Social communication analysis in Homeschooling: a scoping review

Abstract

In the 21st century, transformations to the social system have made way for educational alternatives in which the speech-language pathologist, as a promoter of communicative skills, adopts a significant role. Homeschooling is one of those options, however, there are controversies around its impact on the development of children's social skills. This article is a scoping review that explores the relationship between Homeschooling and the development of social communication. Studies published in Spanish or English between the years 2000 and 2020 available with abstract and full text were included, and those that included participants with cognitive disabilities or learning disorders were excluded. Of 328 studies found, only 9 met the inclusion criteria. The selected documents were analyzed according to the components of social communication: interaction, social cognition, and pragmatics in verbal and nonverbal communication. There are discrepancies between the results. Some authors claim that the social communication skills of homeschooled children are better than those of children going to school, but others state that they merely meet expected standards for their age. The role of parents or educators was identified as decisive. No studies were found addressing pragmatic skills. In conclusion, the limitations regarding the number of articles and heterogeneity of the methodologies do not allow the results to be generalized to the population. The need for further studies in this area is evident, especially at this time of confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.