Teaching Social Skills - VCU RRTC



Teaching Social Skills

Slide 1: Introduction

• Social skills are needed for us to function in our schools and community.

• Impairment in social functioning is a primary feature of ASD so it is essential that we teach social skills to these students.

• . In this presentation you will learn:

o How do we teach students with ASD social skills?

o What are the social skills we teach students with ASD?

o What are some general intervention strategies we use to teach?

Social skills are the skills we use when interacting with other people. Social skills are needed for us to function in our schools and community. Having good social skills can lead to positive experiences. For example, if I wait in line nicely in the cafeteria and talk to the person in front of me about the latest video game, this can be a positive experience. On the other hand, bad social skills can lead to negative experiences. If I were to push 3 of my peers out of the way instead of waiting my turn in the cafeteria, I would probably get in trouble and have a negative experience.

If you recall, impairment in social functioning is a primary feature of ASD so it is essential that we teach social skills to these students. We have to know how to intervene and assist in teaching social skills. There is not one single way we will do this. Instead there are many interventions that we will use to teach social skills to students with ASD. In this presentation you will learn:

• How do we teach students with ASD social skills?

• What are the social skills we teach students with ASD?

• What are some general intervention strategies we use to teach?

Slide 2: What are social skills?

• What do we mean by social skills?

• Social skill abilities range from student to student

o Some students may not seem to have very many social skills.

o Other students have many social skills.

o Some students may appear to be rude or appear to be “hard headed” or stubborn.

• The impact of these social deficits may set up the student with ASD to be subject to social isolation and to bullying.

Let’s start by reviewing what we mean by social skills. On the next slide you will see a table of examples of social deficits found in students with ASD.

Remember, some students may not seem to have very many social skills. For example, Jamie plays mostly by herself. She doesn’t seem to be aware that other people are in the room with her. Anytime someone tries to talk to her she walks away. Other students have many social skills. For example, Ishaan says “hi” to his teacher every day. He eats lunch with 2 peers and during lunch they often talk about computer websites. Ishaan is the manager for the school basketball team and cheers for the team during games. But, many times even those students who have a lot of social skills do indeed have challenges in this area. Let’s look again at Ishaan. Ishaan needs to be reminded to raise his hand in class instead of yelling out. If someone sits in his seat at lunch, he will raise his voice and tell them to get up. He has difficulty talking about topics other than computer websites. During the basketball game, he will often try to talk to the players on the bench about the latest YouTube video he watched.

Some students may appear to be rude or appear to be “hard headed” or stubborn. It is important to remember, these students are probably not purposefully trying to be impolite. Instead, they do not understand the social rules that most of us use as we interact with other people. This makes it very hard for them to have friends and to get along with others. The impact of these social deficits may set up the student with ASD to be subject to social isolation and to bullying.

Slide 3: Examples of social skill deficits

• This table shows examples of social skills deficits students with ASD often experience.

• Insert table

This table shows examples of social skills deficits students with ASD often experience.

|Social Skill |Example |

|Sharing |Ex 1) Mika grabs the toy out of Meredith’s hand while she is playing with it. |

| |Ex 2) Emilio pours all the goldfish crackers on the table and pushes others when they ask him for some. |

|Taking turns |Ex 1) Xavier was talking to his peer about NASCAR. He talked and talked without stopping to let the classmate talk. |

| |Ex 2) Alex pushes away anyone who tries to get close to the computer when he is playing. |

|Making friends |Ex 1) Amelia walks up to a group of girls, looks down at the sidewalk, and says nothing. |

| |Ex 2) Jeremy runs to the field and plays in the dirt by himself during recess. |

|Playing |Ex 1) Crystal tells everyone what to say and do while playing cops and robbers. |

| |Ex 2) Jonathan sits and spins the tires of the toy truck instead of racing it down the ramp. |

