Social-emotional learning (SEL) is the process by which individuals, especially children, develop social and emotional skills. According to CASEL (the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning), SEL is “the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships and make responsible and caring decisions.”
Because children who are deaf or hard of hearing are more likely to face auditory and language challenges including listening fatigue, auditory misperceptions (misunderstanding sounds), trouble keeping up with conversations and difficulty with the more nuanced communication skills, it becomes especially important that they receive customized support in social-emotional development to help them identify when they’ve missed something, repair conversations and develop better overall communication.
Supporting the Development of Social-Emotional Skills
There are several strategies families and educators can use to help boost children’s SEL skills.
Optimizing Auditory Access
For children with hearing loss who use listening and spoken language to communicate, it’s paramount to ensure that they have appropriate auditory access, advises Sherri Fickenscher, MS, LSLS Cert., AVEd, education support specialist at Clarke. “That means regular appointments with an audiologist. Hearing is directly linked to their ability to interact with their social world,” she says, noting that it can be even more important for hearing aid users. “If they have a cold or allergies, they can temporarily lose 10 dB of sound access. Until they’re old enough to notice and self-report, a parent or caregiver has to check the equipment every morning to make sure there’s no static and the batteries are charged and functioning properly.”
Developing Emotional Self-Awareness
Sherri also advises making sure children who are deaf or hard of hearing can identify their emotional state, describe it and handle it appropriately. For example, children can learn to label their emotions beyond just happy and sad, acknowledging when they’re actually excited or nervous in a given situation. Then they can practice ways to manage these feelings, like bouncing on a wobble cushion or taking deep breaths while counting.
“These are basic self-regulation skills,” Sherri says. “We say a lot that ‘all feelings are acceptable, but all actions are not.’”
Building Self-Advocacy Skills
Another vital skill to work on is making sure that even young children have strong, age-appropriate self-advocacy skills. “One of our speech-language pathologists [at Clarke] uses the motto ‘I’m the boss of my hearing loss’ [from Amy Kroll’s children’s book with the same title]” Sherri says. “Students have to be able to notice and report if the remote microphone technology isn’t working, how to put the batteries in their hearing aids or how to charge their equipment. The goal is for them to eventually be fully self-sufficient when it comes to managing their equipment and explaining their hearing loss and needs to others.”
Additionally, “Most social situations come with a lot of noise—a sports field, a loud cafeteria, the family dinner table, the auditorium where play rehearsal is held,” says Sherri. “We need to be aware of times and locations where it’s noisy and make sure the children know how to advocate for themselves when they are having difficulty hearing.”
Supporting Pragmatic Language Skills
Sherri notes that children with hearing loss often struggle to develop pragmatic skills, or social communication skills, as this ability requires a keen awareness of tone of voice and multiple social cues.
“People with strong pragmatic skills have the ability to adapt based on their social situation and their communication partner,” she explains.
For example, most children learn to “code switch,” or use different types of language and tone with their friends, their grandmother or a store clerk. “It’s that social awareness of language and behavior that changes with the audience,” says Sherri. “Picking up on tone of voice can give cues as to when people are being sarcastic, joking, et cetera. Those are the language-related aspects of social settings that [children with hearing loss] may miss.”
To support pragmatic skills, families and educators can discuss the ways we communicate in different situations, like the sidelines of a soccer game versus a quiet school assembly. Or they can practice what you might talk about with someone you’ve just met at camp versus a cousin you’ve known for years. Social stories can help too; families can review what will be expected at a first dance, for example, to minimize the stress leading up to a new experience.
(Learn more about social stories in our Clarke Speaks Up post, “What Are Social Stories and How Can Families Use Them?”)
Quick Tips for Practicing SEL Skills By Age Group
Here are some abilities we can work to develop in each age group.
Preschoolers—Understanding the Self
“Preschoolers are learning that there are appropriate ways of dealing with emotions,” says Sherri Fickenscher, MS, LSLS Cert., AVEd, education support specialist at Clarke. Support this skill by teaching ways to greet others, offering simple choices throughout the day, assigning basic jobs around the house or classroom, and providing opportunities for cooperative and parallel play with peers.
School-Age Children—Understanding of Others
Have your child help you select a gift for a friend’s upcoming birthday party. Or if you’re out together, ask them to help you choose something for another person. (“While we’re here at the bakery, let’s get something for your little sister, too! What do you think she might like?”)
Older Children and Teens—Decisions and Consequences
To support teens during decision-making, help them brainstorm options and identify pros and cons. Remind them that emotions can often interfere with clear thinking when making a decision, so making a list of pros and cons can support logical thinking. Providing a straightforward, basic system for decision-making may be beneficial in situations when they’re on their own.
Key SEL Skills for Mainstream Students with Hearing Loss by Age Group
While a robust SEL framework involves the development of many skills across a range of social and emotional areas, there are some overarching abilities we can work to achieve by age group.
Preschoolers—Understanding the Self
“Preschoolers are learning that there are appropriate ways of dealing with emotions,” Sherri says, noting that the main skills to focus on in this age group are self-awareness and self-management. Learning what is expected in social situations is an essential skill to develop at this age.
Families and educators can support this growth by teaching ways to greet others, offering simple choices throughout the day (Milk or water? Striped or polka-dot socks?), assigning basic jobs around the house or classroom (wiping down the table after breakfast, picking up a wrapper and putting it in the trash) and providing opportunities for cooperative and parallel play with peers. If a child enters elementary school with self-awareness and self-management skills, they’re likely to be more socially aware.
School-Age Children—Understanding of Others
For school-age children, it’s important for them to be able to consider another’s perspective (a concept known as theory of mind) and to recognize and articulate that not everyone likes the same things or feels the same way. This understanding shows social awareness.
Have your child help you select a gift for a friend’s upcoming birthday party. Or if you’re out together, ask them to help you choose something for another person (“While we’re here at the bakery, let’s get something for your little sister too! What do you think she might like?”).
Go further by noting that we don’t always know another’s perspective. “Look at Mom; she’s deep in thought! What is she thinking about? We don’t know, do we? But we can ask her.”
An awareness of others’ experiences, thoughts and feelings—and also curiosity about them—leads to strong interpersonal skills.
Older Children and Teens—Decisions and Consequences
For older children and teens, keep an eye on how responsible they are in their decision-making. When a student is self-aware, is able to self-regulate, is socially aware and has positive relationships, this leads to self-confidence. A confident student is more likely to make good decisions, such as standing up for themselves or others when injustices occur.
To support older children and teens during decision-making, help them brainstorm options and identify pros and cons. Remind them that emotions can often interfere with clear thinking when making a decision, so creating a list of pros and cons can support logical thinking. Providing a basic, straightforward system for decision-making may be beneficial in situations when they’re on their own.
Ideas for Supporting SEL in Mainstream Settings
Sherri notes that the importance of SEL is a hot topic in education right now and that it can sometimes be hard to get effective SEL strategies written into an IEP or a 504 plan, simply because these needs are harder to identify and quantify.
“Families and educators have to monitor and be aware—especially in the mainstream—of a child’s social interactions,” Sherri advises. “Caregivers should ask, How are you monitoring my child’s pragmatic skills? How is SEL addressed at this school? Is it intentionally taught?”
She adds that for the greatest effectiveness, SEL should be taught as part of an intentional school program, ideally one that is also trauma informed. “Professionals sometimes know that a child has experienced trauma because the family has shared this information. The difficult situation is that 25% of children in the United States have experienced some form of trauma by the time they are 16 years of age, and the educator often has no knowledge of this. Having a behavior management program that is trauma informed can support all children immensely,” she says.
By building strong social-emotional skills in children with hearing loss, caregivers and educators can support them in developing confidence, self-compassion, healthy relationships and the communication skills they need to thrive in a mainstream classroom and in their community.
More Resources
- Watch Clarke’s webinar “Social-Emotional Competency for Children Learning to Listen, Talk and Think,” co-hosted by Sherri Fickenscher, MS, LSLS Cert., AVEd, education support specialist at Clarke, and Alexanna Rodgers, MS, CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT, consumer engagement manager at MED-EL.
- For in-depth articles and resources about social-emotional learning, visit the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning’s website (CASEL) at casel.org.
- Learn more about a trauma-informed approach to education at edutopia.org.
