Repairing a Conversation That Went Sideways
Concrete repair moves for the social errors teenagers actually make.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Ask for the words, not the principle. Apologise is not a repair; sorry, I cut you off — go on is. The distinction matters because students usually know they should repair and have no phrase to do it with. The cancelled-again card is the hardest, since a repeated failure needs a repair that acknowledges the pattern rather than the incident. Fifteen minutes covers the eight with actual phrases produced.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentSet up the situation and wait for the student to respond on their own.Log as correct
- Nonverbal cueUse a look, a gesture or a point to the visual cue card.Log as cued
- Indirect promptAsk 'What could you say now?' or 'How do you think they feel?'Log as cued
- ModelShow what to say or do, then run the moment again so the student can try it.Log as cued
Adjust it
Give a script or two choices of what to say, and practise with you before a peer.
Role-play with a new partner, or add a twist the student has not planned for.
Matching IEP goal
In structured role-plays, Student will use the target conversation skill appropriately in 4 of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than a nonverbal cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Eight social errors with a repair to find: you interrupted, what's the repair; your joke landed badly, what do you say; you misread a text and replied angrily, how do you fix it; you forgot someone's name mid-introduction; you said something private in front of the wrong people; you cancelled last minute again, what does a real repair sound like. The errors are ordinary and the repairs are specific.
What to listen for
Listen for over-apologising. A repair that turns into a lengthy explanation makes the other person manage the student's discomfort, which is worse than a short one. Watch the forgotten-name item, which most students think is unrecoverable and which has a perfectly good repair — asking directly is normal and everyone does it.
Carrying it home
Real incidents supply the material. Asking what could be said now, rather than what went wrong, points the conversation forward and is more useful than an analysis.
What's in this activity
- You interrupted. What's the repair?
- Your joke landed badly. What do you say?
- You misread a text and replied angrily. How do you fix it?
- You forgot someone's name mid-introduction. What now?
- Your answer was much longer than the question needed. How do you wrap it up?
- You said something private in front of the wrong people. What's the repair?
- You didn't hear them the second time either. What do you say?
- You canceled last minute again. What does a real repair sound like?
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Sixth through twelfth grade, where social errors carry real consequences and repairs are rarely taught.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all eight scenarios play with no account.
- Why teach repairs rather than avoiding the error?
- Because everyone makes these errors. What separates a recoverable moment from a lasting one is having a phrase ready, and students who have none tend to withdraw instead.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.