Publication Date
Spring 2017
Advisor(s) - Committee Chair
Christina Noel (Director), Carl Myers, and Elizabeth Jones
Degree Program
Department of Psychology
Degree Type
Specialist in Education
Abstract
The literature suggests that adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are characterized by restricted interests and deficits in social skills (White, Keonig, & Scahill, 2007). Due to the deficits associated with ASD, adolescents with ASD do not typically engage in social interactions at a rate similar to their same age typicallydeveloping peers (Wagner, Cadwallader, Garza, & Cameto, 2004). This study assessed whether explicit social skills instruction in a restricted interest group in an afterschool club setting increased the frequency of specific social skills in two students identified with ASD. A multiple baseline experimental design was implemented across behaviors. During baseline measures, the participants showed minimal social interactions. During intervention, results showed increases in the social skills being measured. These results have implications for understanding factors related to developing social skills in adolescents with ASD.
Disciplines
School Psychology | Special Education and Teaching
Recommended Citation
Cummings, Krista Shea, "Using Explicit Social Skills Instruction Combined with a Restricted Interest Group to Increase the Frequency of Social Skills in Students with Autism" (2017). Masters Theses & Specialist Projects. Paper 1918.
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1918