Social Skills Training

Ms. Ray conducts social skill training sessions on a weekly basis with 3 learners with ASD. Also, peer helpers are included in the sessions to help learners with ASD practice skills. How often should Ms. Ray meet with the peer helpers?

Adult leaders should meet regularly with peer helpers to discuss progress, answer questions, and review upcoming topics for sessions. Since, Ms. Ray is conducting sessions weekly, she should also plan to meet with peers on a weekly basis.

If a group format is selected, only individuals with ASD should be included in the training sessions.

If a group format is selected, students with a variety of needs can be included. Additionally, consider including peer models to assist in the training sessions.

If a learner is not showing progress on a target skill or behavior when using social skills training, what would be a possible reason?

If the learner is now showing progress on a target skill/behavior when using SST, make sure the selected instructional strategies are being used consistently and appropriately.

How should team members plan to support the generalization of skills learned in training sessions?

It is important to plan to support a learner in generalizing skills learned in training sessions to other settings, people, and activities.

Social skills training must occur in a group format.

SST can occur in either an individual or group format.

What additional strategies can be used with social skills training?

SST incorporates a variety of strategies including video modeling, role play, direction instruction, reinforcement, and prompting.

Social skills training refers to any adult-directed instruction in which social skills are targeted.

SST involves an adult leader providing direct instruction on targeted social skills.

Select an appropriate order and structure for a training session:

SST should involve a common format for each lesson. The session should include checking in, introduction of new skill, practice of new skill, feedback, and generalization of new skill.

Which outcome was not shown to be addressed effectively using SST?

Studies included in the 2014 EBP report detailed how social skills training can be used effectively to address: social, communication, behavior, play, and cognitive outcomes.

What would be the most appropriate form of data collection to use to determine if a learner is increasing the frequency of a specific target skill/behavior?

To determine if a learner is increasing the frequency of a specific target skill, consider using event recording. Duration data is best to use when wanting to lengthen the amount of time a learner performs a skill/behavior. Anecdotal notes are helpful, but will not be sufficient alone to determine if a learner is increasing the frequency of a behavior.