startingasocialskillsgroupwebinar.txt

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Laura Ferguson, M.Ed., BCBA 

. 

 Starting a Social Skills Group 
 

 
�Impairment in nonverbal communication 
(gestures, eye gaze, etc.) 
�Failure in developing peer relationships 
�Lack of spontaneous sharing of enjoyment, 
interests, etc. 
�Lack of social or emotional reciprocity 


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�Qualitative impairment in SOCIAL INTERACTION, 
as manifested by at least two of the following�: 


Today we will�. 

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Look at why focusing on social skills instruction is 
important 
What a social skills group should include 
Some examples of strategies 

 Focusing on social skills 

�If we do not focus on developing social skills 


 Individuals with autism may�. 

 *have difficulty developing friendships 

 *feel alone or isolated 

 *demonstrate trouble in school 

 

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�By outlining social skills instruction we insure 
that all students have explicit instruction on 
the skill deficits 
�Individuals with autism can focus on deficits in 
one on one settings then generalize skills to 
the natural environment. 


 

Focusing on social skills 


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Developing social skills groups for individuals on 
the autism spectrum. 

Today we are going to focus on 


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�Individuals with autism display difficulties with 
engaging with same age peers. 
�This includes: 
�Reciprocal exchanges 
�Imitation 














 Teaching social skills 


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Kentucky Autism Training Center 

� Social skills groups are used to teach individuals 
with autism ways to appropriately interact with 
typically developing peers. 
�Typically involve: 
�Small groups of 2 to 8 individuals with an 
adult facilitator 










 

 

 http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/social-skills-groups 

 

Social skills groups 


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Kentucky Autism Training Center 

Most social skill group meetings include: 


Instruction 

� role-playing or practice 
� feedback to help learners 








 

 

 http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/social-skills-groups 

 

Social skills groups 


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Social skills groups should target: 

 

perspective-taking emotional regulation 

 conversation skills theory of mind 

 friendship skills problem solving skills 

 problem-solving 

social competence 

 

 http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/social-skills-groups 

 

 

 

 

What do we target? 


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Specific skills taught should include: 

 

initiation giving/accepting compliments 

Responding turn taking 

Maintaining sharing 

 greeting asking for help 

 

 http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/social-skills-groups 


Specific skills to teach 


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�Select individuals that need specific social skills 
instruction 
�Make sure the individuals have similar deficits in 
similar areas of social interaction, so the areas of 
focus match their needs. 


 

 

 Specific skills 


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Use assessment strategies that both teachers 
and parents can fill out to identify the 
individuals largest deficit areas. 


 Where do we start? 


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 How do we start initiation? 


Pair peers with reinforcement 

 

Set up peers as the �giver of all things good� 

 

Have peers hand out reinforcers for �free.� 

 

Peers are then paired with reinforcement. 

 

 

 

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 Next step: Develop a plan 


 
�Now that you understand what skills all the 
individuals involved need to focus on. 
�DEVELOP A PLAN!!!! 


 

 

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 Developing a plan 


 

�Now that we know the deficit areas we need to 
develop a plan of how to teach certain skills. 
�Decide 
�How are you going to focus on certain skills? 
�What activities can help increase these skills? 
�What is the plan for generalizing these skills? 




 

 

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Time of day 

Target skill 

Standard 
addressed 

Progress 
Monitoring 

Level of 
support 

Comment 

 

Study Skills 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Engage in 
appropriate 
conversation 

 

Standard 1 

Speaking 
and 
listening 

 

Behavior 
observation 
across 
settings 

 

1:1 setting 
with 
generalization 




 Let�s take a look at instruction 


 

�Look at these specific activities. 
�Decide what area they are focusing on 
�How this could be taught 
�How to generalize these skills 


 

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 Now that we have practiced 


�The previous slides demonstrate areas that need 
specific training and ways to work focus on these 
specific areas. 
�Once we have focused on these specific areas we 
then need to role play to make sure these skills can 
be generalized. 


 

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�This involves �acting out� scenarios that focus on 
specific skills. 
�Demonstrate 
�Several different scenarios 
�With several different peers and adults 
�In several different settings 






 

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Role Play 


 Video Modeling 


 A form of observational learning in which 
desired behaviors are learned by 
watching a video demonstration and 
then imitating the behavior of the model. 

 

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 Individuals observe themselves performing 
a behavior successfully on video, then 
imitate the targeted behavior. 

 

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Video self-modeling 


 Individuals observe someone else, 
preferably same gender and age as 
themselves, performing a behavior 
successfully on video, then imitate the 
targeted behavior. 

 

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Other-as-model Video Modeling 


 Generalization 

�Now that the skills have been taught and focused 
on in small structured settings, make sure to 
generalize these skills to the natural environment. 
�Focus on these skills that they would have to 
demonstrate these skills with peers and adults. 


 

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 References 

Bellini, Scott (2006) Building Social Relationships. 
Shawnee Mission, KS: Autism Asperger Publishing 
Company. 

 

Goldstein, Arnold (1980) Skill Streaming the 
Adolescent. Champaign, Ill: Research Press. 

 

 

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 Thank you so much for coming!! 

 

 Questions?? 


Questions? 

 

Contact info: 

Laura Ferguson 

Laura.ferguson@louisville.edu 

 

 

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Center contact info: 

 

Telephone: (502) 852-4631 

Fax: (502) 852-7148 E-mail: katc @ louisville.edu 

https://louisville.edu/education/kyautismtraining 

 

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