ASK PINNACLE · QUESTIONS, EXPLANATIONS & NEXT STEPS
Social
Explore explanations, everyday questions and next steps connected with social.
4,698 published answers · English · Page 149
CHOOSE THE QUESTION THAT MATTERS NOW
Explore this topic, one useful question at a time.
Therapy & support
The question links above are from this page. Topic groups can continue on later pages; the complete answer list and its pagination remain below.
Therapy & support
What qualifications should a therapist providing play therapy have?
A play therapist should hold a recognised qualification in a relevant field — such as psychology, counselling, social work or an allied-health discipline — plus specific supervised training in play-based therapeutic methods, with appropriate registration and ongoing clinical supervision. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat qualifications should a social skills training therapist have?
Social skills training should be delivered by a professional with a recognised degree in speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, psychology or special education, registered with the relevant Indian council (such as the RCI), plus specific paediatric experience and training in social-communication approaches. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child doesn't copy what I do?
If your child doesn't copy what you do, make imitation playful and easy — exaggerate and slow your actions, copy your child first to spark back-and-forth, use action songs and routines, pause expectantly, and celebrate every attempt. Imitation develops gradually over the first two years, so consider a gentle developmental check if copying is consistently absent for your child's age or paired with limited eye contact, gestures or words. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child doesn't enjoy cuddles?
Many children prefer connection on their own terms — some find firm pressure soothing while light cuddles feel overwhelming, and this is usually a sensory preference rather than a problem. Follow your child's lead and notice how they connect through smiles, eye contact and seeking you out. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child doesn't make eye contact?
If your child doesn't make much eye contact, observe gently and look at the whole picture of social connection — smiling, pointing, sharing, responding to their name — rather than eye contact alone. Get face-to-face during play and follow their interest. Seek a developmental check if reduced eye contact persists alongside other communication differences. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child doesn't play with other children?
If your child doesn't play with other children, first match your expectations to their age — parallel play is normal in toddlers and cooperative play grows between three and five. Build turn-taking and pretend play at home, offer small calm playdates, and be the bridge into group play. Seek a check if there's little interest in others, no shared attention, or delays in speech or eye contact. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child doesn't show me things they like?
If your child doesn't yet show you things they like, focus on warm, face-to-face play — follow their lead, respond with delight when they share, and create gentle reasons to look to you. Sharing interests (joint attention) usually grows between 9 and 18 months. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child doesn't smile back?
If your baby doesn't smile back, observe warmly and try again at calm, alert moments — the social smile usually appears between 6 and 8 weeks, with normal variation. Keep offering face-to-face time, eye contact and soft talking, and watch the whole picture of how your baby responds to your voice and gaze. If there's no responsive smile by about 3 months, or little eye contact, a simple developmental check is wise. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child doesn't wave bye-bye?
Waving bye-bye usually emerges between 9 and 12 months with wide normal variation. If your child isn't waving yet, keep modelling it playfully and warmly, watch the broader pattern of gestures, babbling, eye contact and response to their name, and seek a gentle developmental check by around 12 months if several of these are missing. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child flaps their hands?
Hand-flapping in children is very common and usually harmless — often a way to express excitement or self-regulate. What matters is the whole developmental picture: how your child communicates, plays and connects. Watch the context, avoid punishing it, and consider a gentle developmental check if flapping is frequent and appears alongside other concerns. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child gets fixated on one thing?
A child who gets fixated on one thing is usually showing a normal, healthy focus. Stay warm: join the interest, then use it as a bridge to new activities, people and skills, and offer gentle warnings before transitions. Seek a developmental check only if the fixation is so intense it crowds out play, language, social connection or daily life. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child lines up their toys?
Lining up toys is a common, normal part of play that reflects an interest in order and patterns — on its own it is not a sign of any condition. What matters is the whole picture of how your child plays, communicates and connects. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child prefers to play alone?
A child who prefers to play alone is often perfectly healthy — solo play builds imagination and independence. What matters is whether your child can connect and play with others when they want to, versus seeming unable to join in, share or read social cues. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child rocks back and forth?
Rocking back and forth is most often a normal, self-soothing behaviour — observe calmly when and how often it happens, offer rhythmic alternatives, and keep tracking milestones. Seek a developmental check if it is intense, hard to interrupt, causes injury, or appears alongside delays in speech, eye contact or connection. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child struggles to make friends?
If your child struggles to make friends, observe how they connect, share and read feelings, and gently coach small social skills through one-to-one play, role-play and naming emotions. Friendship skills are learnable and most children grow them with practice and time. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with Autism Spectrum have?
Autistic children often show real strengths — deep focus, strong visual and pattern thinking, excellent memory, honesty, attention to detail and original thinking. Strengths vary by child; recognising them early gives therapy its natural starting point. Developmental measurement supports care planning; diagnosis requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with Conduct-Dissocial Disorder have?
Children described with Conduct-Dissocial Disorder often carry real strengths — leadership, courage, loyalty, energy, social sharpness and a strong sense of fairness. A strengths-based plan, mapped at a Pinnacle centre, uses these as the levers for change rather than focusing only on difficult behaviour.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with Oppositional Defiant Disorder have?
Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder often have real strengths — a strong sense of fairness, persistence, honesty, independent thinking, leadership instincts and high energy. Support channels that intensity into confidence. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with Social Communication Difficulties have?
Children with social communication difficulties often have real strengths — honesty, deep focus on favoured interests, strong visual and pattern thinking, logical fairness, reliability with routines and genuine warmth. Good therapy builds on these strengths rather than replacing them, adding communication tools while protecting the child's character.
Read the answer AnswerWhat techniques are used in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)?
ABA uses a toolkit of teaching techniques — positive reinforcement, task analysis and chaining, prompting and fading, discrete trial teaching, natural environment teaching, functional behaviour assessment (the A-B-C approach) and functional communication training — to help children learn skills and reduce barriers to learning, in a gentle, child-led, assent-based way. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat techniques are used in behaviour therapy?
Behaviour therapy uses structured, evidence-based techniques — positive reinforcement, prompting and fading, shaping, modelling, visual supports, understanding the function of behaviour and teaching replacement skills — chosen gently and blended into play and routines, with parent coaching to carry progress home. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerFloortime (DIR) Therapy Techniques
Floortime (DIR) uses child-led, emotion-rich play techniques — following the child's lead, opening and closing circles of communication, playful obstruction, expanding play, tuning to individual sensory differences, and parent coaching — to build engagement, communication and thinking from genuine connection. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat techniques are used in group therapy?
Group therapy uses structured play, peer modelling, turn-taking games, role-play, emotion coaching, visual supports and graded prompting so children build communication, regulation and friendship skills together in a safe, carefully matched setting. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat techniques are used in play therapy?
Play therapy uses a child's natural language — play — through techniques ranging from child-led non-directive play to structured directive activities, sand tray work, puppets and role-play, storytelling, drawing and therapeutic games, with parent coaching to extend progress home. The right blend depends on the child's age and needs. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer