Social Skills

The Palmyra Board of Education has approved a new course to be offered in the spring semester for high school special education students called pro- social skills. The course, which was approved Tuesday night, will emphasize social skills such as conversation, courtesy, work habits, problem solving and handling diverse emotions. The course will be taught by special education teacher Laina Colombo. Four students will be enrolled in the spring semester. Classes will open to other students in the fall.

Hey, kids. There's a new rule in school: Talk to one another in class. Blabber. Ramble. Whoop it up. Your teacher will say it's okay - may even encourage you to do it. Sixty-five Pennsbury School District teachers and administrators joined more than 100 educators for a weeklong workshop at Village Park Elementary to learn strategies to incorporate social skills into the curriculum. "What we are seeing in schools today, no matter whether they are inner-city schools, suburban schools or rural schools, is that kids lack social skills we used to be able to assume they had," said Chip Wood, a director at the Northeast Foundation, the Massachusetts education policy group running the program.

Wiggling in their chairs, the youngsters vied for attention. Gently, but with authority, their teacher reminded them to speak when it was their turn and to listen quietly to others. The seven preschoolers at the Phebe Anna Thorne School struggled with that request, each wanting to share his or her thoughts. The children attend the Language Enrichment Preschool Program at the Bryn Mawr school, an intensive individualized program for 3- to 5-year-olds who have language delays, attention problems and difficulty with social skills.

Ryan Cullen was practicing. Eyes wide and unblinking, the 10-year-old got within a foot of Joseph Cohen, also 10, and nodded vigorously at what he was saying. "Good eye contact, Ryan," Barbara Abrams told him, beaming. "Good listening. " For the five boys, this sitting in a circle with peers and talking about camp experiences and games was far more than a cool summer activity. All have Asperger syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism that is being diagnosed with frequency.

Early in his life, Jordan Schmidt would keep his baby arms wide open, straight and stiff, when he was held. The brown-eyed boy would sob uncontrollably when things changed suddenly. He had extremely sensitive hearing. He didn't hug anyone, and no one knew why. "It drove Debbie to distraction," Todd Schmidt, Jordan's father, said of his wife. "He just couldn't hug. " Now, two months shy of their son's sixth birthday, the Cherry Hill parents are no longer in the dark - Jordan has Asperger syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism that was diagnosed when he was 3. Like a growing number of children around the region and the country with the same diagnosis, Jordan is a study in contrasts: He has trouble with social interactions and flexible thinking but attends a mainstream kindergarten class, possesses an eighth-grade vocabulary, and has written his first screenplay.

Nine-year-old Caroline Hager had never heard the story The Weird Girl before yesterday, but she was very familiar with the plot. It's a tale, she said, that she has seen played out numerous times in her own schoolyard. "Weird Girl" is just another name for a newcomer. "Whenever there's a new girl in class, the other girls just don't play with her," Caroline said. "It takes about two weeks before people start to play with someone who's new. " Learning how to extend courtesy to everyone is one of the Six Pillars of Character emphasized during a full day of activities yesterday at Tredyffrin/Easttown School District's Hillside Elementary School.

The typical day at Camp Sequoia on the Hill School campus in Pottstown is notable for what is absent. There are no TVs or video games that lead some children to huddle by themselves in corners. There are no cellphones or laptops to take them away from their peers. Instead, the children are attending the experimental overnight camp to learn confidence and to improve their social skills - all in an atmosphere of summer fun. "It's good for campers who need help with building independence or [overcoming]

Undergraduate students at the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine, have built an Android app to help students through social awkwardness. The app, called AwkTalk, was developed by students for AppJam, a competition to build the best mobile app in one week. The theme for the competition was self-improvement and the team "Socially Awkward Anteaters" won the $1,000 first prize in the competition with the app. "We were all aware that many of our colleagues in the fields of computer science and engineering (ourselves included)

There is something very wrong with the system of values in a society that has only derogatory terms like nerd and geek for the intellectually curious and academically serious. A geek, according to Webster's New World Dictionary, is a street performer who shocks the public by biting off heads of live chickens and snakes. It is a telling fact about our language and our culture that someone dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge is compared to a freak biting the head off a live chicken.