Slide 4: Examples of social skill deficits

- Insert table here

Here are some more examples:

|Social Skill |Example |

|Understanding emotions |Ex 1) Zack doesn’t understand what it means when his father frowns and shakes his finger at him and will often laugh |

| |when this happens. |

| |Ex 2) Mandy gets angry when any little thing goes wrong. |

|Understanding how other|Ex 1) Xavier doesn’t understand why his classmates don’t want to talk about NASCAR. |

|people feel |Ex 2) Nan took the basketball away from David when he was playing with it. She didn’t give it back to him, even when |

| |he started to cry. |

|Following social rules |Ex 1) Dara yells out in class and doesn’t raise her hand. |

| |Ex 2) Nick walks into the cafeteria and goes to the front of the line and orders his food. |

Slide 5: What social skills do we teach?

• We have to individualize what we teach based on the student.

• How do we know what to teach the student?

• We must first develop a plan and then execute the plan in a strategic manner!

Just as with any other kind of instruction we have to individualize what we teach based on the student. Not all students will have the same needs. Look at the examples above. Do Ishaan and Jamie need to work on the same skills? They don’t; so it will be important for us to make sure we are working on skills the student needs!

So how do we know what to teach the student? We must first develop a plan and then execute the plan in a strategic manner!

Slide 6: Teach social skills identified in the IEP



|Student |IEP Objective |

|Jamal, 5th grade |When approached by a peer, Jamal will respond to the peer by asking a question or making a comment about|

| |the topic. |

|Brandon, 8th grade |Brandon will walk through the halls of the school appropriately by walking on the right side and |

| |refraining from pushing peers. |

|Cindy, Kindergarten |Cindy will appropriately ask for an item that she wants to play with without grabbing the item or |

| |screaming. |

|Jose, 12th grade |Jose will identify the emotion of another person and will describe why the person is feeling that way. |

|Ivan, 3rd grade |Ivan will wait in line in the cafeteria without pushing the other students. |

Earlier in this course we discussed the Individualized Education Plan (IEP). The student’s IEP may already have listed the social skills on which the student is to work. The IEP will help us to know what social skills are missing from the student’s skill set. Here are a few examples of IEP objectives a student with ASD may work on:

|Student |IEP Objective |

|Jamal, 5th grade |When approached by a peer, Jamal will respond to the peer by asking a question or making a comment about|

| |the topic. |

|Brandon, 8th grade |Brandon will walk through the halls of the school appropriately by walking on the right side of the hall|

| |and refraining from pushing peers. |

|Cindy, Kindergarten |Cindy will appropriately ask for an item that she wants to play with without grabbing the item or |

| |screaming. |

|Jose, 12th grade |Jose will identify the emotion of another person and will describe why the person is feeling that way. |

|Ivan, 3rd grade |Ivan will wait in line in the cafeteria without pushing the other students. |

Slide 7: Teach social skills that lead to problem behavior

• The IEP should help us work on missing skills before they become a big problem.

• Sometimes we teach social skills in reaction to problem behavior.

• It is important that you communicate with the teacher when you see that a student needs to improve certain social skills.

The IEP should help us work on missing skills before they become a big problem. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes we teach social skills in reaction to problem behavior. For example, Travis makes inappropriate comments at the lunch table trying to make the other high school boys laugh. On the playground, Becky will take the basketball away from another student. Remember Ishaan? He will yell out in class. All of these are examples of problem behaviors that are a result of not having the right social skills. All of these can and should be worked on at school! For example, Travis can work on talking about appropriate topics. Becky can work on sharing the basketball and Ishaan can work on raising his hand when he wants to answer the teacher.

As a paraprofessional you will be able to observe the student during social situations that the teacher may or may not see. Therefore, it is important that you communicate with the teacher when you see that a student needs to improve certain social skills. Talk about any problem behaviors. Talk about the skill the student needs to learn. Then, of course, talk about how you can work on this skill during the school day.

Slide 8: Apply it!

• Please get your “Apply it!” paper and go to the question titled Social Objectives.

