Abstract: | This article explores social misperception, a unique way of viewing the behavior problems of children. While the emotional-disturbance label is usually given to behaviorally disordered youngsters, it inaccurately reflects the social learning problems of children. Explored are the characteristics of social misperception (both verbal and nonverbal), its historical foundations (taken from the psychological and educational literature), and its relation to learning disabilities and to emotional disturbance; a differential diagnostic system is offered. Counselors are given techniques by which they can assist teachers with remediation, a task that helps the counselor to assist classroom teachers to become socially sensitive to the emotional needs of children. |