SOCIAL SKILLS 2

BENJAMIN R. THOMASDOUGLASS DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES CENTER

RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY

People with Autism have a harder time than others when communicating and navigating social situations

Difficulties in these areas often limit their ability to express themselves and develop meaningful relationships

COMPONENTS OF SOCIAL SKILLS

• Verbal interactions• Joint attention• Understanding idioms and slang

expressions• Telling and understanding jokes• Understanding nonverbal

communication• Perspective taking skills• Problem solving skills

INTERACTIONS

• Initiations

• Responses

• Social Comprehension

VERBAL INTERACTIONS

Echoic (repeating what is heard)

Mand (asking for something)

Tact (labeling/commenting-what person senses)

Intraverbal (responding to what is heard/ conversation)

MANDS IN SOCIAL CONTEXTS

• Pointing to a toy car that another child is playing with

• Asking a friend for the glue stick

• Asking a friend to open your pudding

• Asking a friend to do something funny (e.g. make a silly face or monster noise) again

SOCIAL INITIATIONS

• Greetings

• Asking Questions, Asking for toys, Asking for attention

• Joining Activities

• Commenting

• Joint attention

ONE EXAMPLE: JOINING AN ONGOING ACTIVITY

May be taught best with an instructor first

Must prepare child for the diversity of possibilities (e.g., refusal, variations in acceptance phrases/body language)

Incorporation of peers can serve as good bridges in generalizing these skills to other peers

INITIATING BY ASKING ABOUT ANOTHER’S ACTIVITY

What are you building?

What are you playing?

• Usually get responses from peers• May result in flattered feeling• Can lead into a request to join a parallel or cooperative play/activity situation

COMMENTING – A FORM OF INITIATION

Typically developing children

•notice things and events in the environment

•narrate what others do

•comment on what they see, hear, smell, feel

OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMENTING

Art projects

Sports/leisure activities

Unexpected events or items

Unusual things in the community/store

A visitor to the home

SOCIAL RESPONSIVENESS

Greetings and Farewells

•A key social skill

•Promotes social awareness

•Is indicative of social awareness

•Opens doors socially

OTHER ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL RESPONSIVENESS

• Answering social questions

• Responding to initiations/invitations to play

• Responding to Statements/Maintaining a conversation/conversational turns

• *Fluency (speed and accuracy)

• Automatic, Low response effort, Flowing, Functional, Expert

JOINT ATTENTION

• Joint attention is shared attention between two people and an object/event in the environment

• Social goal is to share information or an experience

• Involves initiation and response

• Shifting gaze towards bid, with other person

JOINT ATTENTION (CONT)

Verbal bids: “Wow!” “Look!” “Uh oh!” “Oh no!” gasping

Nonverbal bids: pointing, eyebrows raised, eyes bulging, shifting gaze

• Look at you• Shift gaze with you (or to where you’re looking)• Label what is seen/comment on your label• Look back at you

SUSTAINING INTERACTIONS

Build flexibility in conversation

• join a conversation

•ask questions

Build reciprocity skills

•respond with similar information (repeat what is heard then add)

ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL COMPREHENSION

• Following social rules

• Understanding what is expected in a given social context

• Understanding social nuances

• Understanding complex social circumstances

TARGETING FAILURE TO COMPREHEND IN OTHER CONTEXTS

• Nonverbal communication• Interested: looking, paying attention

• Not interested: looking away, fidgeting

• Nod/Shake head for Yes/No

• Expressions/Idioms/Slang (see handout)

• Teach content directly

JOKES

Initiation, response, wait for response

Components of joke situation/picture:

•What’s missing?

• Car without wheels, person without a shoe•Misplaced items

• Person with hat on foot, Car with a sail•Illogical items

• Eating with a pencil, wearing sunglasses at night•Absurd items

• A dog riding a skateboard, baby driving a motorcycle

PERSPECTIVE TAKING• Understanding an experience from another person’s point

of view. Empathy

• Recognize that other people have thoughts and feelings

• Prerequisites:

• Rec/Exp Identification of emotions (self/others)• I/You discrimination• “Wh” questions including WHY/because• Reciprocity• Awareness of real vs. pretend

PERSPECTIVE TAKINGOthers perceive differently

- I have/ You have

- Field of Vision Talk

•Sit shoulder to shoulder facing opposite directions (or use puppets)

•Place objects in front of both you and child

•Ask questions about what you and s/he see

• I see the __. What do I see? What do you see?• Can I see the __? (object in front of parent)• Can I see the __? (object in front of child)• Can you see the __? (for both)• Who can see the __? (for both)

PROBLEM SOLVING

Stages of Problem Solving

•Problem identification

•Generation of alternatives

•Anticipating consequences

•Making a choice

•Evaluating the decision

WHAT DOES PROBLEM SOLVING TRAINING DO?

