There has been relatively little research on social skills training with young adolescents. Yet adolescence is a key stage in the life cycle, and may well be important for the development of social skills. There is evidence that difficulty with the peer group early in life may be a risk factor for a range of personal problems at a later stage in the life cycle. The research programme sought to evaluate the use of group social skills training with young adolescents in a school setting, and to identify the most useful component. In the first experiment nine young adolescents aged 12-13 were identified as having social skills difficulty. The intervention took the form of a group programme of ten social skills training sessions with a strong individualised component. On measures of social competence and self-report significant gains were made which were maintained at six month follow-up. On a measure of sociometric status there was significant gain by the time of follow-up. A non-equivalent problem-free no-treatment control group (n = 10) of like age made no significant gains on any of the variables measured. There were significant differences between the control group and the treatment group in social competence and sociometric status prior to treatment, but none post treatment nor at follow-up. Using MANOVA a main effect for time was found for the combined measures of social competence and self-report. In the second experiment 41 young adolescents aged 12-13 were allocated to an individualised training (IT) Group (n = 14), a standardised training (ST) Group (n = 13) and a no treatment control group (ii = 14). Therapist effects were controlled by crossing over therapists, so that equal numbers of each group were trained by each pair of therapists. The programme ran over 2 years. A group comparison design taken together with single case designs provided evidence for the effectiveness of the interventions and for the relative superiority of individua].ised training over standardised training. Dependent measures included a self-report questionnaire, a sociometric questionnaire, a behavioural interview schedule, a role-taking test, a social assertiveness test, and a clinical change rating. There was no main effect for type of problem (rejected vs neglected) nor for subject gender. Data relating to therapist performance suggested that therapist effects might make a substantial difference to outcome. It was concluded from the two experiments that the treatments were generally effective and able to produce generalisation, that the individualised approach worked rather better than the standardised approach, and that it was important to control for therapist effects.

Context: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of a training programme for enhancing the social skills of children in Libya who have autism. This study takes into account the fact that there are similar services in Libya that are addressing the social and educational needs of children with autism however these remain in the early stages of development and are making little progress, largely because of the lack of robust knowledge and understanding that exists around autism by policy makers, the general public and organisations. Consequently, this study is intended to act as a basis for gaining a greater understanding about how such services could be more effectively developed in Libya. This study is particularly unique in that it gives considerable attention to the cultural specifications to see if such programmes can be implemented and adapted to fit the needs of families in Libya. Libya has been chosen as the site for this research for three main reasons: first of all because it is my country of origin and therefore holds a special place in my heart; second because it is an interesting context manifesting the various barriers and challenges to social change due to myths and misunderstandings; and third because I know many children whose life chances and opportunities have been reduced only because their guardians, carers and other professionals did not understand their conditions and did not see their abilities. As a Libyan, I want to contribute to this field of knowledge and practice to ensure that children will have access to equal opportunities to their non-autistic counterparts. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether the training programme, which was designed by the researcher, is effective in improving the social skills in children with autism in Libya. Method: Data was collected from two questionnaires and programme evaluation sheets (SST). The sample comprised of thirty-four children with autism, aged between ten and fifteen years of age. The children were divided into two groups of thirteen; one as the experimental group and the other as the control group. The programme ran for eighteen weeks. The researcher assessed the children’s social skills before, during and after it was completed. During the first twelve weeks (or the implementation stage), the researcher met the children for 30 minutes three times a day. Results: At the start of the training programme (pre-test stage), there were no statistically significant differences in the mean scores of social skills between the experimental and the control groups in the pre-test stage. As the training went on, the mean scores increased and showed statistical significance (post-test stage) between the experimental and the control group in the direction of the experimental group. After 8 weeks of terminating the training and in the follow up measurement of the experimental group’s social skills, there was a statistically significant difference between the experimental and the control group in their respective social skills in the direction of the experimental group. Conclusion: It was concluded, therefore, that the training programme had significantly improved the social skills of children with autism in Libya and it should be implemented on a wider basis. Training programmes from other parts of the world can be made culturally relevant and effective with appropriate adaptations. Key Limitations: This study was conducted on a small sample group (34 children in total) in only one part of Libya (Benghazi). Further, the sample group was of a particular age group (under 15 years).

