Social Skills IEP Goals for all Ages, including Objectives (free PDF)

It’s no secret that many kids with disabilities struggle socially and struggle to build and maintain friendships. When Brian tells me stories of kids at school who sound like they have a disability of some kind, I always encourage (read: nag!) him to go the extra step.

I encourage him to be extra patient and help that classmate, reach out to that classmate, invite them to eat with you and invite them to play on the playground. Social Capital, or lack thereof, is one of the biggest issues in life that our kids will face.

Related: Social Skills Interventions for an IEP

Self-Awareness Social IEP Goals

1. Emotional Identification (Self): By ___, Student will identify and verbally label their own emotions (e.g., happy, sad, frustrated) during structured or natural situations as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
2. Emotional Context Awareness (Self): By ___, Student will describe situations or events in which they experience a given emotion as measured by structured discussion or interview data with 80% accuracy.
3. Self-Reflection Skills: By ___, Student will identify at least one personal strength and one area for improvement during guided discussions as measured by teacher or counselor data collection with 75% accuracy.
4. Emotional Intensity Rating: By ___, Student will use a visual rating scale (e.g., 1–10) to identify and record their level of anxiety or discomfort during social interactions as measured by completed rating logs with 80% accuracy.
5. Coping Strategy Use: By ___, Student will independently use an appropriate coping strategy (e.g., deep breathing, requesting a break) in situations that previously led to emotional escalation as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
6. Emotional Identification (Others): By ___, Student will identify the emotional state of others during social scenarios or role-play activities as measured by teacher or therapist data collection with 80% accuracy.
7. Perspective-Taking (Emotional Reasoning): By ___, Student will state a plausible reason why another person may be experiencing a particular emotion as measured by responses during structured activities with 80% accuracy.
8. Basic Emotional Awareness (Self): By ___, Student will identify basic emotional states in themselves during daily activities as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
9. Appropriate Emotional Response: By ___, Student will state an appropriate response to a given emotional state (self or others) during structured scenarios as measured by teacher or counselor data collection with 80% accuracy.
10. Emotional Regulation (Safe Expression): By ___, Student will express feelings of anger or frustration without engaging in physical or unsafe behaviors as measured by behavior tracking data with 90% accuracy.

Social Awareness and Peer Perspective IEP Goals

1. Emotion Recognition (Others): By ___, Student will identify emotions in others by interpreting facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language as measured by structured activities or observation with 80% accuracy.
2. Emotional Perspective-Taking: By ___, Student will describe how another person might feel in a given situation as measured by responses during role-play or discussion with 80% accuracy.
3. Impact of Actions on Others: By ___, Student will identify how their actions affect others during social scenarios as measured by teacher or counselor data collection with 60% accuracy.
4. Empathy Skills: By ___, Student will name at least three appropriate ways to show empathy toward peers during structured discussions as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
5. Response to Teasing: By ___, Student will respond to teasing from peers using an appropriate strategy (e.g., ignoring, assertive statement, seeking adult support) as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
6. Social Behavior Discrimination: By ___, Student will distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behaviors during peer interactions as measured by structured scenarios or observation with 80% accuracy.

Peer Interaction (Social Interactions) IEP Goals

1. Conversational Turn-Taking: By ___, Student will initiate and maintain a conversation with a peer for at least three conversational turns as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
2. Cooperative Play Participation: By ___, Student will participate in cooperative play with one or more peers for at least 10 consecutive minutes during recess or structured play as measured by daily behavior logs with 80% accuracy.
3. Prosocial Helping Behaviors: By ___, Student will offer appropriate help or support to a peer who appears distressed as measured by staff observation with 67% accuracy.
4. Social Question-Asking: By ___, Student will ask relevant questions during group discussions or shared activities as measured by teacher data collection with 80% accuracy.
5. Cooperative Group Work: By ___, Student will engage in cooperative group work by sharing materials and contributing at least one relevant idea as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
6. Personal Space & Boundaries: By ___, Student will maintain appropriate personal space and physical boundaries during peer interactions as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
7. Assertive Emotional Expression: By ___, Student will appropriately express feelings when wronged using words or an agreed-upon strategy as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.

Responsible Decision-Making

1. Conflict Resolution (Solution Generation): By ___, Student will generate at least two appropriate solutions to a social conflict when presented with a hypothetical scenario as measured by structured activities with 80% accuracy.
2. Decision-Making (Consequences): By ___, Student will describe potential consequences of different choices in a given social situation as measured by role-play or discussion responses with 80% accuracy.
3. Decision Follow-Through and Reflection: By ___, Student will follow through with a selected decision and reflect on the outcome during a structured conversation as measured by staff data collection with 75% accuracy.
4. Decision-Making Process: By ___, Student will identify and independently complete the steps involved in making a decision as measured by task analysis or checklist data with 60% accuracy.
5. Frustration Recognition and Regulation: By ___, Student will recognize signs of frustration and appropriately request or take a break as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
6. Appropriate Help-Seeking: By ___, Student will identify situations requiring adult assistance and appropriately request help as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.

