(Social) Cognitive skills and social information processing in children with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities.

Griffith et al. (2012) looked at kids with mild to borderline intellectual disability. They wanted to know which thinking skills help these kids handle social cues.

The team tested emotion recognition, working memory, and self-control. They checked how each skill linked to social information processing.

Emotion skills came out on top. Reading faces and figuring out feelings predicted social thinking better than memory or inhibition.

All four skills mattered, but teaching kids to spot and name emotions gave the biggest boost to social problem-solving.

Golan et al. (2018) seems to disagree. They found kids with both ASD and ID had big trouble reading surprise and anger. The key difference: M et al. studied mild-borderline ID only, while Ofer mixed in ASD. When ASD is added, emotion scores drop, so the groups are not the same.

Žic Ralić et al. (2025) widens the lens. Parents rated social-emotional skills lowest when ID and ASD occur together. This backs the idea that pure ID and mixed groups need different plans.

UMoya et al. (2022) pulled many trials into one review. Social-skills lessons gave only small gains for people with ID. M et al. helps explain why: if emotion recognition is the engine, programs must target that piece first.

Start your social-skills plan with emotion recognition. Show feeling cards, match face to voice, and check understanding before moving to bigger social rules. If a child also has ASD, add extra cues like tone or gesture. This focus can lift the whole social thinking chain for kids with mild-borderline ID.