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| A Behavior Analytic Approach to Using Social Stories to Increase Appropriate Behavior in Individuals with Autism |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 131 A |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Sarah M. Dunkel, M.S. |
| DAWN ALLISON BAILEY (Behavior Management Consultants, Inc) |
| Description: Individuals with autism are most often identified by deficits in social interactions and social skills. Behavior analysts consulting with parents and teachers are frequently asked to assist in developing Social Stories for clients; however, the research available to behavior analysts can be described as inconclusive at best. The most promising results to date indicate that social stories are most effective when combined with prompts and/or reinforcement. These conflicting data present challenges to the behavior analyst seeking to provide the best service to his clients. This workshop will include a brief review of the existing literature on Social Story interventions from a behavior analytic perspective. This will be followed by a presentation of basic guidelines for developing a social story and a discussion of how to include both prompts and reinforcement as part of the Social Story intervention. Participants will develop a Social Story of their own during the workshop and will devise strategies for including prompts and reinforcement in the natural environment. |
| Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will identify and define a specific deficit or excess for a target individual with autism or a developmental disability
2. Participants will evaluate the environment where behavior change is desired and will identify variables to be addressed before implementing their social story intervention
3. Participants will define social deficits (or excesses) in such a way that objective data may be collected to evaluate their social story intervention
4. Participants will develop data collection tools in order to evaluate their social story interventions
5. Participants will learn to write each of the prescribed sentence types for a social story (including sentences that are more "behavioral" than those initially prescribed in current social story literature)
6. Participants will identify all of the necessary components for a Behavioral Social Story and will learn to write a story that satisfies these requirements. In this way, participants will develop a social story to address a specific social deficit (or excess) and a fading procedure for the presentation of the social story
6. Participants will identify prompting and reinforcement strategies that can be used in concert with the social story intervention |
| Activities: Audience will complete worksheets and participate in a variety of activities designed to help them (a) write a social story, (b) identify necessary prompts for evoking appropriate behaviors, (c) identify ways to incorporate "natural" and "contrived" reinforcers into the story intervention, (d) take baseline and treatment data on targeted skills or behaviors |
| Audience: Practitioners and teachers |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |