Drawing on three decades of experience in residential schools, Rick Lavoie provides powerful strategies for teaching friendship skills in the classroom, the homefront, and the community. First, you'll explore the causes and consequences of "social incompetence." Then, you'll gain field-tested advice on how to help children work through daily social struggles and go from being picked on and isolated to becoming accepted and involved.

Ravi has just moved to the United States from India and has always been at the top of his class; Joe has lived in the same town his whole life and has learning problems--but when their lives intersect in the first week of fifth grade they are brought together by a common enemy (the biggest bully in their class) and the need to take control of their lives.

"For kids with learning disabilities, school can sometimes be a very frustrating place. There are many different types of learning disabilities, but they all make it difficult for a person to learn. Kids with learning disabilities sometimes think they must not be very smart, but this isn't true at all. A learning disability might make it a lot harder for someone to read or do math, but that has nothing to do with how intelligent he is. Understanding...