BeMe Community Knowledge Centre

Social problem-solving is a skill that develops during the early years of school. It is the process and strategies used to…

• analyse
• understand
• respond to

…everyday problems, decision making, and conflicts.

Social problem-solving is often developed through interactions with others. Some students, including those on the autism spectrum, may benefit from systematic instruction in helpful strategies for social problem solving.

Instruction helps students to understand:

• what a social problem is 
• the process to follow when a social problem occurs
• the strategies they could use to solve a social problem.

This practice will help to:

• Attempt to solve social problems as they occur
• Become independent
• Stay calm

Plan

Throughout all stages of this practice, you may need to seek advice from specialist colleagues or support staff such as guidance officers, psychologists, speech language pathologists and occupational therapists. 

Be proactive and plan to use strategies to support learning and social demands and put these strategies in place to reduce the likelihood of problems occurring in the first place.

Use your observations to develop a clear and comprehensive understanding of the problem(s) that your student is experiencing. When necessary, seek external specialist assessment and opinion. You can then:

• understand possible triggers 
• be alert to any potentially challenging situations throughout the day. 

Identify the specific strategy to teach kids how to find a solution. 

Plan to explicitly and systematically teach the social problem-solving process: 

• as a whole group
• in small groups
• individually
• a mix of above.

Identify appropriate storybooks and visual supports that you can incorporate in your explicit teaching to enhance student understanding. 

Incorporate engaging and motivating:

• role-play/rehearsal
• puppet play (check they aren’t frightened of puppets)
• social stories
• visual prompts.

Plan how you will:

• embed problem solving scenarios 
• model the problem solving process 
• positively encourage, support, and reinforce how to use the process to solve real-life social problems 
• share the social problem solving process with families. 

Communicating with care team will encourage generalisation of the associated strategy at home. 

Identify and develop the visual supports required to explicitly and systematically teach a social problem solving process and keep these handy.

It works better if:

• the social problem solving strategy has a small number of set steps
• teachers model these steps
• kids are encouraged to use to the strategy to solve their social problems whenever they occur
• visual supports are used to enhance student understanding of the strategy

It doesn’t work if:

• the child is expected to solve a social problem when distressed or overloaded 
• the child hasn’t understood the problem solving strategy (so it will need re-teaching) 
• the problem solving strategy has too many steps 

Set Goals

Apply the Practice

Step 1. Teach social problem-solving 

Explicitly and systematically teach a social problem-solving strategy using visual supports.

Step2. Practice relaxation 

Ensure that child practises relaxation skills.

Step 3. Embed and respond 

Be alert to any situations throughout the day that may result in social difficulties.

Model using the strategy to solve social problems.

Support the use of the strategy in relation to their encountered social problems: 

• Remain calm – personally model the skills involved.
• Reduce ‘talk’ and use visual cues.
• Deal with social difficulties in a consistent manner.

Acknowledge and positively reinforce all attempts to use problem-solving skills.

Step 4. Review 

Wait till child is calm and receptive before providing feedback.

Step 5. Record  

Record outcomes in order to track progress.

Note program outcomes.