<p>The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how educators describe their lived experiences with regard to addressing social skills challenges for children with ASD and what meaning can be derived from the experiences of those educators. Digitally recorded semistructured interviews were conducted with twelve educators working in school settings in Southern California. The participants held a variety of titles and all participants had at least six years of experience teaching social skills to children with ASD. Findings from this study resulted in five major thematic groups: (a) defining social skills; (b) how social skills are assessed; (c) program characteristics; (d) instructional and standardization challenges; and (e) critical factors. Study findings primarily indicated a need for a more structured approach to research due to the diversity within the ASD diagnosis and the complexity and broad nature of social skills. Two major recommendations for future research evolved from this study. First, future research should systematically explore the varying characteristics within the ASD population and how intervention strategies or intervention types impact the subpopulations within the ASD diagnosis. Finally, research should explore social motivation as a possible pivotal characteristic for successful social skills development and whether it is possible to cultivate motivation. </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3742176 |
| Date | 01 January 2016 |
| Creators | Camaya, Claribel |
| Publisher | University of Phoenix |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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