Helping Your Socially Vulnerable Child: What to Do When Your Child Is Shy, Socially Anxious, Withdrawn, or Bullied

by Andrew R. Eisen, Linda B. Engler

Tools You Can Use to Help Your Child In social situations, certain children are more likely than others to be subject to emotional and physical harm by more aggressive children. Shyness, social anxiety, or a tendency to be withdrawn may underlie this social vulnerability, as may awkwardness in social situations or an inclination to be impulsive or explosive. If your child struggles with any of these problems, there is much you can do to help him or her develop more effective social skills and learn to fit in better with peers. In this book, the husband and wife team of Eisen and Engler provide you with a clinically proven set of coping tools and social-skill strategies you can tailor to your child's unique social and emotional needs. Use them to promote confidence, independence, and social ease in your child, whether in the classroom, on the playground, or at play in his or her peer group. As you help your child mange his or her emotions, you'll lay the groundwork for a more harmonious family life, better school adjustment, and ultimately, social success.

Genres: Parenting

216 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

Reviews

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is helpful, but will take time to implement. I borrowed a library copy, but it may be worth purchasing to try out some of the suggestions. This book has strategies that you can tailor to your child's specific social and emotional needs. I wish this had a larger section on managing GATE children and their emotional needs in more depth (only one page listed), but overall I did find the many examples of how other families implemented the strategies useful.

The book explained that phobic avoidance is more problematic than actual negative social outcomes, but the fear is just so great that it can limit a child's interactions, leaving them socially vulnerable. Telling a child not to worry isn't helpful because he or she will just remain anxious, but if you can help the child learn to be more comfortable with his or her social anxiety as just a part of who he or she is, then you can effectively respond to your child's tendency to avoid social engagements and promote social confidence.

Children are "wired" differently and this affects their ability to perceive, process, and interpret social situations. Some children perceive that they don't "fit in," but they don't understand why, so it becomes easier to just manage by simply withdrawing from peers. Other children don't realize they don't fit in, but they do things that alienate their peers and they are actively rejected by them. I had never really differentiated between peer neglect and peer rejection, but I can see now there is a difference in being excluded versus being actively targeted as a victim.

[Adriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the way the book is written. It's easy to follow, and for parents like me with concerns about child social behavior, the book represents a helpful guide to recognize patterns and take the right actions to help them to face the connected world we live on.

[Coreycw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really what I was looking for.