• Answer the following questions.

o -List at least 3 social objectives that are written in the student’s IEP.

o -List at least one social skill the student can work on that will help address a problem behavior the student exhibits.

Please get your “Apply it!” paper for the presentation titled Social Skills. Go to the question titled Social Objectives. Pause the presentation and identify a student with ASD with whom you work. Write down the name of the student and answer the following.

-List at least 3 social objectives that are written in the student’s IEP.

-List at least one social skill the student can work on that will help address a problem behavior the student exhibits.

Once you have completed this activity share your responses with your supervisory teacher. This is a good opportunity to ensure you are aware of the social objectives your students are working on.

Slide 9: How do we teach social skills?

• We have to individualize how we teach the student social skills.

• The same strategies will not be effective for everyone with ASD.

• So how do we teach the social skills?

o Plan

o Execute a plan in a strategic manner

Just as with any other kind of instruction we have to individualize how we teach the student social skills. The same strategies will not be effective for everyone with ASD. This makes it important to tailor the intervention to the specific needs of the student.

So how do we teach the social skills? Once again, we must first develop a plan and then execute the plan in a strategic manner!

Slide 10: General intervention strategies

• There are general interventions that we can use all the time.

• These general strategies are really just simple tips we can incorporate into our daily routine to make sure we are teaching social skills and helping our students learn.

In the next presentation, we will discuss some specific strategies we can use to teach social skills. Before we look at specific strategies, it is important to note that there are general interventions that we can use all the time. These general strategies are really just simple tips we can incorporate into our daily routine to make sure we are teaching social skills and helping our students learn.

Let’s go over these tips individually on the next few slides.

Slide 11: Use natural opportunities to teach social skills

• Tip 1. Anytime there is a natural opportunity to work on a social skill, grab it!

• Opportunities to work on social skills happen ALL the TIME in school.

|Student Objective |Natural opportunity |

|When approached by a peer, Jamal will respond to the peer |Jamal is in art class and a peer asks him what he is making. The paraprofessional |

|by asking a question or making a comment about the topic. |sees this as a teaching opportunity and prompts Jamal to stop painting, look at |

| |the peer, and answer his question. |

|Brandon will walk through the halls of the school |Brandon is on his way to English. The paraprofessional knows that good behavior in|

|appropriately by walking on the right side of the hall and|the hall is a goal. She talks to Brandon about the hall rules before he leaves |

|refraining from pushing peers. |math and then follows him inconspicuously to make sure he walked appropriately. |

|Cindy will appropriately ask for an item that she wants |Cindy is playing blocks at the table with a classmate. The paraprofessional sees |

|without grabbing or screaming. |Cindy reaching for blocks that her peer is playing with without asking. The |

| |paraprofessional prompts Cindy to ask her peer for the blocks. |

Tip 1. Anytime there is a natural opportunity to work on a social skill, grab it!

Opportunities to work on social skills happen ALL the TIME in school. These opportunities might include a student entering a class and being able to say hi to a friend, asking to play or join a game, requesting supplies, sharing a bucket of blocks, following the cafeteria rules during lunch, and many, many more! It is important to capture these opportunities as often as possible.

Here are a few examples:

|Student Objective |Natural opportunity |

|When approached by a peer, Jamal will respond to the |Jamal is in art class and a peer asks him what he is making. The paraprofessional sees |

|peer by asking a question or making a comment about |this as a teaching opportunity and prompts Jamal to stop painting, look at the peer, and|

|the topic. |answer his question. |

|Brandon will walk through the halls of the school |Brandon is on his way to English. The paraprofessional knows that good behavior in the |

|appropriately by walking on the right side of the |hall is a goal. She talks to Brandon about the hall rules before he leaves math and then|

|hall and refraining from pushing peers. |follows him inconspicuously to make sure he walked appropriately. |

|Cindy will appropriately ask for an item that she |Cindy is playing blocks at the table with a classmate. The paraprofessional sees Cindy |

|wants without grabbing or screaming. |reaching for blocks that her peer is playing with without asking. The paraprofessional |

| |prompts Cindy to ask her peer for the blocks. |

Slide 12: Provide a lot of opportunities to teach social skills

• Tip 2. Provide a lot of opportunities to work on social skills.