Holding the cardboard cutout of a firefighter in his right hand, Christopher Canzanese, 4, of Essington, searched the puzzle board before him for a place where the firefighter would fit just right. "I can help you," said Ashlyn Trusty, 4, of Chester, leaning across the work table to Christoper. Christopher completed his puzzle with a little help from Ashlyn. Then both helped Matt Vadala, 4, of Morton finish his dog puzzle as part of their morning preschool lesson. Although the lesson was typical of most preschool activities, the setting is breaking new educational ground, according to Kyu Hwang, director of the Elwyn Development Center preschool in Media.

Undergraduate students at the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine, have built an Android app to help students through social awkwardness. The app, called AwkTalk, was developed by students for AppJam, a competition to build the best mobile app in one week. The theme for the competition was self-improvement and the team "Socially Awkward Anteaters" won the $1,000 first prize in the competition with the app. "We were all aware that many of our colleagues in the fields of computer science and engineering (ourselves included)

Barry McCurdy is director of the Devereux Center for Effective Schools at Villanova A.B. Day Elementary "gets it. " Its website tag line, "Providing all students with the academic, technological & social skills needed to be productive & contributing citizens in our society," is more than idle words. This East Germantown school's emphasis on social skills, on par with academics, has resulted in a positive school climate, fewer disruptive behaviors, and greater academic success.

The typical day at Camp Sequoia on the Hill School campus in Pottstown is notable for what is absent. There are no TVs or video games that lead some children to huddle by themselves in corners. There are no cellphones or laptops to take them away from their peers. Instead, the children are attending the experimental overnight camp to learn confidence and to improve their social skills - all in an atmosphere of summer fun. "It's good for campers who need help with building independence or [overcoming]

While I'm away, readers give the advice. On persuading an overweight child to tackle the weight problem: I've struggled with weight all my life. I was also a foster parent for 20 years, taking in underloved and unlovable children of all ages. I couldn't reason with these kids, and they'd already been yelled at and shamed enough to last a lifetime. Over and over I learned (from family therapists) the value of positive reinforcement and of teaching by example, as well as of setting the mood and attitude in my home.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). The job before you isn't difficult, but it is all-encompassing. Accomplishing this will take a union of mind, body and spirit. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Your powers of imagination are strong. Relax. Your best opportunities come when you're in a chilled out mood. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Everything comes at a cost, though the currency is not always money. Insist on being more helpful. CANCER (June 22-July 22). You want to take care of the needs of those around you, and they seem to need you more than usual.

DEAR ABBY: I'm a 14-year-old girl in my first year of high school. I'm not sure what to do about boys or how to make friends. All I ever learned at home was what not to do. I'm not allowed to date until I'm 16, but I really like this boy in my math class. What should I do? I'm so confused. My parents have protected me against things for so long, and I've had to learn from my friends' and my mistakes. I wonder sometimes if I have to be obedient to my parents or if I should make my own choices.

Sarah Mabel Hough is a junior at Temple University studying English My father has become increasingly sentimental about my childhood since the birth of my son 10 months ago. "It'll happen to you," he says one day. "When he's older, you'll have kids knocking at your door all the time asking if he can hang out. " I'm not so sure. I try to explain "play dates" to him, part of the culture in which parents decide what happens and when, and where women religiously attend "mommy support groups" to talk, of course, about their children.

Question: I ended my two closest friendships, one of which had lasted more than 25 years. One friend just never seemed to have time for our friendship anymore, while the other had taken advantage of our friendship one time too many. By ending these friendships I regained my self-esteem. But was it worth it? I now have no close friends to talk to, and the phone doesn't ring. Worse, I find myself pushing away new friends because I do not want to risk being hurt. I believe the fear of ending up where I am is exactly why so many women cling to negative or hurtful relationships.

Readers of Stieg Larsson's blockbuster thriller, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo , already know what truly dark and depraved business is in store for the Swedish author's improbable pair of sleuths: intrepid investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist and punk cyber-hacker Lisbeth Salander. (Nick and Nora Charles, they are not.) Those who have yet to read the international mega-seller - and those who have - can take heart not only that the film adaptation is exceptionally faithful to the late Larsson's book, but also that the deftly compressed mystery boasts an actress who is the walking, talking embodiment of the strange creature that is Lisbeth.

Full of energy, Shyana is a sassy, spirited and friendly 6-year-old with beautiful, expressive green eyes that draw people to her. She likes to laugh and smile. Shyana enjoys drawing and playing with dolls. She has brothers, so she also has learned to play many of the same games that boys do. She completed kindergarten this year and is making significant progress in acquiring positive and appropriate social skills. Therapy is helping her deal with emotional and behavioral challenges that are the result of the trauma she has endured in her young life.