Social Skills Instruction for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Nicole Coneby, LSW, BCBAAssistant Director

Beautiful Minds of Princetondirector_familyservices@comcast.netwww.beautifulmindsofprinceton.com

Layman’s Definition

A developmental disability that:– appears during the first 3 years of life.– a spectrum of abilities that range from mild to severe– mainly affecting in areas dealing with:• social interaction• communication• leisure or play skill

Each child is different and presents a different combination of symptoms and severity

What It Is and Isn’t

Autism is:• A disorder that lasts throughout the lifespan.• A disorder to which there is no known cure.• A spectrum disorder that manifests in each individual

differently.

Autism isn’t:• A disorder that should bar a student from an education.• A disorder synonymous with intellectual disability .• A disorder that prevents students from acquiring

academic abilities.

Possible Things You May See

• Hard to distinguish fiction/reality• Special interests• Enjoys routines• Difficulty reading social cues and body language• Can be perfectionist about work products• Rigid, inflexible thinking• Planning ahead difficult• Difficulty generalizing• Sensory issues (hyper/hypo)• Visual/Auditory processing

Possible Things You May See

• Can have high levels of stress/anxiety• Difficulty reading others/expressing emotions• Perspective-taking difficulties• Literal thinker• Trouble with the gray areas (black/white)• Strong moral code/sense of justice

Positive Descriptors

• Honest• Reliable• Determined• Dedicated• Great memory• Attention to detail

Abilities

This is not an exhaustive list and each child has different strengths and weaknesses

Strengths:– Numbers &/or Math– Memorization– Routines– Pay close attention to detail – Concentrate for very long

periods of time on one thing – Typically visual learners– Reading (decoding)– Honest/genuine– Perfectionist

Weaknesses:– Appropriate language– Impulsive– Reading comprehension– Social skills & comprehending

social cues– Inflexible– Sensory processing– Eye Contact– Play skills– Obsessive– Sometimes delayed reactions

Social Skills

• Social Stories

• Direct Skill Instruction

• Hidden agenda (discuss body language)

• Fade support as soon as possible to decrease dependence

• Foster appropriate peer and staff social interactions

• Find out what they are good at and use it to their

advantage (e.g. have student read to the class)

Social Skills Training

• Some programs out there…– Hidden Curriculum (Brenda Myles Smith)

– Social Stories (Gray 1994)

– Social Autopsies (Richard Lavoie)

– Comic Strip Conversations (Gray 1994)

– Mind reading (Howling et al.)

– I Laugh (Michelle Winner)

– Parent Coaching (Steven Richfield)

Before You Start

• Ask yourself the following questions– What skill deficit is the student displaying?

• Performance Deficit- (won’t do problem)- the student knows how but does not use the skill.

• Fluency Deficit- the student needs practice using the skill to demonstrate competence.

• Acquisition Deficit - (can’t do problem)- the student does not know how to use the skill.

• Maintenance or generalization problem - the student demonstrates the skill appropriately in some, but not all settings.

– What behavior do you want to teach the child in place of the deficit?

Skillstreaming

• This is a program developed by Ellen McGinnis & Arnold Goldstein (McGinnis & Arnold, 1997)

• This includes– Explanation of the skills steps– Modeling– Role playing with feedback– Practice of the newly learned skills inside and outside the

group

Direct Social Skills Instruction

Key components of effective social skills instruction:Define the skillModel the skill (example & non-example)Role-playFeedback

Another way to view it: 3-D approach Discuss Demonstrate and Do (from Behavior Therapy

Associates)

Direct Instruction

• Think of a specific skill (e.g. greeting, dealing with anger, etc)

• Break down the skill into steps (task analysis)• Teach each of the skills • Generalize across settings, staff, materials

Following Directions

1. Listen carefully to the instructions2. Ask questions about anything you don’t

understand3. Repeat the instructions to yourself (or the

person)4. Follow instructions

From Skillstreaming task analysis of Following Directions pg. 95

Modeling & Role-Play

• Modeling– Show the correct way and the incorrect way– Modeler should “talk aloud” about the steps they

are taking• Role-play– Give students the opportunity to practice the skill– Be as realistic as possible in creating situations

One Way to Do It

• Have modeler talk aloud/demonstrate steps, but “forget” one

• Students job to figure out what step was missed/done incorrectly

• Can use a checklist to aid student’s in identifying missed/incorrect step

Coaching

• Coaching & Cueing– Preemptively prompt as much as possible– In a situation, try and remind the student what

options they have available.– Incidental Teaching– Social Autopsy- take what happened and discuss

or dissect it

Feedback & Reinforcement• Feedback– Peers and staff should give feedback on what the role-play

participants did well and areas for improvement• Reinforcement– Behavior specific praise (“That was a great job

remembering to raise your hand”, “I like the way you came and asked me for help”)

– Provide reinforcement as soon as possible after the appropriate behavior

– Make sure the reinforcement is personally meaningful to the individual

Social Stories™

• Developed by Carol Gray and colleagues (Gray et al., 1993)

• Uses stories written in the first person to increase awareness of problematic situations.

