Erin Lash, MS, CCC-SLP

Patricia McCoy, MA, CCC-SLP

WV AUTISM

TRAINING CENTER

Services

for Families

Lending

Library:

Books

Journals

DVDs

Community

Supports &

Resource

Database

Admission to

Special Topics

Workshops &

Guest Lecture

Series

Family Focus

Positive

Behavior

Support

Intervention

Model

Family

Coaching

Sessions

Person &

Family-

Centered

Planning

Team

Building

PBS

Training

Family &

Educator

Coaching

Behavior

Support

Plan

2012

WV AUTISM TRAINING

CENTER

ADDITIONAL PROJECTS

AND PROGRAMS

WV Autism

Spectrum

Disorders (ASD)

Registry (The

incidence of ASDs in

WV)

State and

National

Presentations

The College Program

For Students with

Asperger Syndrome

Undergraduate and

Graduate Course Work

in Autism –

Marshall University

(Teacher Certification)

Collaboration

WV Department

of Education –

Office of Special

Programs

AUTISM

TEACHER

TRAINING

PROJECT

WV

Collaborative

Community of

Practice on

Autism

Autism

Society of

West Virginia

West

Virginia

Team Autism

Statewide

Autism

Mentor

Training

By definition, social skills are a set of rules people use

to interact and communicate with one another.

They are skills that assist a student in developing social

relationships.

Social skills are learned behaviors that allow an

individual interact in ways that result in positive

responses from others and avoid negative responses.

(Bellini, 2008)

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Turn-taking

Sharing

Offering/accepting help

Conversation skills

Play (allowing others to play, joining others and

inviting others)

Asking questions

Responding to questions

Staying on topic

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Recognizing facial expressions

Speaking with appropriate volume

Expressing feelings

Greeting others (initiating and responding)

Complimenting others

Considering the viewpoint of others

Commenting

Honoring personal space

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May include: An inability to interact with peers, leading to peer rejection, isolation and

anxiety.

Understanding social cues, including reading facial expressions and body language.

Sharing joint attention

Reciprocal imitation.

Social exchanges due to the lack of pragmatic language competence.

Even with adequate language skills, social skills may not be developed enough to use those language skills.

SOCIAL SKILL DEFICITS CAN INVOLVE DIFFICULTIES IN BOTH SOCIAL UNDERSTANDING AND SOCIAL SKILLS EXPRESSION.

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Individuals with autism have “poor” conversation skills.

Their conversations may be one sided, lacking reciprocity.

They may only talk about their interests. Shared interest is often absent.

Individuals with autism may lack knowledge of conversation rules such as turn-taking; starting/stopping; reading nonverbal cues.

Individuals with autism may lack eye contact. Or have unusual eye gaze.

They may have difficulty asking and answering questions.

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Children may have difficulty generalizing across

environments. (What is taught in isolation stays in

isolation!)

Individuals with autism may have difficulty honoring

personal space.

Loudness levels may be inappropriate for a given

setting.

Children with autism may have difficulty tolerating the

differences of others.

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Individuals with autism have difficulty with Theory of Mind.

* “Knowing what others’ know” * Recognizing that others can have different information and views from one’s own * Being able to accurately guess the thoughts, beliefs, emotional state and intentions of others

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Initiating an interaction, or doing so appropriately.

Responding to social initiations.

Beginning, maintaining, and ending conversations.

Communicating their emotions effectively.

Sharing a toy or game. Not accepting loss while

playing.

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**It is a myth that individuals with autism do not desire social interactions. Many do desire social interaction but lack the skills to interact effectively.

Children with autism exhibit significant social skill deficits which may lead to academic, behavioral and emotional difficulties.

In our social world we must interact with others in order to function in society: have a job, go to school, access community activities, etc.

Relationships can increase the quality of life for the child with autism.

Individuals with autism do not learn social skills through observation. Social skills must be taught!

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“Critical in supporting the individual, the environment, and the communication partner to maximize opportunities for interaction in order to overcome barriers that would lead to ever-decreasing opportunities and social isolation if left unmitigated”

FURTHERMORE: Individuals with ASD should be eligible for speech-language services regardless of age, cognitive abilities, or performance on standardized testing.

