!”, “Me too”)

  • etc.

  • different communicative functions

  • requesting attention

  • requesting information

  • sharing information

  • joking/humor

  • commenting

  • rejecting

  • etc.

  • using polite social forms (e.g., “please”, “thank you”)

  • questions and comments to show interest, concern, etc. in others (e.g., asking “How are you feeling?" when a caregiver returns from sick leave)

  • switching between, using different modes of communication

The goal is that the person is able to use their communication tools effectively to meet their communication goals. This includes making and keeping relationships.


Useful resources for Social skills:


References:

Alant, E. (2017). Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Engagement and Participation. Plural Publishing.

Janice Light & David McNaughton (2014) Communicative Competence for Individuals who require Augmentative and Alternative Communication: A New Definition for a New Era of Communication?, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 30:1, 1-18, DOI: 10.3109/07434618.2014.885080


Related posts:

Communicative Competence - for an introduction overview of Communicative Competence, check out this post

Communicative Competence: Operational - for a closer look at the area of operational competence, check out this post

Communicative Competence: Psychosocial - for a closer look at the area of psychosocial competence, check out this post

Communicative Competence: Self-Advocacy - for a closer look at the area of self-advocacy competence, check out this post

Communicative Competence: Linguistic - for a closer look at the area of linguistic competence, check out this post

Communicative Competence: Strategic - for a closer look at the area of strategic competence, check out this post

Communicative Competence: Emotional - for a closer look at the area of emotional competence, check out this post

Wrap-up post of our exploration of communicative competence in AAC