Online communication is a daily part of students’ lives — yet the skills it requires are often overlooked in traditional social skills instruction. Whether students are emailing a teacher, texting a friend, or joining a group chat, the social expectations shift depending on the platform, the audience, and the context.
This can be challenging for any student. But for neurodivergent learners in particular, the unwritten rules of digital communication can feel especially unclear. Many students struggle to pick up on tone, pacing, and communication boundaries without direct instruction.
The good news: these skills can be taught explicitly. By combining video modeling with structured practice and affirming students’ communication preferences, educators can help students develop the tools they need to navigate online interactions with clarity and confidence.
This article outlines common challenges students face when communicating online, along with examples of lessons and strategies that support skill development across different digital platforms.
Why Online Communication Is Difficult for Many Students
Social cues are often absent in online settings. Students don’t have access to facial expressions, tone of voice, or body language to help them interpret meaning. Digital communication also introduces new expectations that vary by platform. What’s appropriate in a group chat with peers may not be appropriate in an email to a teacher.
These differences require students to assess context, adjust language, and read between the lines, which are all skills that can be difficult for students with social communication challenges.
Because digital interactions often lack clarity, students who depend on structure or literal interpretation may struggle to navigate them successfully.
Without direct instruction, these students are more likely to experience misunderstandings, social stress, and increased anxiety related to online communication.
We’re all rapidly learning about the risk screens and screen time pose to our mental health and well-being. This is especially true for neurodivergent students. Research shows that autistic youth are at higher risk for problematic internet use and internet gaming disorder. Common challenges include:
- Difficulty disengaging from screens or setting boundaries
- Escalated frustration or withdrawal symptoms when not online
- Increased sleep issues, reduced physical activity, and social isolation
- Overreliance on screens as a source of communication and routine
How to Teach Online Communication Skills
Just like in-person interactions, digital communication skills can and should be taught explicitly. Instructional strategies that combine modeling, structured practice, and self-reflection are especially effective, particularly when paired with students’ IEP goals or social skills targets.
Try these approaches in your practice:
- Use video modeling to show social expectations: Video modeling gives students a clear, repeatable way to observe online interactions in action. Lessons can walk through how to write an email, manage group chats, or recognize texting boundaries. This strategy supports both skill acquisition and generalization.
- Practice with social behavior mapping: Behavior mapping helps students identify what’s expected in different communication scenarios. It encourages them to think about who they’re speaking to, what platform they’re using, and how the situation might change their message. For example: “How would you ask for help from a friend over text? Now compare that to emailing a teacher.”
- Use role-play to build fluency: Once students understand the expectations, role-play allows them to rehearse. Simulate common challenges — like being left on read, navigating group chats, or following up on an assignment — to help students apply skills with confidence.
- Teach multiple strategies and normalize choice: Not every student will feel comfortable communicating in the same way. Some may prefer email to in-person conversation. Others may need sentence starters, visuals, or more time to respond. Teaching multiple strategies gives students options and helps them advocate for what works best.
No-Prep Online Communication Resources
These no-prep resources from Everyday Speech combine video modeling with guided practice and are ready to use in small groups, classroom lessons, or 1:1 sessions.
🎥 Video Modeling: Emailing Teachers
Students often need support understanding how to ask for help in a respectful, clear way. This video models the key parts of an email — greeting, explanation, sign-off — and provides a script students can follow when they aren’t sure what to say. Use it to build communication and self-advocacy skills.
🎥 Video Modeling: Texting Too Much
Some students feel the need to reply instantly or send multiple texts when anxious. This lesson explores different texting styles and helps students develop pacing strategies and learn that delayed responses don’t always mean that someone doesn’t want to talk to you. It also reinforces the idea that texting norms vary by group.
🎥 Video Modeling: Sharing on Social Media
Social media can blur the line between public and private communication. This lesson models how to think critically before posting online, including asking for permission before tagging others in photos and considering how a private moment becomes public once shared. It helps students build awareness and responsible decision-making skills when using social platforms.
Support Flexibility and Affirm Communication Preferences
Online communication can feel overwhelming for students who struggle with rigid thinking or literal interpretation. That’s why it’s important to teach flexibility and offer students communication options that feel accessible.
Some students may feel more comfortable writing an email than speaking aloud. Others might prefer using visuals, sentence starters, or direct messages instead of participating in a group chat. These are not fallback options. They are valid strategies that help students communicate with more confidence and less stress.
Effective instruction includes:
- Teaching more than one way to ask for help (such as writing, speaking, or using visual prompts)
- Providing clear scripts and scaffolds to build comfort with different formats
- Practicing digital communication across multiple platforms and audiences
- Reinforcing student choice in how they communicate
These strategies give students ownership of how they communicate in digital spaces.
Final Thoughts
Online communication is not a niche skill. It’s a central part of students’ lives. When we teach it explicitly, we set students up for better relationships, stronger self-advocacy, and greater independence in both academic and personal contexts.
By combining modeling, structured practice, and student-centered flexibility, educators can help students navigate online communication with clarity, comfort, and confidence.