Collaboration: families, individuals, other professionals, support staff, etc. ◦ Identify priorities and build consensus to

develop a service plan with functional outcomes.

Provide services that lead to increased active engagement and build independence in natural learning environments.

Facilitate peer-mediated learning Continuity of delivery across environments.

*Pull-out services only when repeated opportunities do not

occur in natural learning environments or to work on functional skills in more focused environments

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ASHA’s position is that formal assessment may not accurately detect difficulties in social language skills.

We are charged with avoiding the use of “typical eligibility” criteria, such as discrepancies, diagnosis, or age.

We are further charged with using clinical judgment and informal, observational measures to determine the need for placement.

◦ Observe your student in natural social settings to determine their strengths and needs.

◦ Document positive and negative social behaviors.

◦ You can create a list of desirable social skills for the classroom and create your own assessment

◦ You can identify the behaviors that will be targeted for intervention.

◦ You should detail both strengths and weaknesses.

◦ Assessment is conducted in natural and structured environments.

◦ Assessment is conducted through observation, interview and completion of social skills rating forms.

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The child has the skill or

behavior but does not use it.

For example: Timmy often talks to

himself in a loud voice when he is sitting at his desk. He uses a whispered voice when asking a question in class.

The child does not know

how to perform the skill.

For example:

Timmy has not been

taught appropriate

loudness levels for

various situations.

Direct Observation (across environments)

Self Report, student Interviews

Peer, Teacher, Parent Interviews

“Super Skills Profile of Social Difficulty” – J. Coucouvanis ◦ Or similar checklists

Play skills checklists

Probe data

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Use probe data, taking occasional samples rather than using continuous collection. ◦ Check for the presence or absence of a skill as it

emerges

◦ Consider the variables that can be measured:

Number of conversational turns?

Addresses a relevant question to a peer?

Spontaneous offering of information?

Appropriate physical proximately?

Listening and responding appropriately to a peer?

Focus on an observable outcomes: ◦ We know Rebecca has difficulty engaging peers in

social conversations.

◦ We know that Andrew has difficulty keeping an appropriate distance from his peers

Describe the desired outcome:

We will know when Rebecca has improved her skills when she engages 3 separate peers in a social conversation.

We will know Andrew has demonstrated success when he converses with a peer for 5 minutes while maintaining an appropriate distance.

EVALUATE………

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Identify the Individual’s Strengths:

It is often easier to focus on deficits

Identifying social strengths allows you to build new

skills through those strengths

Identify and Prioritize the Individual’s Needs:

Pick social skills that are the most critical to the

individual (quality of life!)

Build momentum by also working on a few skills

that can be mastered quickly (leads to faster

reinforcement)

Continue to periodically track skills/behavior using similar data collection methods

Direct Observation, Interviews, Rating Scales, Super Skills Profile, etc.

ALWAYS CONSIDER:

Developmental level

Interests

Sensory Issues

Preferences

Learning styles

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Conversational Effectiveness Profile Name: ___________________________ Date: ________________________ Birth Date: ___________________________ C.A.: ________________________ Note: For all responses, use the following behavioral rating score: 1. Behavior is appropriate. 2. Behavior is somewhat inappropriate. 3. Behavior is extremely inappropriate. Social Interaction This section is designed to compare the individual’s ability to interact with others as well as the style of interaction the individual frequently employs. 1. Interaction with adults. ___ 2. Interaction with age-appropriate peers. ___ 3. Interaction with younger children. ___ 4. Ability to interact with many individuals simultaneously ___ 5. Ability to establish multiple friendships ___ 6. Participation in group activities. ___ 7. Passive tendencies ___ 8. Aggressive tendencies ___ 9. Responsiveness ___ 10. Ability to handle being “left out” ___ http://www.asha.org/Events/convention/handouts/2007/1368_Kowalski_Timothy/

For addressing social language competence skills

________ will develop social understanding skills as measured by the benchmarks listed below. ◦ Engage in appropriate cooperative social play interactions

initiated by others.

