Evaluation of Family-Implemented Behavioral Skills Training for Teaching Social Skills to a Child With Asperger's Disorder

Purpose: Homeless children are more likely to have social skills deficits relative to same aged peers and may benefit from a social skills intervention. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the Let’s Be Social application with the addition of behavioral skills training (BST) to teach social skills to children who were homeless. Method: This study used a multiple baseline across behaviors design to evaluate the effects of the iPad application and BST for teaching three social skills to three participants. Results: Participants did not demonstrate increases in targeted social skills after the introduction of the application, but social skills did increase after BST was added. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the application needs to be paired with BST in order to see improvement and maintenance in social skills. Future downloadable applications might consider including features that are similar to BST to assist in teaching social skills.

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The Application of Social Skills Training in the Treatment of a Child With Asperger's Disorder

Clinical Case Studies ◽

10.1177/1534650102239087 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 34-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Dona E. Cragar ◽

Leah S. Horvath

Keyword(s):

Social Skills ◽

Social Skills Training ◽

Asperger’S Disorder ◽

Asperger's Disorder ◽

Skills Training

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Training Peer Models to Promote Social Skills: Considerations for Practice

Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities ◽

10.1177/1088357617735814 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 160-170 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Therese L. Mathews ◽

Christopher Vatland ◽

Ashley M. Lugo ◽

Elizabeth A. Koenig ◽

Shawn P. Gilroy

Keyword(s):

Social Skills ◽

High Functioning Autism ◽

Behavioral Skills Training ◽

Strong Support ◽

Skills Training ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Behavioral Skills ◽

Verbal Interactions ◽

Peer Models ◽

Treatment Package

Social skills training programs have increasingly enlisted same-age typical peers as instructors in the teaching of social skills to children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The inclusion of peers in the teaching process has been found to be a critical component in these programs. Despite strong support for incorporating peers in social skills programs, there are few guidelines for training peers. The present study examined a treatment package to teach typical school-aged children skills to become peer models. A multiple baseline across behaviors research design was implemented using components of behavioral skills training to teach (a) initiating verbal interactions, (b) prompting for targeted skills, and (c) delivery of praise. The peer models quickly acquired the skill of initiating verbal interactions; however, posting of data, prompting, and additional contingencies were needed to maintain and generalize prompting for targeted skills and delivery of praise with novel children.

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