• It will take a lot of teaching and practice.

|Student Objective |Created Opportunity |

|When approached by a peer, Jamal will respond to the |Jamal needs a lot of practice on this skill. Several times during the school day, the|

|peer by asking a question or making a comment about the |paraprofessional has a peer go up to Jamal and ask him a question. This gives him a |

|topic. |lot of opportunities to work on responding. |

|Brandon will walk through the halls of the school |The paraprofessional and teacher decide Brandon needs practice walking in the hall. |

|appropriately by walking on the right side of the hall |Every morning, prior to the start of class, Brandon is asked to deliver items to 2 |

|and refraining from pushing peers. |different classes. The paraprofessional goes with him to prompt him as needed. The |

| |halls are still busy and this gives him the opportunity to practice walking nicely. |

|Cindy will appropriately ask for an item that she wants |During center time, the paraprofessional has Cindy sit next to a classmate. They both|

|without grabbing or screaming. |are using Play Doh. The classmate has cookie cutters that Cindy likes. The |

| |paraprofessional prompts Cindy to ask the classmate for a cookie cutter. When Cindy |

| |is finished with the cutter, the paraprofessional has her ask for a different one. |

Tip 2. Provide a lot of opportunities to work on social skills.

Learning social skills will not be easy for the student with ASD. Remember, this is part of their disability, so it will take a lot of teaching and practice to help them learn. In addition to taking advantage of times that naturally pop up during the school day, you will also need to create times for the student to practice the skill. Let’s look at some examples:

|Student Objective |Created Opportunity |

|When approached by a peer, Jamal will respond to the peer by asking a |Jamal needs a lot of practice on this skill. Several times during the |

|question or making a comment about the topic. |school day, the paraprofessional has a peer go up to Jamal and ask him|

| |a question. This gives him a lot of opportunities to work on |

| |responding. |

|Brandon will walk through the halls of the school appropriately by |The paraprofessional and teacher decide Brandon needs practice walking|

|walking on the right side of the hall and refraining from pushing |in the hall. Every morning, prior to the start of class, Brandon is |

|peers. |asked to deliver items to 2 different classes. The paraprofessional |

| |goes with him to prompt him as needed. The halls are still busy and |

| |this gives him the opportunity to practice walking nicely. |

|Cindy will appropriately ask for an item that she wants without |During center time, the paraprofessional has Cindy sit next to a |

|grabbing or screaming. |classmate. They both are using Play Doh. The classmate has cookie |

| |cutters that Cindy likes. The paraprofessional prompts Cindy to ask |

| |the classmate for a cookie cutter. When Cindy is finished with the |

| |cutter, the paraprofessional has her ask for a different one. |

Slide 13: Provide praise and reinforcement

• Tip 3. Provide praise and reinforcement anytime the student uses an appropriate social skill or tries to use the skill.

• Reinforcement will increase the likelihood that the student will do the skill again in the future.

|Student Objective |Reinforcement |

|When approached by a peer, Jamal will respond to the peer by |After Jamal responds to the peer appropriately, he is able to talk to the |

|asking a question or making a comment about the topic. |paraprofessional about dinosaurs for a few seconds. Talking about |

| |dinosaurs is his favorite thing to do. |

|Brandon will walk through the halls of the school appropriately by|Each time Brandon walks in the hall nicely he earns 5 points on his token |

|walking on the right side of the hall and refraining from pushing |board. After he gets all of his points, he earns computer time. |

|peers. | |

|Cindy will appropriately ask for an item that she wants without |When Cindy appropriately asks for an item she is able to play with the |

|grabbing or screaming. |item for several minutes and is told “good job” or some other type of |

| |praise. |

Tip 3. Provide praise and reinforcement anytime the student uses an appropriate social skill or tries to use the skill.

