Abstract
Group social skills training (GSST) is an important intervention approach to help children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to find more success in social engagement and inclusion. However, there is a lack of research using direct behavioral observations, especially in generalization of acquired skills to settings other than the treatment setting. We provided social skills training to 25 adolescents with ASD using a curriculum shown to have positive effects (the UCLA PEERS® curriculum). We also administered the Autism Social Skills Profile (ASSP) and Social Communication Questionnaire – Current (SCQ-Current) to the parents of participants before and after the GSST to ensure it had the intended effect, which showed minor improvements in some areas of social engagement, though not statistically significant. We then provided seven participants and their peers in their community groups with a brief intervention that taught principles of including those with disabilities. We analyzed each of these seven participants’ level of social engagement in their community groups before and after the intervention using a multiple baseline design. Peer inclusion instruction produced mixed results across participants. We discuss the feasibility and future directions for the generalization of acquired social skills.
Degree
EdS
College and Department
David O. McKay School of Education; Counseling Psychology and Special Education
Rights
http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Jackson, Taylor William, "Is It Enough? Challenges Generalizing Social Skills Gains into Community Settings" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 8565.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/8565
Date Submitted
2019-07-01
Document Type
Thesis
Handle
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd11312
Keywords
autism spectrum disorders, inclusion, social skills, social skills training, interpersonal competence, awareness
Language
english