Effects of a Group Teaching Interaction Procedure on the Social Skills of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
One of the distinct characteristics of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is significant delays in socialization. Students with ASD often struggle to develop meaningful social relationships with their peers. Learning appropriate socialization skills is a necessary first step that is often taught using a systematic, direct instruction approach. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a Teaching Interaction (TI) procedure on four social skills across four elementary aged participants with ASD. All participants received training on the same social skills within a group setting through daily instruction at school. A modified multiple probe design showed that the TI procedure was effective in teaching all the targeted social skills to the participants. Prior to intervention, the participants showed relatively low levels of the four social skills targeted; however, after intervention, all participants showed a significant increase in their ability to perform the skills. Furthermore, the data show that all participants maintained the learned social skills over time. Autism Spectrum Disorder is diagnosed by pediatricians throughout the United States at a rate of one in 68 children (Center for Disease Control, 2012) One of the core deficits of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is a qualitative impairment in the area of socialization. This deficit in the development of social skills is characterized by a lack of understanding of the nonverbal behaviors that regulate social interactions, failure to build developmentally appropriate peer relationships, the lack of joint attention to objects or enjoyment, and a lack of social or emotional reciprocity (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) Researchers have found that children with ASD have friendships that may occur periodically, most commonly through the facilitation of their parents and/or teachers (Bauminger Shulman, 2003) However, these relationships are often qualitatively different when compared to those of typicallydeveloping children (Bauminger Kasari, 2000) One explanation for this marked difference in socialization for children with ASD may be that they lack the necessary social skills to facilitate reciprocal relationships. Because socialization is a core deficit for students with ASD that has the capacity to negatively affect their social functioning throughout their lives, behavioral interventions should focus on teaching social skills to these students (Flynn Healy, 2012) Much attention has been given to defining the qualitative differences of the social interactions of students with ASD, but there is little agreement in the literature about how to most effectively address the teaching of these core skills (Flynn Healy, 2012) which may be the result of differences that occur in the manifestation of the disability (Kasari et al. 2005) A large body of literature supports intensive one on one instruction for students with ASD, but this method may be difficult to implement in a typical classroom setting, and less effective in teaching some pivotal skills such as social interaction (Steege, Mace, Perry, Longenecker, 2007) Teaching social skills through a group instructional format provides several advantages over individual instruction of the same skills. Charlop, Schreibam, and Tryon Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Brooks Peters, University of North Georgia, Department of Education, 5426 Landsdowne Court, Cummings, GA 30041. E mail: Brooks.peters@ung.edu Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 2016, 51(4) 421 433 (c) Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities Group Social Skills Teaching 421 (1983) found that group social skills instruction provides an increased opportunity for students to learn through observation of their peers. Additionally, this instructional format allows not only for more students to be instructed at one point in time, but allows for instruction to be provided in a more naturalistic environment. Students with ASD present with a noted difference in their ability to generalize information taught in contrived environments (Charlop et al. 1983) Therefore, teaching socialization skills within the context of a social group provides an opportunity for the targeted skills to be practiced and shaped within the naturalistic setting, which may lead to an increased likelihood of generalization (Dotson, Leaf, Sheldon, Sherman, 2010) Over the past 30 years, researchers have utilized the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA) to design a number of social skills interventions for students with ASD (Matson, Matson, Rivet, 2007) A variety of interventions have been utilized to address this skill deficit. Social stories (Barry Burlew, 2004; Gray Garand, 1993) video modeling (Apple, Billingsley, Schwartz, 2005; Charlop Christy, Le, Freeman, 2000) discrete trial teaching (Lovaas, 1987; McEachin, Smith, Lovaas, 1993) and behavioral skills training (Stewart, Carr, LeBlanc, 2007) are several of the interventions that have resulted in a positive effect on the social skills development of students with ASD. One specific intervention that shows potential to assist students in this population in advancing their social competence is the Teaching Interaction procedure (TI; Leaf et al. 2009) TI is based upon the principles of applied behavior analysis and is a systematic teaching procedure during which the teacher describes the behavior, provides a rationale for the use of the behavior, provides cues of what social situations are appropriate for its use, and then demonstrates the behavior for the students. The learners' roles within TI are to role play the behavior being taught and adjust this performance based upon feedback from the teacher. TI is very similar to behavioral skills training, but it differs in that it provides a rationale for the behavior. This rationale is provided to encourage the student to engage in self instruction and self management of the social skill when in socialization situations outside of the presence of the teacher (Leaf, Dotson, Oppenheim, Sheldon, Sherman, 2010) Minkin et al. (1976) initially implemented TI with four adolescent girls with social deficits, and found that all participants demonstrated an increase in conversational skills. In a follow up study, Maloney et al. (1976) systematically replicated the Minkin et al. (1976) study and reported similar findings. TI has since been utilized to teach safety skills to young children without disabilities (Yeaton Bailey, 1978) and to facilitate staff training (Harchik, Sherman, Sheldon, Strouse, 1992) Leaf et al. (2009) were the first researchers to implement TI, combined with a token economy system, to teach social skills to students with ASD. Four pro social behaviors were taught to each of the three participants in a one to one setting, and all the participants showed an increase in all targeted social skill behaviors. The study expanded the research base through demonstrating that the use of the TI procedure is effective for teaching social skills to students with ASD. Leaf et al. (2010) expanded their research by implementing the TI procedure to improve social skills behaviors of five students with ASD in a group clinical setting. They sought to determine if the TI procedure was as effective in a group setting for this population, as it was within a one to one setting. Whereas children with ASD have noted deficits in observational learning necessary for learning within a group instruction environment (Varni, Lovaas, Koegel, Everett, 1979) Leaf et al. (2010) evaluated the effectiveness and possible advantages of teaching participants with ASD within a group setting. All five elementary aged participants showed marked improvement from baseline in the performance of the social skills targeted. The study extended the research through the implementation of TI in group social skills instruction, as well as evaluating the sustainability effect of the outcomes for each participant. Dotson et al. (2010) systematically replicated the earlier Leaf et al. (2010) study with five adolescents with ASD in a private afterschool program in a university setting, two days per week. The results of this study were consistent with the previous research and found marked increases in the pro social be422 Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities December 2016 haviors targeted for the participants. Results showed that group instruction increased the probability of observational learning of the participants and allowed them to see multiple exemplars of the same social skill. Taken as a whole, the Dotson et al. (2010) and Leaf et al. (2010) studies demonstrated that group instruction of social skills utilizing TI is a promising method for teaching social skills to students with ASD. Although the TI intervention, as well as other social skills treatments that have been found effective for teaching social skills to children with ASD, many have only been studied within highly controlled clinical settings. With the rise in identification of students with ASD, school systems nationwide are searching to find an approach to social skills training for this population that is both effective and costefficient (Flynn Healy, 2012) One to one teaching is highly costly to implement within the school based setting, and group interventions are often the route educators must take to address the needs of their students in a cost effective manner (Chasson, Harris, Neely, 2007) However, without the appropriate systematic intensive instruction backed by empirical research, schools are struggling to provide appropriate social skills instruction for students with ASD (Cappadocia Weiss, 2010; Flynn Healy, 2012) The purpose of this study was to extend the Leaf et al. (2010) study through investigating the effectiveness of group TI ins