The number of students with autism spectrum disorder is on the rise and more of these students are being served in general education settings. As a result, more school personnel need to be prepared to support students with autism spectrum disorder. Most students with autism spectrum disorder require social supports to function effectively in a general education setting. Previous research indicates that there is a need for efficient social skills interventions implemented by existing school personnel. This study examined the effect of a brief, localized, intensive, social skills training intervention on the social interactions of students with autism spectrum disorder in an in inclusive school setting. The results indicate that this intervention produced meaningful increases in participants’ appropriate social vocalizations and social engagement. We discuss the implications of these results for current practice and future research.

Research conducted on video modeling has shown that these strategies are most effective when they include specific strategies to address conversation skills. Social skills research has also shown that teaching social skills to adolescents in group settings may be more effective than presenting them on an individual basis. Adolescents with Aspergers Syndrome (AS) and High functioning Autism (HFA) participated in a12-week Social Skills Training (SST) program. In addition to pre-and post-study measures, conversation skills data were collected before and after the application of the independent variable (video modeling). Follow-up interviews were also conducted with participants, secondary participants, and parents of the primary participants. After a two-week baseline phase, participants attended weekly social skills training and received the treatment of video modeling with videos found on YouTube. This established pre-existing social and conversation skills and enabled the measurement of changes over the course of the 12 week program. After post intervention data were collected, additional data were collected with participants and secondary participants, neuro-typical peers, as a measure of treatment generalization. This study proposed that presenting social skills videos found on YouTube, would be effective in increasing levels of initiation, responses and conversation skills, thereby increasing communication effectiveness and reducing social rejection by peers. Although some gains in conversational skill levels were observed by most participants in the study significant increases in conversation skill levels were not observed in both ASD only group settings or of the ASD neuro-typical mixed group setting.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine school psychologists' use of evidence- based practices (EBP), in general, and more specifically in the area of social skills training (SST) for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Study participants, consisting of 498 school psychologists from across the nation, participated in an online survey that gathered information about their training, attitudes, and practices. The frequency with which specific EBP practices for social skills training for students with ASD was examined, as was prediction of use of these practices. Multiple-regression analyses revealed multiple independent variables that were predictors for overall use of EBP. Results indicated that over half of the participants provide SST for students with ASD. Although the majority of participants indicated that their graduate program included at least one course with information about ASD and EBP practices, in general, nearly half indicated that their coursework did not include any courses that directly addressed social skills training for students with ASD. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to determine the extent to which the data fit the factor model. Participants' perception of the importance placed on EBP by their school district, scores on the openness subscale of the Evidence Based Practices Assessment Scale, perception of how well their graduate program prepared them in the EBP process, perception of whether they were adequately trained in the area of SST for students with ASD, and having a caseload evenly divided among settings were significant predictors of overall use of EBP.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-01-23Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:48:38Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 garnica_krh_me_bauru.pdf: 888593 bytes, checksum: 3a4795b02d6a7d725805bac5c5e54827 (MD5) / A presente pesquisa teve por objetivos: a) descrever, a partir de filmagens, o repertório comportamental das crianças antes da participação em um Treinamento de Habilidades Sociais; b) identificar a frequencia de comportamentos internalizantes e externalizantes de crianças pré-escolares sob o ponto de vista de suas professoras; c) avaliar o comportamento socialmente habilidoso de crianças que frequentam a escola de Educação Infantil por meio de auto-avaliação da criança sobre seu desempenho social e da avaliação da professora sobre o desempenho social da criança, antes e depois do treinamento; d) verificar