One of the most basic needs of the human experience is communication and social engagement with others. We use communication to meet our needs, express our feelings, and gain fulfillment in our lives. Social communication and nonverbal behavior are different than any other type of language because they are ongoing and are open to a variety of interpretations. We communicate through our bodies and actions without always knowing it, and we have no control over how someone else will interpret our choices.

        No matter your age, we all misinterpret or miscommunicate through social language from time to time. Some of us have difficulty using social communication and nonverbal language appropriately, and some of us need to learn how to interpret or react to the actions of others. BASE is designed to teach students the necessary skills to interact with the social world existing around them. By following this curriculum in your classroom, your students will learn how to initiate, communicate, respond, interpret, and understand the many facets of social communication.

        Research reveals that social skills lack generalization when taught in a pullout method in clinics or schools (Bellini et al. 2007, Gresham et al. 2001).  Children generalize and master skills better when they are able to practice the skills across a variety of settings. Pulling the children out of their natural environment for one-on-one or group therapy in a contrived social setting results in poor generalization of skills and poor skill retention. Through BASE and the home connection newsletter, children are able to learn and practice the target skills in natural environments, including the classroom, and other non-academic settings, which aids in generalization and retention of target skills.