A child’s level of interaction with other children can be a good indicator of whether the subject is having psychosocial and cognitive developmental difficulties. By the time a child reaches six years old, he should already have a deeper understanding about his or her place in the world, more capable of establishing more complex social relationships such as friendship and team work, and have the desire to be liked and accepted by peers .
Antonio, the patient in this case, just does not seem to be exhibiting any of the important social developmental milestones that were just enumerated. In most cases, the root cause of the problem is lack of exposure. Antonio may have been forced by his parents in some way to seclude himself from other people. They may have incentivized certain behaviors that encourage social seclusion.
The only real solution in this case would be to educate the parents how they would be able to teach their child to integrate him with the rest of the group (i.e. class, neighborhood playmates who are of the same age). The earlier they do this, the better, because the child’s confidence in dealing and communicating with other people should have been developed at this point for Antonio.
In general, rules, routines, and guidance strategies that incentivize Antonio’s efforts to establish contact with other people should be reinforced. For example, his parents may encourage him to play outside with the other kids in the afternoon so that he could exercise his social skills. It may also be a good idea to invite other children in the house so that Antonio could start accommodating other people in his comfort zone, until he finally becomes confident enough to interact with other children in any setting or situation.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). Middle Childhood Developmental Milestones. CDC, Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/middle.html.