a eficácia do Sistema Multimídia de habilidades Sociais (SMHS) para crianças em idade pré escolar. Os participantes foram 18 crianças da Escola 1 (Grupo Experimental) e 13 crianças da Escola 2 (Grupo de Espera) com 5 e 6 anos de idade que frequentavam as turmas de Jardim II e Pré e duas professoras das respectivas turmas. Os dados foram coletados através de filmagens, da aplicação da Escola Comportamental Infantil ECI-A2 de Rutter, respondido pelas professoras, avaliação das habilidades sociais através do Sistema Multimídia de habilidades Sociais com auto-avaliação das crianças sobre seus desempenhos sociais e avaliação das professoras sobre os desempenhos sociais das crianças. A Escola 1 (Grupo Experimental), participou de três fases do estudo: primeira avaliação das habilidades sociais Treinamento de Habilidades Sociais (THS) e segunda avaliação de habilidades sociais, após o Treinamento. Já a Escola 2 (Grupo de Espera), participou de quatro fases do estudo: primeira avaliação de habilidades sociais, segunda avaliação de habilidades sociais (antes do Treinamento); Treinamento de Habilidades Sociais (THS) e terceira avaliação de habilidades sociais após o Treinamento. Os principais resultados foram: a) na análise das filmagens as frequencias... / The present research aims: a) describing, from filming, the behavior repertory of children before being part of a social skill training; b) identifying the frequency of inner and outer behaviors of pre scholar children under their teachers' point of view; c) evaluating the behavior socially skilled of children who attend kindergarten by means of self evaluation of children about their social performance and the teacher's evaluation of children about their social performance and after the training; d) verifying the fit of multimedia system for social skill (SMHS) for children in pre scholar age. The participants were eighteen children of the scholl 1 (experimental groups) and thirteen children of the school 2 (awaiting group) of five and six years old who attend the groups of kindergarten 2 and primary and two teachers of the respective groups. Data were collected by filming, by applying the child behavioral skale ECI-A2 of Rutter, responded by the teachers, social skill evaluation through social skill multimedia system with self evaluation of children about their social performance and the same from the teachers about the children. School 1 (experimental group), participated three phasis of the study: first social skill evaluation, social skill training (THS) and second evaluation of social skills, after training. Whereas School 2 (awaiting group), participated four phasis of studying: first social skill evaluation, second social skill evaluation (before training); social skill training (THS) and third social skill evaluation after training. The main results were: a) analyzing the filmings, the frequencies of skilled behavior of children display that, either School 1 or School 2, it was more for boys and less for girls, whereas for non skilled behaviors, boys displayed in School 1 a lower frequency than the girls and only in School 2 a hogher frequency than the girls... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of individualized video-modeled Social Story interventions on the social communication skills of three children with High Functioning Autism/Aspergers Syndrome (HFA/AS). Using a multiple-baseline across participants design, video-modeled Social Stories were implemented and direct observations of the participants identified target behaviors were collected two times per week during unstructured school activities (e.g., recess). Overall, data demonstrated that video modeled Social Stories were effective for improving the rates of social communication for the participants, though modifications to allow access to social reinforcement was needed in two cases. In addition, all three participants demonstrated maintenance of skills at a two-week follow-up. However, generalization of skills was only observed for one participant.The present research provides no definitive claims of the effectiveness of a combined intervention for children with HFA/AS, Rather, it adds preliminary evidence that a combined intervention that teaches social communication skills and provides for a model of appropriate behavior may be a beneficial method of remediating social skill difficulties for many children and youth with HFA/AS.

Previous research has demonstrated that behavioral skills training (BST) is effective in teaching social skills to individuals with developmental disabilities, but often the skills fail to generalize. One strategy to promote generalization has been the use of in situ training. In an effort to improve upon previous research BST plus in situ training was evaluated to teach greeting skills to adults living in a group home setting. The percentage of correct greeting responses was evaluated in a multiple baseline across participants design. Results showed that BST was only partially effective in teaching greeting skills to the participants. However, In-situ training resulted in a greater increase in correct greeting skills across all participants.

