UNDERSTANDINGSOCIAL SKILLS DEFICITS AND INTERVENTIONS IN STUDENTS WITH AUTISM

SPECTRUM DISORDERSAnn Kennedy

SOCIAL SKILLDEFICITS INAUTISM SPECTRUMDISORDERS

Impairment in the use of multiple nonverbalbehaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction.

Failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level.

Lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people.

Lack of social and emotional reciprocity.

Social avoidance and withdrawal. (Boutot & Myles, 2011)

EXAMPLES OFDEFICITS IN SOCIAL COMMUNICATION

Failure to establish eye contact . Failure to make inferences.

Failure to use social non-verbal cues. Indifference to others’ facial expressions.

EXAMPLES OF DEFICITS IN SOCIAL INITIATION

Rarely initiate interactions

Interact frequently,

but inappropriately

Examples of

Deficits in Social Reciprocity

Inability to engage in give-and-take; hijacking the conversation.

Failure to maintain joint attention.

Examples of

Deficits inSocialCognition Understanding and

behaving

according to social norms.

Understanding idioms and

figures of speech

(Boutot & Myles, 2011)

Assessment of Social SkillDevelopment

* Interviews with Caregivers

* Rating Scales

*Direct Observation Naturalistic Structured

Functional Behavioral Analysis

Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS)

Social Skills Rating Scale (SSR)

School Social Behavior Scales, 2nd edition

Home & Community Social Behavior Scales (HCSBS)

(Heflin & Alaimo, 2007)

Social SkillsAcquisition

Tools and Methods Social Stories

Video Modeling and Video Self-Modeling

Social Problem-Solving

Pivotal Response Training

Social Scripts

Social Stories

Stories written to teach a particular skill or behavior

Useful for teaching

How to initiate interaction How to make smooth transitions between settings and

activities How to follow the rules of a game What to expect when going on a field trip.

Example of a Social Story

What Can I Do On the Playground?

The playground has a lot of fun equipment. There are swings. There is a slide. There is a climbing wall. I like the swings. Other children like the swings, too. When other children are on the swings, I can use the slide or climb. If I want to swing, I can say, “May I have a turn on the swing?” When the other child gets off of the swing, I can say, “Thank you!” and then I can swing. When another child asks for a turn on the swing, I can get off of the swing and play on the other equipment. It is fair for everyone to have a turn.

Video Modeling&Video Self-Monitoring(VSM)

Videos of the student (VSM) or another person (adult or child) acting out a situation to model correct behavior. Requires sufficient attention from the student. Benefits include:

Visual field can be reduced so that extraneous information is reduced and student can focus attention on correct issue.

Reduced stress for the student because human interaction is limited.

Children tend to love to watch videos, so motivation to attend in naturally reinforced.

Example of Video Monitoring

Video teaching how to raise hands to

answer questions at school.

Social Problem Solving

SPS Teaches children to analyze and interpret social situations.

1. Describe a scenario 2. Have students predict consequences 3. Select alternative response to scenario 4. Have children predict new consequences 5. Select best outcome.

Social Problem Solving Example

Take all the scarves?

Or put this one on my head like everyone else?

Pivotal Response Training(PRT)

PRT Teaches a child to respond to multiple cues Teaches a child to initiate interactions Enhances motivation by offering the child choices

and using natural reinforcers in the environment. Teaches greater self-management by fading

prompt levels so that the child is less dependent of prompts to respond.

(Hall, 2013)

Example of PRT Using natural

environment,motivating materials, offering choices, and

encouraging interaction.

Social Scripts

Social Scripts are rehearsed lines to be used in specific social situations.

Once learned, scripts can be faded and generalization can be promoted.

Example of a Social Script

“Hello. My name is Bea. I go to Jefferson School. I am in the third grade.”

“Hello. My name is Bea. I go to Jefferson School….”

ScriptingUsed to teach what to say in specific conversational and play situations.

Students may become dependent on the script and have difficulty with spontaneity.

Requires fading technique after script is learned.

Video Modeling

Combines visually-cued instruction with modeling strategies.

Effective for teaching communication, appropriate behavior, and functional skills.

Has been shown to promote lasting skill acquisition and transfer to novel situations.

Social Problem

Solving Used to teach children

with ASD how to analyze and interpret social situations.

Requires the child to have sufficient cognitive skills.

Has not been shown to have carry-over into novel situations.

Comparison

Self-Monitoring

Students who are taught to monitor and regulate their own behavior can have increased social interaction, decreased off-task behavior, and greater generalization of skills across settings.

(Boutot & Myles, 2011)

Self Monitoring Strategies:

Setting Goals

Self-recording techniques

Reinforcement

Self-Graphing

Video monitoring

(Hall, 2013)

How to InitiateSocial Interactionswith Students who have ASD

* Questions can be tricky – start with a statement instead. “I like to go to the gym” rather than “Where do you like to go?”

* Allow some extra time for a response – processing sometimes takes longer in students with ASD.

* Take some time to find out about the student’s special interests and include some content about those interests.

* Take sensory needs into consideration – if the room is too bright, or too noisy, or has strong smells, or has a lot of visual clutter, it may be too distracting for the student to maintain attention in one area.

(Boutot & Myles, 2011; Heflin & Alaimo, 2007; Hall, 2013)

References

Boutot, E. A., & Myles, B. S. (2011) Autism spectrum disorders: Foundations, characteristics, and effective strategies. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education

Hall, L. J. (2013). Autism spectrum disorders: From theory to practice (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education

Heflin, L. J., & Alaimo, D. F. (2007). Students with autism spectrum disorders: Effective instructional practices. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education