On Remedying Social Skill Deficits

        It is a well established fact that deficits in interpersonal skills are
much, much more difficult for a person to remedy in later life than are
deficits in intellectual/technical skills. A person can successfully accu-
mulate book learning at any time of life once he or she has made the
commitment. In contrast, the correction of deficits in interpersonal skills
is extremely difficult to bring about, no matter how dedicated the com-
mitment to learning might be. This is why at the elementary school level
and beyond, the cultivation of socioemotional interpersonal skills is of
far greater importance from the standpoint of ultimate success and hap-
piness than is the cultivation of intellectual skills. At any age any person
of normal intelligence can develop technical or intellectual competence
from exposure to books and classroom instruction. Sadly, the cultivation
of expressive social skills cannot be effected through book learning, nor
can it be accomplished like intellectual learning at just any time of life.