Assist child in targeting a social problem

Help child perceive multiple possible responses

Help child anticipate consequences for various responses

• inhibit impulsive responses

PROBLEM SOLVING EXAMPLE

Lauren is on the playground. She is playing with a ball. Joey comes up to her and grabs the ball away. Lauren yells. The teacher comes over to see what is happening.

PROBLEM SOLVING CONTINUED: POTENTIAL OPTIONS

1. Problem: Joey takes ball without asking

2. Generating solutions: What can Lauren do?

• Give the ball to Joey• Ask Joey to give it back• Pull Joey’s hair• Hit Joey• Tell the teacher

ADVANTAGES TO PROBLEM SOLVING

Suggests appropriate courses of action, substantiated by good outcomes

Provides modeling of appropriate social language alternatives

Focuses on deliberate actions

Teach with rule cards, social story, *Role play

UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL RULES AND WHAT IS EXPECTED …….

What do people use to teach these skills?

• Social Stories• Rule cards• Video instruction• ***Role plays• Feedback on performance

SOCIAL STORIES

Developed by Carol Gray

Can be used with modifications such as pictures to assist with comprehension

Can be used for multiple purposes

• multi-element tasks• addressing fears• addressing challenging behaviors

WRITING SOCIAL STORIES

Carol Gray Recommends:

A 1:2-5 ratio

Descriptive

Perspective

Directive

Control

BOB USES AN INSIDE VOICE

HI, MY NAME IS BOB.

(Descriptive Statement)

I LIKE TO TALK

(Descriptive statement)

BUT, PEOPLE CAN NOT HEAR ME WHEN I TALK

(perspective statement)

MY FRIEND'S INSIDE VOICE IS NOT TOO SOFT AND NOT TOO LOUD

(Descriptive Statement)

WHEN I TALK,I WILL: 1. PICK UP MY HEAD

(Directive Statement)

(Directive Statement)

WHEN I TALK I WILL: 2. LOOK AT WHO I AM TALKING TO

WHEN I TALK I WILL: 3. TALK LOUDER

(Directive Statement)

THEN, EVERYONE WILL KNOW WHAT I AM SAYING!!

(Perspective statement)

SOCIAL STORIES

Multi-element situations

• lining up for recess• cleaning up toys• following appropriate hygiene routines• sharing toys after show and tell• group participation

SOCIAL STORIES

Fear situations

• Visiting the dentist• Getting a haircut• Fear of dogs

SOCIAL STORIES

Challenging behaviors

•Learning to ask for a turn vs. swiping materials from another child

•Asking for help vs. tearing up worksheet

•Not annoying friends vs. being intrusive

MORE ON SOCIAL STORIES• Consequence statements may be very important

• Many aspects unclear in terms of impact• Frequency of review• Comprehension activities• Access to story

• Often used as one component of an intervention package that includes more direct interventions• Prompting• Reinforcement

RULE CARDS

• Helpful in teaching child to follow social rules associated with a particular activity

• Clearly states the behavioral expectations for a specific activity

• Can be textual or picture-based, or both

• Can be presented to and apply to a whole group, or be individually tailored

• Should be brief• enhances portability

RULES FOR THE LIBRARY

1. Speak only when necessary

2. Speak in a whisper

3. Choose one book to read for the entire

period

4. Raise my hand if I need the librarian

RULES FOR READING GROUP

1. Read aloud only when it is my turn

2. Listen when my friends read

3. Raise my hand if I have something to say or when I want to answer a question

4. Wait to be called on to answer

5. Use a pencil for the worksheet

6. Read quietly once my worksheet is done

REHEARSING APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR

In combination with rule cards

Role Plays

Video Instruction

ROLE PLAYS

• Can be used to target nuances of interaction

• Format can be individualized to maximize success

• Can be done with characters, puppets, or people

ROLE PLAYS

child can be either an observer or a participant in a role play

• Observer role helps child to identify appropriate social skills

• **Participant role helps child to practice appropriate social skills

ITEMS TO FOCUS ON IN ROLE PLAYS

Orientation to speaker

Eye contact

Self-stimulatory behavior vs. appropriate behavior

Volume

Contextually relevant vs. contextually irrelevant language

Failure to respond vs. responding

SITUATIONS TO USE IN ROLE PLAYS

Responding to common occurrences

Sharing materials and toys

Managing frustration appropriately

Assertiveness

Requesting

Responding to requests by other

A FINAL THOUGHT…………

Social skills should create changes that

• Are socially significant• Are meaningful • Occur in natural environments• Occur in generalized contexts• Occur spontaneously