What do you mean by "social skills?" As an immigrant with parents who limited social activity with peers, growing up I felt handicapped by my social skills in some areas (particularly dating, which my parents discouraged up to the moment they started asking for grandchildren). Now I'm pushing 40 with three kids and a real job, I realized I had just learned a different set of social skills. Because I was always expected to converse with and participate in activities with adults, I had no trouble when it came to joining the workforce, interacting with bosses, etc. And whatever discomfort I had navigating the artificial social context of age-segregated school just didn't matter--it wasn't a valuable skill outside that unique context.
Same... was a 'weird' kid, but had no problem getting a job and keeping it, from a young age... a skill that seemed to escape many of my classmates. I loved talking to adults, and although 'normally' schooled, my parents -- due to them being immigrants -- had very different ideas compared to the mainstream
