Strategies for Social & Play Skills

Transcription

1 Strategies for Social & Play Skills Parent Training Group March 12, 2013 K A R I T S S A F E R N A N D E Z B A R R Y, M. E D., B C B A B E H A V I O R S P E C I A L I S T M O N R O E T W P. S C H O O L S

2 Think of your last trip to the supermarket. List all of the social skills you needed to utilize: Was there an employee greeting at the entrance? Did you have to go to the deli or meat counters? Maneuvering through the aisles At the end of the aisle, was someone passing by with their cart At the register, was there someone ahead of you?

3 Importance of Teaching Social Skills Social skills are critical in all aspects of daily life. Almost every experience has a social component As adults, social skills are usually more critical than academic skills Consequences of good social skills: Interact effectively with family, teachers & peers Creates a positive, and reinforcing environment

4 Role of Parents in Teaching Social Skills Parents are the most effective teachers in a child s life. These skills need to be taught, just like you would teach or assist any other skills (academics, self-help, etc.)

5 Social Skills Areas Peer Awareness Perspective Taking School & Community Play Language

6 Social Skills Development: Tolerating others in own space Using eye contact Communicating with others Taking turns and sharing with others Paying attention and following directions Problem solving Controlling temper, frustration, and anger Shades of gray

7

8 Characteristics of Social Skills Primarily acquired through learning (observation, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback) Comprised of specific discrete verbal and nonverbal behaviors Involved both effective and appropriate initiations and responses Maximize social reinforcement Michelson, et. al. (1983)

9 Characteristics of Social Skills Interactive by nature Social skills performance are influenced by the environment Deficits and excesses can be specified and targeted for intervention

10 Lack of knowledge Five Reasons for Deficient Social Skill Functioning Lack of practice or feedback Lack of cues or opportunities Lack of reinforcement Interfering problem behaviors Gordon, et.al. (1999)

11 Effective Teaching of Social Skills Relies on tailoring interventions and strategies to the type of social deficit Acquisition: Don t know how to Motivation: Don t want to Fluency: Not fast enough

12 How do play skills affect social relationships? Play skills are the foundation for establishing relationships with peers A child who cannot play with others misses out on one of the most important ways that children relate to one another Atypical play skills or deficits will set the child apart from their peers Strong play skills assist in developing other social skills such as: Learning to cooperate with others Learning to empathize with others Learning to work collaboratively to develop ideas Weiss & Harris, 2001

13 Four Different Types of Play Solitary Play: child plays by themselves One and two-step toy manipulation Parallel Play: Child plays near another child; occasionally shows interest or exchanges toys but not really interactive Associative Play: Several children are engaged in the same play and interact with one another. They share equipment or toys but each child goes on her own way. Cooperative Play: Children work together toward common goal or share a fantasy theme that requires mutual exchange to build a scenario

14 Dimensions Of Play Skills Duration: How long do they play? Reciprocity: Is there a back and forth exchange between the children? Quality: How age appropriate is the play?

15 Sequence of Teaching Play Skills Identify toys, games, or leisure activities your child may naturally gravitate to Begin teaching appropriate interaction with you as the play mate Systematically introduce a playmate (sibling; cousin)

16 Where do I start? Identify a play or social skills deficit that your child demonstrates. Select a relevant skill Select a skill that can be practiced daily Select a skill that needs to be demonstrated fluently

17 How To Teach Social Skills Direct Instruction Modeling/Demonstration Shaping & Chaining Practice Role play Reinforcement Behavior specific feedback

18 Social Skills: Not a One Time Intervention

19 Direct Teaching Identify the steps for the social skill you want to teach Chaining Show steps in writing and/or pictures Determine which steps if any, your child can already do Use prompts (hand-over hand; gestures) Use different mediums Provide reinforcement

20 Practice, Practice, Practice Identify situations for skill application Plan and set aside specific & consistent time(s) to review, rehearse, and reinforce social skills The new social skill needs to become a replacement behavior via frequent opportunities to teach, practice and be successful (similar to playing a sport, musical instrument, or academic skill) Selbst, 2010

21 Reinforcement Why is reinforcement so important? Increase the likelihood that the skill will be demonstrated again Creates a positive association with the skill Creates a positive association with the person Increases the likelihood of habit formation *Rotate or change reinforcers frequently