Peer Interaction IEP Goals

Turn-Taking and Sharing IEP Goals

1. Turn-Taking in Games: By ___, Student will take turns during structured group games with no more than one adult prompt as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
2. Sharing Materials: By ___, Student will share materials with peers during cooperative activities as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
3. Conversational Turn-Taking: By ___, Student will wait for their turn to speak and refrain from interrupting others during group activities as measured by teacher observation with 80% accuracy.
4. Game Rule Adherence: By ___, Student will follow the established rules when participating in organized group games as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.

Social Initiation and Peer Engagement

1. Peer Greeting Skills: By ___, Student will independently greet peers upon arrival to class or during lunch as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
2. Initiating Play or Conversation: By ___, Student will initiate play or conversation with a peer using an appropriate greeting and invitation during recess as measured by behavior logs with 60% accuracy.
3. Inviting Peers to Participate: By ___, Student will invite a peer to join a shared activity during recess as measured by staff data collection with 80% accuracy across three consecutive weeks.
4. Responding to Peer Invitations: By ___, Student will respond to peer invitations using a socially appropriate verbal or non-verbal behavior as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.

Conflict Resolution & Assertive Communication

1. Verbal Expression of Disagreement: By ___, Student will express disagreement or frustration using words rather than physical behaviors during peer interactions as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
2. Safe Response to Teasing or Conflict: By ___, Student will walk away from a teasing or conflict situation and seek adult assistance when appropriate as measured by incident tracking data with 80% accuracy.
3. Assertive Communication (“I” Statements): By ___, Student will use “I” statements (e.g., “I feel ___ when ___”) to express emotions during conflict resolution activities as measured by structured role-play data with 75% accuracy.
4. Behavior Style Identification: By ___, Student will identify aggressive, assertive, and passive behaviors in peer scenarios as measured by structured activities with 80% accuracy.
5. Conflict Accountability: By ___, Student will identify and accept responsibility for their role in a peer conflict during reflective activities as measured by counselor or teacher data collection with 80% accuracy.

Group Participation

1. Idea Contribution: By ___, Student will contribute at least one relevant idea during group work or class discussions as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
2. Sustained Group Participation: By ___, Student will remain with a group during collaborative learning tasks for at least 10 consecutive minutes with no more than one adult prompt as measured by teacher observation with 80% accuracy.
3. Group Discussion Skills: By ___, Student will participate in group discussions by listening, raising a hand, and waiting to be recognized as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
4. Peer Encouragement: By ___, Student will encourage peers to contribute to group discussions or collaborative tasks using appropriate verbal or non-verbal behaviors as measured by staff observation with 60% accuracy.

Social Communication IEP Goals

Initiation and Engagement

1. Greeting and Conversation Initiation: By ___, Student will initiate conversations with peers or adults using an appropriate verbal or gestural greeting as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
2. Topic Maintenance: By ___, Student will maintain a topic of conversation for at least three conversational exchanges as measured by structured observation with 80% accuracy.
3. Question-Based Communication: By ___, Student will initiate communicative interactions by asking relevant questions during social or instructional situations as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
4. Clarification and Self-Advocacy: By ___, Student will ask clarifying questions when directions or expectations are not understood as measured by teacher data collection with 80% accuracy.

Conversational Skills and Reciprocal Conversations

1. Conversational Reciprocity (Follow-Up Questions): By ___, Student will ask a relevant follow-up question based on a peer’s statement during conversation as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
2. Topic Maintenance (Extended): By ___, Student will remain on topic during a structured or spontaneous conversation for at least two consecutive minutes as measured by structured observation with 60% accuracy.
3. Conversational Politeness: By ___, Student will use socially appropriate conversational phrases (e.g., “please,” “thank you”) during interactions as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
4. Paraphrasing and Active Listening: By ___, Student will paraphrase or restate a peer’s response during conversation as measured by structured observation with 75% accuracy.

Nonverbal Communication

1. Nonverbal Conversation Skills: By ___, Student will use body orientation, eye contact, and tone of voice during conversations as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
2. Interpretation of Social Cues: By ___, Student will correctly interpret and respond to peer gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice during social interactions as measured by structured observation with 80% accuracy.
3. Voice Volume Regulation: By ___, Student will adjust voice volume appropriately based on the environment (e.g., library versus playground) as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
4. Facial Expression Matching: By ___, Student will use facial expressions that match the context of the conversation during social interactions as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
5. Personal Space Awareness: By ___, Student will recognize and respect appropriate personal space in group settings as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.

Social Skills IEP Goals for High School

Independent Social Navigation

1. Participation in Social or Extracurricular Activities: By ___, Student will identify and attend at least one extracurricular or social activity per week and interact with peers appropriately as measured by staff observation or activity logs with 75% accuracy across four consecutive weeks.
2. Sustained Peer Conversation: By ___, Student will initiate and sustain a conversation with a peer for at least two consecutive minutes by asking questions and offering relevant comments as measured by structured observation with 80% accuracy.
3. Social Introductions: By ___, Student will appropriately introduce themselves in unfamiliar social settings using a verbal or agreed-upon communication method as measured by staff observation with 60% accuracy.