◦ Engage in cooperative social play interactions by allowing others to make changes or alter the play routine.

◦ Engage in appropriate turn-taking skills by attending to peer’s turn and waiting for own turn.

◦ Will appropriately acknowledge an interaction initiated by others by giving an appropriate response, either verbal or non-verbal.

◦ Will refrain from interrupting others by exhibiting appropriate social interaction skills.

________ will increase social-emotional skills as

measured by the benchmarks listed below.

◦ Identify various emotional states in themselves and others

◦ Will state why a person might be feeling a particular emotion.

◦ Will identify various simple emotional states in self.

◦ Will state why he/she might be feeling a particular emotion.

◦ Will identify an appropriate response to a particular emotional

state.

◦ Will respond to emotional cues of others.

_____ will increase social communication skills as

measured by the benchmarks listed below.

◦ initiate communicative interactions with others

◦ initiate varied appropriate topics with others

◦ initiate communicative interactions with others by asking

questions

◦ engage in conversational turn-taking with others across 3-4

conversational turns (topics initiated by self /others).

◦ call attention to communicative partner prior to communicating

◦ ask questions of others regarding topics initiated by self or others to sustain conversation for conversational turn-taking

Teach the skills first in a structured setting with

numerous opportunities for practice.

◦ Some skills, such as joint attention, are best taught with one

partner at a time.

After the skill is mastered in a structured setting, work

to generalize the skills across environments as quickly

as possible.

This will require pull-out as well as inclusive service

deliveries.

Jason is a fifth grader with a diagnosis of Autism. He is verbal, but has

difficulty in the area of social communication and expressive language.

Jason receives instruction in the resource classroom, with speech therapy

support. His regular education classes include: Math, PE, lunch, music.

and health.

He appears to have no friends, spends a great deal of time alone (in class,

at lunch, and during free time).

He loves SpongeBob, and will talk incessantly about the characters when

conversing with peers. Jason often corrects peers openly when he feels they

are in error. When he does interact with others, he does not honor personal

space conventions or read non-verbal communication signals.

Jason enjoys the company of familiar adults but when he meets a new

person he looks down and refuses to speak. However, Jason appears to

want to have friends at school and in the neighborhood.

When Jason returns home, he does not relate any of the day’s school

experiences to his parents or siblings.

Jason will improve his social communication and

expressive language skills by:

• Introducing himself to unfamiliar adults and peers by

establishing and maintaining eye contact and saying, “Hi, my

name is Jason.”

• Speaking to peers about 2 or more different topics, changing

the topic based on the peer’s reaction.

• Maintaining a conversation with a peer for a minimum of three

conversational turns in structured and unstructured

opportunities.

• Commenting on actions in games or activities.

Jason will develop social understanding skills by:

◦ Engaging in appropriate turn-taking skills by attending to

peer’s turn and waiting for own turn

◦ Appropriately acknowledging an interaction initiated by

others by giving an appropriate response, either verbal or

non-verbal.

◦ Understanding the need to change language according to the

needs of the listener (ie: baby, classroom/playground, peers,

adults, giving background information).

◦ Using specific scenarios, identifying where communication

broke down and how to repair the situation.

◦ Exploring topics of interest expressed by peers.

Jason will increase social communication skills by: • initiating communicative interactions with others

• engaging in conversational turn-taking with others across 3-4 conversational turns

• calling attention to communicative partner prior to communicating

• spontaneously seeking assistance/ asking for help/ seeking additional information given visual prompts.

• introducing topics of conversation to a peer.

• Using appropriate voice level or tone of voice.

Identifying and describing the meaning of 8 non-verbal communication behaviors (smiling, frowning, turning away, rolling eyes, crossing arms, etc.)

Can state likes/dislikes to others.

Can answer questions related or unrelated to specific interests.

Asking 3 appropriate questions during communicative interactions with peers.

Suggesting 3 or more ways to start an interaction with another person.

Relating 3-5 events that took place during the school day.

• Teach the difference in and appropriate times for introductions or greetings.

• Teach a variety of types of greetings and practice what type of greeting is appropriate in what setting and with whom (classrooms, lunch, recess, play group, etc.)

