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Social Skills Curricula Several commercial social skills curricula use a direct-instruction approach and may be helpful in guiding social skills instruction (see Table 4.4 in Chapter 4 for a listing of social skills curricula). The ACCEPTS (A Curriculum for Children’s Effective Peer and Teacher Skills) and ACCESS (Adolescent Curriculum for Communication and Effective Social Skills) […]

Direct-Instruction Sequence for Teaching Social Skills Direct instruction of social skills typically involves the following steps: 1. Describe the skill and why it is important (rationale). The description should include the task-analyzed steps of the skill being taught. EXAMPLE: “Today we’re going to learn how to ask a friend to play with you. When you

Ms. Jacobs Teaches Social Skills Ms. Jacobs teaches an intermediate class for students with autism, ages 9–11. Each of her students participates in several different general education activities such as lunch, music, science, and language arts. Despite having many opportunities to interact with general education peers, Ms. Jacobs’ students typically interact little. They respond minimally

Potential Problems with Inclusion 1. Placement without planning. Improvements in social behavior will probably not simply happen regardless of placement. Simply exposing students with autism to typically developing peers will not lead to acquisition of targeted social behaviors. Socialization interventions must be formally planned for general education settings, and they must be based on relevant

Guard Against Potential Problems Related to Inclusion In 2013, approximately 40 percent of students receiving special education services for autism were educated in general education classes for 80 percent of the day or more (U.S. Department of Education, 2016b). An additional 20 percent spent approximately half of their day or more in general education settings.

Teach Pivotal Behaviors Koegel and his colleagues recommend targeting pivotal behaviors , or behaviors that are central to many areas of functioning (Mohammadzaheri, Koegel, Rezaei, & Bakhshi, 2015). Pivotal behaviors serve a similar purpose in a variety of areas of functioning, including social functioning (Koegel & Koegel, 1995). As such, they can lead to higher-quality

Teach Activities Preferred by Peers without Disabilities Students with autism should be taught to use the materials that are commonly part of the social repertoire of typically developing students. For example, Koegel, Werner, Vismara, and Koegel (2005) found that teaching students with autism to engage in activities preferred by peers without disabilities, such as playing

Teach Social Skills in Context Socialization interventions are far more effective when provided in socially rich contexts in which peers and naturally occurring social stimuli and reinforcers are present (Chang & Locke, 2016; Whalon et al., 2015). It is difficult, if not impossible, to accurately imitate the SDs and contingencies of natural social interactions outside

General Considerations for Socialization Interventions Several approaches have shown promise for improving the social skills, and ultimately the social competence, of students with autism. However, no matter what techniques are chosen to increase social skills, educators are more likely to achieve desired outcomes if certain considerations are observed, many of which relate to contextual factors

Interventions for Increasing Social Skills and Social Competence As you learned in Chapter 1, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2016a) requires that students with disabilities be educated in the LRE and with general education peers to the greatest extent possible. Fortunately, general education settings and activities are valuable venues for