• Describes what is happening, why, and how people feel and think in a situation

Writing a Social Story™

• Includes Four Sentence Types– Descriptive– Perspective– Directive– Affirmative

Descriptive Sentences

• These are truthful statements of fact that describe who, what where, and when statements.

ie. My name is __________. I go to _________ School. I ride a school bus.

Perspective

• These statements usually refer to other people. They describe a person’s thoughts, beliefs, opinions, emotions, or condition.

ie. Many children like race cars. My teacher understands math.

Directive

• These statements give a suggested response to a situation. They are always worded in a positive way in order to describe what the student should do, not a should not.

ie. I will try to… I can try to..

I may…

Affirmative

• These statements add emphasis to a statement. They can be used to express common values or opinions.

Ie. This is a good thing.This is alright to do.

How to Introduce & Use

• Review before a situation where the skill would be needed

• At the beginning of the day• After an incident has occurred where skill use

is beneficial• On a periodic basis to refresh

Variations

• Modified Social Story (does not follow all of Gray’s guidelines including ratio or textual components)

• Adapting some of the language and usage for a behavior contract

• Making it more interactive by using Velcro strips and pictures to change the student’s choices (e.g. student selects appropriate feeling picture and attaches it to Velcro strip in the sentence)

Variations (cont)

• Using real photos of the staff and/or students doing the appropriate skill (e.g. picture of student raising his hand, student walking appropriately down the hallway)

• Audiotaping the story being read (by student, teacher, parent, etc)

• Videotaping the student modeling the skill and/or reading story (voice-over, etc)

Pros

• Capitalizes on the visual strengths on many students with autism

• Unobtrusive and possibly less stigmatizing• Concrete description of social skill that can be

easily and repeatedly referenced

Considerations

• More research is needed to flesh out which parts of Social Stories are key to success.

• Much research on Social Stories is anecdotal or utilizes a single-subject A-B design

• It should not be used as the only social skills intervention

• Should be linked with functional assessment

Power Card Strategy

• Developed by Gagnon (2001)• Based on visual support literature and

priming• Utilizes student’s special interests• Two parts:– Personalized script (read prior to event)– Power Card

The Script

• Brief scenario about special interest/hero and the behavior/situation in need of work

• Visual cues (photos, drawings, etc) related to special interest

• Brief scenario where hero/model attempts to solve behavior problem child struggles with

• 3-5 step strategy outlining the way to solve the problem and how it was successful

• Note of encouragement from the hero (Ex: Smokey the Bear says only you can prevent forest fires)

Power Card

• Small card (size of trading card, bookmark, or business card)

• Synthesizes script, in particular the steps necessary to solve the problem

• Reference to special interest

Implementation

• Start by introducing both the script & the Power Card together

• After a pre-set amount of time, allow student to choose between reading the script or just reviewing the Power Card

• Eventually fade to use of Power Card only

Expansion

• Student can carry around key ring with various cards on it to assist in social situations

• Student can place inside wallet for reminders• Power Card can be placed on corner of

desk/inside desk to provide a visual reminder of the skill that needs to be demonstrated

Power Card Script

• Scenario about special interest and the behavior in need of work

• Images related to special interests• Scenario where special interest model attempts

to solve problem the student struggles with• 3-5 step strategy outlining the way to solve the

problem and how it was successful• Note of encouragement from the special

interest

Lunch Buddies

• Pairing the child with a more social peer in order to promote friendships and relationships in the during lunch/recess periods.

Recess Groups

• Structured Recess Time• Identify general education peers that would like to be involved

in play groups• Identify activities in which the students would understand and

be successful with• Identify staff to facilitate play groups• Prior to recess, assign all students to a particular activity for

the day.• Staff will facilitate group • Students are assigned to a new activity next time

Adapted from program at Central Bucks School District

Student Preference Surveys

• Helping students develop relationships with peers by surveying student interest and grouping accordingly

ie. Discovering which students like a particular activity such as videogames, sports, and trading cards and promoting friendships based on these interests

Situational Training

• Priming the skill prior to a particular activity and setting a goal so the child uses the skill.ie. “During recess your goal is to play with one friend, and when you come in I want to hear all about it.”

Video Modeling• Involves watching a video demonstration and then imitating the

behavior of the model• Models can be:

– Self (video self-modeling)• Positive self-review (PSR)

– Edit video clips to show student engaging in appropriate behavior

• Edit video clips to show student showing inappropriate behavior

• Video feed forward – takes skills student possesses and sequences them

correctly– takes skills student can do with prompts, and edit out

the prompts– Peer, Adult, Point of View modeling

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