Many students appreciate praise and like to know that they are doing a good job, so be sure to provide a lot of praise to the student! For example, when Brandon walks nicely in the hall, he should get a lot of attention and recognition!

Earlier we talked about the importance of reinforcement. Reinforcement will increase the likelihood that the student will do the skill again in the future. Again, remember that learning social skills is hard! We may need to provide a powerful reinforcement to motivate the student and help him use the new skill. Here are some examples:

|Student Objective |Reinforcement |

|When approached by a peer, Jamal will respond to the peer by |After Jamal responds to the peer appropriately, he is able to talk to the |

|asking a question or making a comment about the topic. |paraprofessional about dinosaurs for a few seconds. Talking about |

| |dinosaurs is his favorite thing to do. |

|Brandon will walk through the halls of the school appropriately by|Each time Brandon walks in the hall nicely he earns 5 points on his token |

|walking on the right side of the hall and refraining from pushing |board. After he gets all of his points, he earns computer time. |

|peers. | |

|Cindy will appropriately ask for an item that she wants without |When Cindy appropriately asks for an item she is able to play with the |

|grabbing or screaming. |item for several minutes and is told “good job” or some other type of |

| |praise. |

Slide 14: Provide prompting

• Tip 4. Prompt the student to help him or her how learn to use the new skill.

• You want to provide just enough prompting so the student can do the skill as independently as possible.

• Prompts:

o Physical,

o Partial physical,

o Gesture,

o Model, and

o Verbal

Tip 4. Prompt the student to help him or her learn how to use the new skill.

The student will have to be taught the new skill. Therefore, we will need to prompt him either physically or verbally as he is learning. We discussed prompting in an earlier presentation so you should be familiar with this technique. Remember, you want to provide just enough prompting so the student can do the skill as independently as possible. There are a variety of different kinds of prompts we can use. They include: Physical, partial physical, gesture, model, and verbal. You will want to use the type of prompt that works for the student.

Slide 15: Provide prompting continued

|Student Objective |Prompt |

|When approached by a peer, Jamal will respond to the peer by |When the peer goes up to Jamal and asks him a question, the paraprofessional |

|asking a question or making a comment about the topic. |provides a gesture prompt by pointing at the peer. This reminds Jamal he is to|

| |stop what he is doing and look at the peer. The paraprofessional then provides|

| |a verbal prompt and helps Jamal answer the question. |

|Brandon will walk through the halls of the school |As the paraprofessional and Brandon begin walking down the hall, Brandon |

|appropriately by walking on the right side of the hall and |begins to go to the left hand side of the hall. The paraprofessional provides|

|refraining from pushing peers. |Brandon with a partial physical prompt by placing her hand on his shoulder to |

| |direct him to the right side of the hall. |

|Cindy will appropriately ask for an item that she wants |When the paraprofessional sees Cindy reaching for an item without asking first|

|without grabbing or screaming. |she holds up her hand to prompt Cindy to stop and models asking for the item |

| |for Cindy. She then provides Cindy the opportunity to ask for the item. |

Here are some examples of using prompts:

|Student Objective |Prompt |

|When approached by a peer, Jamal will respond to the peer by |When the peer goes up to Jamal and asks him a question, the paraprofessional |

|asking a question or making a comment about the topic. |provides a gesture prompt by pointing at the peer. This reminds Jamal he is to|

| |stop what he is doing and look at the peer. The paraprofessional then provides|

| |a verbal prompt and helps Jamal answer the question. |

|Brandon will walk through the halls of the school |As the paraprofessional and Brandon begin walking down the hall, Brandon |

|appropriately by walking on the right side of the hall and |begins to go to the left hand side of the hall. The paraprofessional provides|

|refraining from pushing peers. |Brandon with a partial physical prompt by placing her hand on his shoulder to |

| |direct him to the right side of the hall. |

|Cindy will appropriately ask for an item that she wants |When the paraprofessional sees Cindy reaching for an item without asking first|

|without grabbing or screaming. |she holds up her hand to prompt Cindy to stop and models asking for the item |

| |for Cindy. She then provides Cindy the opportunity to ask for the item. |

Slide 16: Know when you will work on different skills

• Tip 5. Know when you will work on different social skills during the school day!

