The purpose of the present study was to increase peer interactions of a toddler who is nonnative. A 30-month old boy evidenced social withdrawal when playing at playgrounds. Social skills training served as the intervention to increase social initiations by this participant. Targeted social skills included greeting peers, gesturing to peers,…

This study examined the perceptions of adolescent girls with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) who were participating in a support group. The focus of the study was to explore the perceptions of the girls' friendships, connectedness with others, ability to establish and maintain relationships, and self-perceptions within the group. The…

The findings of a best-evidence synthesis of the collateral effect of literacy instruction on the social adjustment of students are reported. The goal of the synthesis was to extend the work of Wanzek, Vaughn, Kim, and Cavanaugh (2006) by (a) reviewing treatment-outcomes conducted using group design methodology; (b) focusing on a more defined set…

Selective mutism is a childhood disorder that most school psychologists and educational providers will come across at least once in their careers. Selective mutism is associated with significant impairment in educational settings where speaking is necessary for academic and social skill development. Effective treatments for selective mutism…

Recent efforts to improve American educational practices have focused on determining the efficacy of interventions and instructional practices via randomized controlled trials. Aligned with this effort, the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), the primary funding agency for experimental research in education, has organized grant funding into…

Children with autism have severe and pervasive impairments in social interactions and communication that impact most areas of daily living and often limit independent engagement in leisure activities. We taught four children with autism to engage in an age-appropriate leisure skill, playing the video game Guitar Hero II[TM], through the use of (a)…

Children with autism often lack complex socially expressive skills that would allow them to engage others more successfully. In the present study, video modeling was used to promote appropriate verbal comments, intonation, gestures, and facial expressions during social interactions of three children with autism. In baseline, the children rarely…

Self-monitoring is a well-studied and widely used self-management skill in which a person observes and records his or her own behavior. Video feedback (VFB) occurs when an instructor videotapes a child's performances and reviews the footage with the child and potentially allows the child to score or evaluate their own behavior. A multiple-probe…

Although the conceptual foundations of PBS at the universal level have been widely described and presented in the literature, secondary and tertiary interventions have been presented through very limited examples. This paper defines the key features of secondary and tertiary interventions and presents a decision-making process to guide schools…

Behavioral skills training (BST) was combined with in-situ training to teach young children to solicit help when they become lost from a caregiver at a store. Three children were taught to approach a cashier, tell the cashier their name, and inform the cashier that they are lost. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate…

Social competence is essential for successful performance in school and life. Siedentop (1980) suggested that physical education settings and related activities may serve as useful vehicles for improving pro-social skills and values. Physical education literature draws a clear distinction between educating about, in, and through movement (Arnold,…

We evaluated a social skills intervention with four children who had autism during interactive play with typical peers at a public elementary school. Paraprofessional staff (classroom assistants) used preteaching, rewards, and prompting to increase social initiations by the children toward peers. The children's social responses to peer initiations…

Evidence for the validity of the Social Skills Rating System for Teachers, Preschool Level (SSRS-T) as a measure of positive social skills and conduct problems was examined in a sample of Head Start preschoolers. One feature of the study was the comparative analysis of the original published factor structure of the Social Skills Scale (i.e.,…

This study examined the effects of an assessment-based intervention plan on the appropriate classroom behavior of a socially withdrawn, Hispanic, learning disabled, third grade student. The study focused on (1) the effects of peer mediation as part of a behavioral intervention package of empirically validated components, (2) the effects of…

Efficacy research on video modeling as an instructional approach for individuals with autism has been found to be a promising area for teachers and researchers. Over the last three decades the literature has shown successful use of video modeling for teaching a variety of social, academic, and functional skills. The purpose of this literature…