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| Teaching Social Behavior to Children with Autism |
| Saturday, May 29, 2004 |
| 2:30 PM–3:20 PM |
| Back Bay D |
| Area: AUT |
| Chair: Mary D. Salmon (The Ohio State University) |
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| Effects of Socio-Dramatic Script Training with Puppets on the Social Behavior of a Young Child with Autism |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| MARY D. SALMON (The Ohio State University), Stacie McConnell (Oakstone Academy), Diane M. Sainato (The Ohio State University) |
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| Abstract: Many children with disabilities experience significant delay in the area of social behavior. Placement in an inclusive classroom is not likely to facilitate social interactions among children with disabilities and their typical peers unless it is explicitly programmed for. This study, implemented in an inclusive preschool setting, was designed to demonstrate that through the combined use of puppets and socio-dramatic script training embedded in storybooks a child with autism could improve his social interactions with peers and develop increased communication behavior. A multiple baseline design across scripts was used to assess change in target behaviors, related and unrelated behaviors, social and non-social interactions. IOA data were collected during 25% of sessions for each participant and script. IOA ranged from 82%-100% across all scripts, all conditions for total theme related, unrelated, and non-social behaviors. Procedural integrity was assessed during 25% of sessions across all phases. Social and communicative behavior increased for all participants during the study, and was maintained without teacher facilitation during the maintenance condition. The combined strategies of socio-dramatic script training embedded in storybooks and puppet play were effective in increasing the social and communicative interactions of a child with autism and two typically developing peers. |
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| The Effects of Prompting and Social Reinforcement on Establishing Social Interactions for Three Children with Autism in Kindergarten |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| ANGELIKI GENA (National University of Athens) |
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| Abstract: Prior research in Greece has demonstrated that the main area in which children with autism lag behind their peers in inclusive kindergartens was that of social interactions with peers. The goals set in the present study for the inclusion of three preschoolers with autism in Kindergarten were based on normative data pertaining to social interactions of students from Greek Kindergartens in various areas of Athens. The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of prompting and social reinforcement, provided by a shadow teacher, in improving or in establishing for the first time a social repertoire for children with autism that would increase their interactions with their classmates. The findings of the present study are particularly encouraging since they indicate that both responding to peer initiations as well as initiating interactions with peers were increased for all three children and were invariably maintained across time upon withdrawal of treatment. Those changes were critical in improving the overall social adjustment of the children with autism in the inclusive Kindergarten settings. Interobserver reliability measures were collected on 33% of the data. |
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