Orientadora: Tânia Gracy Martins do Valle / Banca: Maria de Lourdes Merighi Tabaquim / Banca: Olga Maria Piazentin Rolim Rodrigues / Resumo: A presente pesquisa teve por objetivos: a) descrever, a partir de filmagens, o repertório comportamental das crianças antes da participação em um Treinamento de Habilidades Sociais; b) identificar a frequencia de comportamentos internalizantes e externalizantes de crianças pré-escolares sob o ponto de vista de suas professoras; c) avaliar o comportamento socialmente habilidoso de crianças que frequentam a escola de Educação Infantil por meio de auto-avaliação da criança sobre seu desempenho social e da avaliação da professora sobre o desempenho social da criança, antes e depois do treinamento; d) verificar a eficácia do Sistema Multimídia de habilidades Sociais (SMHS) para crianças em idade pré escolar. Os participantes foram 18 crianças da Escola 1 (Grupo Experimental) e 13 crianças da Escola 2 (Grupo de Espera) com 5 e 6 anos de idade que frequentavam as turmas de Jardim II e Pré e duas professoras das respectivas turmas. Os dados foram coletados através de filmagens, da aplicação da Escola Comportamental Infantil ECI-A2 de Rutter, respondido pelas professoras, avaliação das habilidades sociais através do Sistema Multimídia de habilidades Sociais com auto-avaliação das crianças sobre seus desempenhos sociais e avaliação das professoras sobre os desempenhos sociais das crianças. A Escola 1 (Grupo Experimental), participou de três fases do estudo: primeira avaliação das habilidades sociais Treinamento de Habilidades Sociais (THS) e segunda avaliação de habilidades sociais, após o Treinamento. Já a Escola 2 (Grupo de Espera), participou de quatro fases do estudo: primeira avaliação de habilidades sociais, segunda avaliação de habilidades sociais (antes do Treinamento); Treinamento de Habilidades Sociais (THS) e terceira avaliação de habilidades sociais após o Treinamento. Os principais resultados foram: a) na análise das filmagens as frequencias... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The present research aims: a) describing, from filming, the behavior repertory of children before being part of a social skill training; b) identifying the frequency of inner and outer behaviors of pre scholar children under their teachers' point of view; c) evaluating the behavior socially skilled of children who attend kindergarten by means of self evaluation of children about their social performance and the teacher's evaluation of children about their social performance and after the training; d) verifying the fit of multimedia system for social skill (SMHS) for children in pre scholar age. The participants were eighteen children of the scholl 1 (experimental groups) and thirteen children of the school 2 (awaiting group) of five and six years old who attend the groups of kindergarten 2 and primary and two teachers of the respective groups. Data were collected by filming, by applying the child behavioral skale ECI-A2 of Rutter, responded by the teachers, social skill evaluation through social skill multimedia system with self evaluation of children about their social performance and the same from the teachers about the children. School 1 (experimental group), participated three phasis of the study: first social skill evaluation, social skill training (THS) and second evaluation of social skills, after training. Whereas School 2 (awaiting group), participated four phasis of studying: first social skill evaluation, second social skill evaluation (before training); social skill training (THS) and third social skill evaluation after training. The main results were: a) analyzing the filmings, the frequencies of skilled behavior of children display that, either School 1 or School 2, it was more for boys and less for girls, whereas for non skilled behaviors, boys displayed in School 1 a lower frequency than the girls and only in School 2 a hogher frequency than the girls... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Estudos atuais apontam a importância da qualidade nos relacionamentos sociais para o bem-estar físico, psicológico e social na terceira idade, mas não fornecem dados suficientes que indiquem como auxiliar os idosos a se tornarem socialmente competentes, ou seja, como desenvolver habilidades sociais na terceira idade. Um método bastante utilizado para ensinar habilidades sociais para diferentes populações tem sido o Treinamento de Habilidades Sociais. O presente estudo pretende avaliar a eficácia de um Programa de Treinamento em Habilidades Sociais para Idosos (THSI) no aumento tanto do repertório de habilidades sociais como do bem estar subjetivo de estudantes da UnATI/UERJ. A pesquisa foi