22 Reinforcer Effectiveness Deprivation: how long has it been? Immediacy: within 3 seconds Size: the amount must be worth the efforts Contingent: only available when the desired behavior occurs

23 What do I use to teach social skills?

24 Adult-Mediated Social Skills Mediums Puppets or stuffed animals as part of role playing Video-modeling Peer/Sibling models Comic strips Social stories Visual cue cards/photographs Social scripts

25 Adult-Mediated Social Skills Mediums Child-appropriate TV shows to demonstrate good social behaviors Pause show Have child imitate Use a mirror for visual feedback of facial expressions Feelings poster Storytelling games

26 Social Stories Developed to help improve social interactions by giving simple and clear descriptions of social cues and appropriate behaviors. Teach situation-specific social skills Written from the child s perspective Story should be in present tense Use pictures and words at the child s comprehension level Carol Gray

27 Social Stories Additional tips for writing social stories: Use only a few sentences per page Avoid words such as always and instead use sometimes or usually Write sentences in a positive connotation instead of describing inappropriate behaviors Can be paired with audio

28 Video Modeling Involves presenting a videotape of models engaging in the specific actions or verbalizations Prerequisite skills: One-step imitation with toys Attend from at least a five foot distance Have an interest in videos/tv Video should be shown 2-3 times

29 Video Modeling Advantages: Provides child with visual repetition of the play/social skill Allows for practice to engage in that skill immediately after it s been viewed Strong motivation for videos (inherently reinforcing) NECC, 2007

30 Social/Play Scripts Provides the child with a sample/model of what to say and do in a social or play situation. They provide the child with a greater range of play skills and increase social interactions Can be utilized as a prompt and paired with other teaching mediums such as: Puppets/stuffed animals role play Video modeling Role-playing with peers/siblings

31 Social/Play Scripts Considerations when using scripts: Child s communication skills Child s attention span Shorter versus longer sequences Type of play the script is utilized for: Simple construction play (potato head; making beaded necklace) Toy play (imitate single actions with objects or characters) Pretend play (act out a scene using objects/characters) Reciprocal pretend play with a peer (interactive play using objects)

32 Comic Strips An effective tool to support instruction for appropriate social situations. Offers explicit, step by step visuals (assists with acquisition) Often pairs a communicative statement with an action (assists with performance) Pair the comic strip with role playing Carol Gray

33 Perspective -Taking Sometimes referred to as Theory of Mind The ability to understand an experience from another person s point of view. Lack of perspective taking is a significant barrier to the development of friendships A difficult skill to master as it requires coordination between: Language skills Abstract thinking Social understanding

34 Social skills Needed for Perspective Taking Identification of: emotions in simple stories emotions of others in context emotions of self in context multiple emotions in one person (self/other) multiple emotions for multiple individuals Social responses (saying bless you, thank you ) Social awareness of real versus pretend

35 Considerations for Perspective-Taking Two major challenges in the early stages: Understanding that perception is relative Who you are, your experiences, etc. Understanding that context of events is important No single event can be understood in isolation Weiss & Harris

36 Initial Steps to Teach Perspective Taking Field of vision task Goal: understanding that another person might not be able to see things exactly as you do The child learns to identify their own and another person s perspective relative to an object in their field of vision Example: Sit back to back with your child, each facing different objects. Ask questions such as Can you see the?, Can I see the? referring to objects visible only to either your child or you.

37 Initial Steps to Teach Perspective Taking Pretending Goal: understanding that people may view the function of an object differently (i.e., what the object is really used for and what someone is pretending it is). Works on abstract thinking Example: Using a hairbrush as a phone; a bowl as a hat *practice logical and illogical scenarios

38 Generalization of Social Skills From initial instruction: Teach in situations that are as similar as possible Vary the way you practice and role-play the skills Reinforce the skill in all environments Pair tangible reinforcement with praise and attention Systematically decrease physical prompts and gestures

39 Generalization of Social Skills Socratic Approach Use verbal mediation to get the child to think about what to do in situations Ask the child what they need to do rather than telling them what to do e.g. What do you do when someone is talking? rather than Please sit nicely and look at me.

40 Generalization of Social Skills Social problem solving using social autopsy Post-situation monitoring Assist the child in figuring out the social error they have made Discuss options that they could have utilized in order to have improved the situation Avoid using should have and instead use could

41 Final thoughts: Take it one day at a time Seek assistance from other family members Maintain a positive outlook

42 THANK YOU FOR COMING!