Teach social skills to children: a stoplight approach

Teach social skills using the green light, yellow light, red light concept. Barbara Lester, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, teaches how to use a stop light concept to help children watch for and then respond to social cues. Green light cues indicate to keep going, such as noticing that the listener is making eye contact, nodding, asking questions or making comments. Yellow light cues indicate a need to slow down, and might include someone looking away, looking bored, checking the time, and not making any comments. A red light cue might be someone directly saying they have to go, or walking away. Using this idea can help the child learn the importance of gathering information about the listener and then acting on it in order to improve their social relationships. The skill can be taught using the visual supports of a green, yellow or red traffic light signs for younger or lower functioning children. This skill is helpful for children who have difficulty with reading cues in social interaction, such as those on the autism spectrum.