Have Jason role play and practice with peers in a structured setting and then generalize it to other settings (arrival at school in the morning, during unstructured time in his classroom, greeting peers in the lunch room or at recess, etc.).

Teach and practice the parameters of personal space. Teach the importance of nonverbal signals during

conversations.

To address and expand on these goals in a structured setting:

• Generate a list of questions Jason can ask a peer (e.g. “What do you

like to do? Where do you go to school? Do you like sports? What TV

shows do you like?”)

• Script what Jason should say (consider using a Social StoryTM, or a

written script).

• Practice listening to Jason’s response and then respond with an

appropriate/related response. Discuss ways in which his response

could be changed.

• Pretend to talk to different people in different situations. Practice

explaining as particular task (ie: playing a game, washing your

hands, etc) to a variety of “pretend” listeners.

Teach spontaneous initiation of conversation with

peers, demonstrating appropriate attention getting

strategies, eye contact, and body positioning.

Teach the skill to wait and listen to a peer’s response

and provide a relevant comment/question.

Talk about what peers might be discussing at the time (playing

baseball, the newest video game, etc). Role play, research, add

related topics, etc.

Social Stories

Social Scripting

Video-tapes/role playing

Lunch/Recess Club

Visual directions

Visual cues and prompts

Power cards

Comic strip Conversations

Social Stories are short stories written for the person with

autism that give the what, when, who and why aspects of

social situations.

They provide information on what people in a given situation

are doing, thinking or feeling, the sequence of events, the

identification of significant social cues and their meaning, and

the script of what to do or say.

Social Stories were developed by Carol Gray, a special

educator, through her work with students with autism.

Social Stories can provide social information to teach

appropriate social behavior that is governed by unwritten and

unspoken rules and nonverbal cues.

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Think about and picture the goal of the Social Story

Gather information about the topic

Tailor the text

Teach with the title

* The main goal of social stories is to teach social cues

and rules. Be accurate, personal, brief, and at the

individual’s functional level!

There are many ways to greet someone at school. When I see someone I know, I will try to smile and say “hi” or “hello”. They may say “hi” or “hello” back to me. I can ask someone “How are you today?” They may stop to talk with me.

In the morning, I will try to say “good morning!” to someone. At dismissal time, I will try to say “good-bye” or “see you tomorrow!”

Sometimes, if I am just passing someone I know, I can smile, wave, or just nod my head. Most people like it when I smile at them. Smiling can make people feel good.

When I say “hi” or “good-bye” to someone, it makes them happy. People like to feel happy.

http://www.child-autism-parent-cafe.com/How-To-Greet-Someone-At-School.html

Playing a Game

My name is Jason. I am in the Fifth grade.

I like to play a game! It can be fun to play games with other children.

I can ask other children to play. I can say “Do you want to play a game?”

Or, someone might ask me to play a game. They can say “Do you

want to play a game?” .

Sometimes I win the game Sometimes I lose the game.

Video modeling involves demonstrating desired behaviors through active video representation of the behaviors.

A video modeling intervention typically involves an individual watching a video demonstration and then imitating the behavior of the model.

Video self-modeling (VSM) is a specific application of video modeling, where the individual learns by watching her own behavior.

Video modeling and VSM effectively promote skill acquisition.

Uses video recording and display technology

Provides a visual model of the Target Behavior or Skill

4 General Types of Video Modeling

Basic Video Modeling

Video Self-Modeling

Point-of-View Video Modeling

Video Prompting

The National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders

(http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/video-modeling)

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The student with autism might choose 2-3 friends to participate.

If he is unable to choose, observe and approach several empathetic peers.

Students sit in a designated area away from too may distractions.

While the students eat, the facilitator promotes conversation

around a specific topic which targets a chosen social skill objective.

Role-playing is an effective and fun way to teach appropriate

social behavior.

A particular social activity can be targeted and students take

‘parts’ or ‘roles’ to play.

For example, students could role-play what would happen at a

school dance, going out to eat in a restaurant, going to the

Mall, going to get a haircut, etc.