Problem Solving and Goal Setting

1. Reflective Social Problem-Solving: By ___, Student will reflect on a challenging social interaction and identify at least one alternative action for future situations as measured by structured weekly check-ins with 75% accuracy.
2. Personal Social Goal-Setting: By ___, Student will set a weekly personal social goal (e.g., greeting peers, attending a club meeting), work toward the goal, and evaluate progress at the end of the week as measured by goal-tracking data with 80% accuracy.

Neurodiversity-Affirming Goals

1. Strengths Awareness and Sharing: By ___, Student will identify and share their unique strengths and interests with peers or staff during class projects as measured by staff observation or project documentation with 75% accuracy.
2. Communication Self-Advocacy: By ___, Student will advocate for preferred communication methods and needed supports during instructional or social situations as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
3. Inclusive Peer Engagement: By ___, Student will develop inclusive peer relationships by leading or contributing to awareness or inclusion-focused activities as measured by staff documentation with 100% completion across two activities per semester.
4. Sensory Self-Regulation: By ___, Student will independently select and use personalized sensory tools in overwhelming settings as measured by staff observation with 80% independence.

Life and Community Skills Goals

1. Public Behavior in Community Settings: By ___, Student will demonstrate expected behaviors in public settings (e.g., library, store, community center) during Community-Based Instruction (CBI) as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
2. Social Interaction in Unfamiliar Settings: By ___, Student will appropriately engage with unfamiliar peers or adults during field trips by using greetings and eye contact as measured by staff observation with 60% accuracy.
3. School Transportation Behavior: By ___, Student will follow expected behavioral rules on school transportation (e.g., remain seated, use a quiet voice) as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.
4. Hallway and Transition Behavior: By ___, Student will demonstrate appropriate peer behavior during school transitions and hallway movement as measured by staff observation with 80% accuracy.

Social Goals at School

Yes, social skills should be worked on at school. There is no “oh that’s social skills, we only do academics here.” If it’s an area of need, it’s an area of need. Use the IEP process and the PWN to get it on the IEP.

But it is something that should be on your radar all the time, practicing and giving your child opportunities. The schools only have our kids 6 hours a day, 180 days a year. They are with us much more than that. And, social skills and things like peer interaction are sometimes not learned easily.

A few important reminders as you review these goals:

• Social skills often must be taught directly. We cannot assume children will “pick it up” through exposure alone.
• Skills build in sequence. A student cannot navigate group work successfully if they have not yet developed turn-taking, perspective-taking, or basic self-regulation.
• Sensory processing, interoception, and emotional regulation often impact social performance. If a student is dysregulated, overwhelmed, or anxious, social interaction will suffer.

All IEP goals should be tied to observable behavior and clear baseline data. Social goals are no different. If the behavior cannot be measured, it cannot be meaningfully monitored. Below you’ll find social skills IEP goals organized by category so you can identify the area of need and write a goal that reflects the student, not just the behavior.

Writing Social Skills IEP Goals

• Align goals with present levels of performance.
• Use measurable language: frequency, duration, percent of accuracy.
• Include environments: classroom, lunch, recess, community.
• Collaborate with the entire IEP team—including the student when appropriate.

Social Skills Goals for Autism

Regardless of disability, all kids struggle with social skills. Even still, students with autism get really pigeon-holed or stigmatized into the “lacks social skills” corner.

My point is, all kids, and even some adults, struggle with social skills at some point in our lives. Social Skills Goals are something we should all be working on.

I once attended a presentation from Tara of 2 B Social. When I first published this post, I felt uncomfortable with it. I have a real problem with society not accepting our kids. Why is it always the disabled kids’ fault that they have no friends? Why don’t we teach others to work harder at being friends with people who are different from us?

Disabled kids already have enough on their plates. I brought this up yesterday.

“You’re right,” she said.

“We need a paradigm shift. But that takes a long time, so until we get there, these are the skills that kids need in order to be successful socially.”

Good point. I’ll do both.

As she pointed out, most kids are just being told “what to do” as far as social skills goals, and they do not have the base knowledge. I hadn’t seen this for a long time, and I liked it in Tara’s context.

Social Thinking and the Social Learning Tree: You need roots before you can have leaves. I find that this is a critical error that many IEP teams miss. They create social skills IEP goals for something like “will cooperate and be friendly on the playground during recess” and completely disregard all the foundation skills that are needed before you have that skill.

When you look at the social skills, look at the roots of the tree. Match up each goal (that you are considering) to a tree root. Does the child have that skill? Then why are they being told to do something?

We have to go back. It doesn’t matter what age the child is. If he doesn’t have roots, he cannot do other things.

PDF List of IEP Goals for Social Skills