dividida em duas fases. Na primeira fase, foram utilizados a Escala de Depressão em Geriatria-15, o Mini-exame do Estado Mental e o Questionário de Dificuldades em Situações Sociais com a finalidade de selecionar os participantes do estudo. A atual pesquisa contou com a participação de 40 idosos, sendo que a escolha das pessoas que fariam parte do grupo experimental e do grupo controle foi baseada na compatibilidade entre a disponibilidade de horário dos estudantes e o horário escolhido para o treinamento. A segunda fase da pesquisa envolveu investigar a eficácia do THSI. Para a avaliação das habilidades sociais, foi utilizado o Inventário de Habilidades Sociais que compreende cinco fatores (enfrentamento e auto-afirmação com risco; auto-afirmação na expressão de sentimentos positivos; conversação e desenvoltura social; auto-exposição a desconhecidos e situações novas e o autocontrole da agressividade) e sete situações de jogos de papéis. O bem-estar subjetivo foi analisado através da Escala de Satisfação com a Vida e da Escala PANAS. Todo esse material foi aplicado, antes e logo depois do THSI, tanto no grupo controle como no experimental. O THSI foi realizado em 12 encontros de uma hora e meia de duração e teve como objetivo o ensino direto e sistemático das habilidades sociais com o propósito de aperfeiçoar a competência social dos idosos nas situações de: iniciar conversação; fazer pedidos; responder a pedidos; fazer pedido de mudança de comportamento; cobrar dívidas; responder a críticas; falar em público; fazer e receber elogios. A partir dos dados obtidos no material especificado acima, pôde-se observar mudanças positivas entre os participantes do grupo experimental como o desenvolvimento da habilidade assertiva. Os resultados desta pesquisa sugerem que a implementação de programas de treinamento em habilidades sociais em grupo, com pessoas na terceira idade, contribuirá para a aprendizagem e o aperfeiçoamento das habilidades sociais desta população. / Current studies suggest to the importance of quality in social relationships for the physical, psychological and social well-being in the third age, but they dont provide enough data that indicates how to assist the elderly to become socially competent, that is, how to develop social skills in the third age. A method that has been recurrently used to teach social skills for different populations is the Social Skills Training. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a Social Skills Training Program for the Elderly in the increase of the repertoire of social skills as well as of the subjective well-being of students at UnATI/UERJ. The research was divided in two phases. On the first phase, there have been used the Geriatric Depression Scale-15, the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Questionnaire of Difficulties in Social Situations with the purpose of selecting the participants of the study. The current research had the participation of 40 elderly people, in which the choice of the people that would be part of the experimental group and the control group was based on the compatibility between the availability of the students and the schedule chosen for the training. The second phase of the research involved investigating the effectiveness of the Social Skills Training. For the evaluation of the social skills, it was used the Inventory of Social Skills which comprises five factors (confrontation and auto-affirmation with risk; auto-affirmation in expressing positive feelings; conversation and social nimbleness; auto-exposition to strangers and new situations and the self-control of the aggressiveness) and seven role play situations. The subjective well-being was analyzed through the Life Satisfaction Scale and PANAS scale. The complete material was applied, before and right after the Social Skills Training, in the control group as well as in the experimental one. The Social Skills Training was carried through in 12 meetings of one and a half hour each and had as the objective the direct and systematic teaching of the social skills with the purpose of improve the social competence of the elderly on the situations of: beginning a conversation; making requests; responding to requests; asking for a change of behavior; collect debts; respond to criticism; speak in public; make and receive compliments. From the data got on the above specified material, positive changes could be observed among the participants of the experimental group as the development of the assertive skill. The results of this research suggest that the implementation of the Social Skills Training in group, with elderly, will contribute for the learning and improvement of social skills of this population.