Lavoie Videos

One important point that Mr. Lavoie made in his video that stands out to me was the fact that there is no compensation for social skills. These students face social isolation and social rejection frequently throughout the day. How do we as educators facilitate their understanding of what is socially acceptable behavior and the unwritten curriculum of the school they attend? I like how Mr. Lavoie explained that we needed to do a social skill autopsy by examining and inspecting the cause of the social error. Mr. Lavoie stressed the importance of using the error that the student committed as an opportunity to teach the appropriate social skill versus using blame and punishment towards the student. I had never given much thought to the unspoken rules of school until Mr. Lavoie explained what a challenge this could be for the student with special needs. Now I understand how this could be quite challenging for some students and will use this increased awareness to guide students in the future who may face these challenges.