• As a paraprofessional, you may be balancing a lot of different students and teaching lots of different skills.

• To make sure you are working on social skills as frequently as you need to, outline when you are supposed to work on them.

Tip 5. Know when you will work on different social skills during the school day!

As a paraprofessional, you may be balancing a lot of different students. With each student, you will be teaching a lot of different skills. To make sure you are working on social skills as frequently as you need to, outline when you are supposed to work on them. It will be helpful to create a daily schedule that lists the skills you are to work on at different times of the day. Even though you are working on them throughout the day when the opportunity arises, scheduling will ensure that each skill is worked on regularly.

Slide 17: Know when you will work on different skills continued

Here is an example for Jamal:

|Time of Day |Social Skill |

|8:00-8:15 |Greet teacher |

| |Wait in line to use bathroom |

|8:15-8:30 |Respond to peer |

|8:30 – 8:45 |Take turns on computer with classmate |

|8:45-9:00 |Raise hand to answer question |

|9:00-9:30 |Greet resource teacher |

| |Respond to peer |

| |Raise hand to answer question |

|9:30-9:45 |Walk appropriately in line |

| |Respond to peer |

Here is an example for Jamal:

|Time of Day |Social Skill |

|8:00-8:15 |Greet teacher |

| |Wait in line to use bathroom |

|8:15-8:30 |Respond to peer |

|8:30 – 8:45 |Take turns on computer with classmate |

|8:45-9:00 |Raise hand to answer question |

|9:00-9:30 |Greet resource teacher |

| |Respond to peer |

| |Raise hand to answer question |

|9:30-9:45 |Walk appropriately in line |

| |Respond to peer |

Slide 18: Apply it!

• Please get the “Apply it!” paper for the presentation titled Social Skills and find the question titled Targeting Social Skills throughout the School Day.

• Complete the following:

o -Write down the student’s daily schedule. You do not need to get too detailed. Simply write down the big activities the student completes (e.g. walking to class, unpack, reading, lunch, math, etc.)

o -Next to each daily activity, write down at least one social goal that could be worked on during that time period.

Please get the “Apply it!” paper for the presentation titled Social Skills and find the question titled Targeting Social Skills throughout the School Day. Pause the presentation and identify a student with ASD with whom you work. Write down the name of the student and complete the following:

-Write down the student’s daily schedule. You do not need to get too detailed. Simply write down the big activities the student completes (e.g. walking to class, unpack, reading, lunch, math, etc.)

-Next to each daily activity, write down at least one social goal that could be worked on during that time period.

Once you have completed this activity share your responses with your supervisory teacher. This is a good opportunity to ensure you have outlined the social skills you are to work on throughout the entire school day.

Slide 19: Break the skill down

• Tip 6: Break the skill into small steps so the student can learn it easily.

• A task analysis breaks a big task down into smaller more doable steps.

• How is a task analysis used to teach social skills?

o First, the steps needed to complete the skill are written down.

o Next, the student is taught the individual steps of the task and reinforced for demonstrating the steps until they can complete the entire skill.

Tip 6: Break the skill into small steps so the student can learn it easily.

Do you remember how we talked before about using task analysis? We use task analysis to teach many different skills, such as washing hands. A task analysis breaks a big task down into smaller, more doable steps. For example, with washing hands, we first teach turning on the water. Next we teach putting hands in the water, then getting soap, then rubbing hands, and rinsing hands. With a task analysis one step is taught until the student can do it well, then we move on to the next step until the student can do that step well, and so on until they can do the entire skill.

Can you think of how task analysis can be used to teach social skills? It is done in the same way as you would teach other types of skills. First, the steps needed to complete the skill are written down. Next, the student is taught the individual steps of the task and reinforced for demonstrating the steps until they can complete the entire skill.

Slide 20: Example of breaking the skill down

|Jamal |Alana |

|Stop what he is doing |Roll the dice |

|Look at the peer |Move the game piece |

|Say “hi” to the peer |Tell your partner where you landed |

|Listen to the peer |Put hands in lap |

|Respond to the peer |Watch your partner as he rolls the dice |

| |Watch your partner as he moves his game piece |

| |Listen to your partner as he says where he landed |

Think about how complicated some of our social skills are. Let’s look at an example of a task analysis using Jamal. Jamal is to learn to respond to a peer who walks up and talks to him. This means Jamal has to learn to do a lot of different things. In this example, when we use a task analysis and break the skill down we teach him to do 5 steps:

1. Stop what he is doing

2. Look at the peer

3. Say “hi” to the peer

4. Listen to the peer

5. Respond to the peer

Jamal could be asked almost anything from a peer so we have to slowly teach him how to respond to different comments and questions. This will take time.

Let’s look at another example. We may want to teach Alana to play a game that requires taking turns with a classmate. Here is how we can break down the steps to this skill to teach them. A task analysis for taking turns in a dice game may look something like this:

1. Roll the dice

2. Move the game piece

3. Tell your partner where you landed

4. Put hands in lap

5. Watch your partner as he rolls the dice

6. Watch your partner as he moves his game piece

7. Listen to your partner as he says where he landed

Slide 21: Think about it!

• Locate your “Think about it!” paper for the presentation for Social Skills and go to the question titled Telling a Peer about the Weekend.

• Think about the following social situation and develop a task analysis for that skill.

• Break the skill down and outline the steps you would teach to the student:

o Telling a peer about something you did over the weekend.

Locate your “Think about it!” paper for the presentation for Social Skills and go to the question titled Telling a Peer about the Weekend. Think about the following social situation and develop a task analysis for that skill. Break the skill down and outline the steps you would teach to the student.

• Telling a peer about something you did over the weekend.

Slide 22: Thoughts!

• There are many ways that “telling a peer about something you did over the weekend” could be made into a task analysis. Here is one example:

1. Walk up to a friend

2. Say hello

3. Ask your friend “what did you do this weekend”

4. Look at your friend

5. Listen to the response

6. Say “that sounds like fun”

7. Say “I ____________ this weekend”

8. Look at your friend

9. Say “see you later”

There are many ways that “telling a peer about something you did over the weekend” could be made into a task analysis. Here is one example of what you might have thought about.

Here is a task analysis for “telling a peer about something you did over the weekend”.

1. Walk up to a friend

2. Say hello

3. Ask your friend “what did you do this weekend”

4. Look at your friend

5. Listen to the response

6. Say “that sounds like fun”

7. Say “I ____________ this weekend”

8. Look at your friend

9. Say “see you later”

Slide 23: Summary

• There are strategies available to help support students learn and use social skills appropriately.

• It is necessary to individualize these skills that are taught to the student.

• As a paraprofessional you will be instrumental in identifying social skills the student needs to work on.

• You will also be teaching the student social skills throughout the entire school day.

• It is very important to use a variety of different strategies to help the student learn.

Social skill deficits and challenges are significant among students with ASD. There are strategies available to help support students learn and use social skills appropriately. Students with ASD range in their ability and skill level; therefore, it is necessary to individualize these skills that are taught to the student.

As a paraprofessional you will be instrumental in identifying social skills the student needs to work on. You will also be teaching the student social skills throughout the entire school day. It is very important to use a variety of different strategies to help the student learn.

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