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Small Talk: play the roles of students at a lunch table, practice making chit chat about common age-appropriate topics

Social Stress: role play a mock scenario where a person becomes stressed in a social situation. What do they do? Who do they tell? Where do they go? Switch roles and let other kids model too!

Asking for Help: role play scenarios of difficulty where the student has to practice effectively asking for help

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Brainstorm a list of questions or conversation starters

that will help students when they are talking with

others.

Write them down.

Some things on your list may be general questions to

ask everyone.

Other conversation starters may be for specific people.

Keep a list.

Carry it in a pocket.

Practice.

Power Cards are visual aids that incorporate your

student’s special interest/hero in teaching social skills.

Power cards can be done on a single sheet of paper or

in booklet form.

A scenario is written in first person describing how the

“hero” solved a problem.

http://www.vcu.edu/ttac/autism/power_card_examples.shtml

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Think before you say anything. Say it in your head first before you say it out loud.

If you can’t think of something nice to say then don’t say anything.

You do not have to say every thought out loud that you think.

Comic strip conversations are simple drawings

that depict a conversation.

They identify what people say and do and

emphasize what people may be thinking.

They can be child or adult constructed.

They can be drawn or developed using real

pictures.

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For I had _________________

At I _________________________

Carry Strips for Appropriate Loudness Levels

Social Emotional Observational Record (Mc Graw Hill)

Social Skills Rating System (AGS)

http://www.yearforchange.com/social-skills-checklist.html

The Autism Social skills Profile (Bellini, 2006)

The Social Skills checklist (Quill, 2000)

Skill Streaming (Research Press)

Walker Social Skills Curriculum (Pro-Ed)

http://lakesideautism.com/wp-

content/uploads/2010/05/TAG_SocialSkillsChecklist.pdf

http://www.am.dodea.edu/campbell/mahaffey/Classpages/HT1

15b/documents/ProfileofSocialDifficulty.pdf

TOPL (Test of Pragmatic Language)

CELF-4 now has a checklist for Pragmatics

PLAI (Pragmatic Language Inventory)

OWLS (Oral and Written Language Scales) have

pragmatic questions embedded within the test

Super Duper –SEE (Social Emotional Eval)

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Bellini, S. (2003). Making (and keeping) friends: A model

for social skills interaction. The Reporter, 8 (3), 1-10.

Steps to Independence, Fourth Edition. Copyright 2004 by

Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Coucouvanis, J. (2005). Super Skills Profile of Social

Difficulty

Hanzlick, H., Petersen, L., Rogers L. Moving Toward

Functional Social Competence. Minnesota Region 10 Low

Incidence Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) project.

Lakeside Center for Autism. www.lakesideautism.com

Hogdon, L. (2007). Six tips for Teaching conversation

Skills with Visual Strategies. Working with Autism

Spectrum Disorders & Related Communication &

Social Challenges.

Osisek, R. (2011). Social Language Deficits in

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Assessment

and Remediation. Advance Magazine Webinar.

Quill, K. (2000). DO-WATCH-LISTEN-SAY: Social and

communication intervention for children with autism.

Baltimore, MD. Brookes Publishing.

Speech-Language Pathology: Services in WV Schools

(2011). Office of Special Programs, West Virginia

Department of Education.

The ASHA Leader. (January 17, 2012) Vol.17, No. 1

American Speech Language Hearing Association.

http://region10projects.org/wp-

content/uploads/2011/07/Social_Skills_Checklist.pdf

Social Skills Difficulty Possible effects on Literacy and

Comprehension/Related Difficulties

Social experiences Literal comprehension ( due to limited world knowledge

and word knowledge)

Inference, including the meaning of an unknown word

from context

Understanding of narratives including plot, action and

cause and effect

Social understanding Hard to relate to characters and situations in stories,

integrate or connect the story with personal experience

and understand the appropriateness of character actions

and reactions (which are normally based on knowledge

of the social world, personal experience, social

interactions and social judgment)

Perspective taking Understanding of a character’s thoughts, feelings,

behaviors and motivation, as well as interactions

between characters

Iland, E. (2011). Drawing a Blank: Improving Comprehension for Readers on the Autism Spectrum. Kansas:

Autism Asperger Publications

RLA.O.5.1.05 select defining characteristics, construct background knowledge and develop reading skills to understand a variety of literary passages and informational texts by West Virginia, national and international authors: • myth

• fantasies

• biographies

• autobiographies

• science fiction

• tall tales

• supernatural tales

• historical fiction

RLA.O.5.3.01 exhibit effective oral communication skills (e.g., rate, audience, etiquette, standard English) through the presentation of • readers theater

• choral reading

• personal narratives

• recitations (poetry, historical documents)

• dramatizations

RLA.O.5.3.02 compare and contrast personal experiences to oral/visual information.

SS.O.05.02.02

◦ assume a role in a mock trial proceeding to demonstrate the

trial by jury process.

SS.O.05.03.01

◦ explain the roles of consumers and suppliers in the United

States economy and apply the concepts of sales, expenses and

profits to a real life event (e.g., bake sale as a fund raiser,

sports events, concession stand, snack machines)

SC.O.5.1.05

◦ cooperate and collaborate to ask questions, design and conduct

investigations to find answers and solve problems.

SC.O.5.3.07

◦ explore the connections between science, technology, society

and career opportunities.

The SLP may serve as a related service provider providing

specialized instruction and support as deemed appropriate

by the IEP team after reviewing assessment results,

observations, and other information.

Specialized instruction may be direct, indirect or a

combination of these based upon the communication needs

of the identified student.

The SLP can function as an important liaison among

teacher(s), classroom support personnel, parents, and others

in determining and implementing the most appropriate

communication system within the school setting.

Therapy services provided in an individual or small

group setting, with intensive specialized instruction in

specific skills or strategies focusing on remediation of

articulation, language, voice, fluency or swallowing

deficits.

The nature and severity of the speech-language impairment

may necessitate service delivery in a pull-out situation. A

pull-out service delivery model may be provided for short

lengths of time to focus on the acquisition of a specific skill

or in conjunction with an integrated or indirect model as

determined by student need.

Individualized service provided in a less restrictive

setting and does not remove the student from the

general or special education classroom

The student receives direct speech therapy while

continuing to receive classroom instruction. The

teacher becomes an integral part of the process

learning to reinforce speech-language goals, assess

student progress, and specific techniques that will

benefit the student as well as other students in the

classroom.

The SLP has exposure to classroom communication including: levels of adult and child communication, daily routines, the language of the curriculum, vocabulary demands, and the student’s coping strategies. The general or special education teacher and SLP jointly plan, teach, and assess the student’s progress within the classroom setting. The teacher employs strategies learned, uses prompts or cues the SLP has demonstrated, or monitors students for use of a particular skill. This information is especially helpful in determining the educational impact of a speech or language impairment

Instruction for students with disabilities facilitates the

development of skills that are required for success in

life.

Opportunities are provided to practice daily living or work

skills during community trips with monitoring and support

provided by teachers and other staff. The SLP may

participate in these outings if the functional setting provides

opportunities to monitor the generalization of skills or

provides opportunities for structured practice. The SLP may

also provide consultation services to the teachers who are providing community-based instruction.

Indirect services or consultative services are necessary

when a student’s IEP indicates that support is needed for

school personnel on behalf of the student as part of

accommodations, modifications or supplemental support

services. Services may include providing information and

demonstrating effective instructional and facilitation

procedures as well as analyzing, adapting, or modifying

instructional materials and assistive technology for targeted

students. While providing consultative services on behalf of

a child, the SLP will monitor the student’s progress.

.

This model is appropriate for students who are nearing

dismissal from speech-language services, students with

severe disabilities or students whose teachers require

additional support to create materials, implement

specific communication strategies, or modify

augmentative/alternative communication (AAC)

equipment. The classroom teachers may request

assistance as they plan, monitor student progress or

make decisions regarding the presentation or selection

of materials.

Consultative services may be provided to family

members and may include information on speech-

language development, home programs, recommended

environmental changes or parent support groups.

Information, home programs, and demonstration that

can positively impact communication development or

maintenance skills may be offered