Social Skills Interventions

Running head: SOCIAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS

Social Skills Development Interventions to Build Positive Peer Relationships

Neely Vacura Winder

Concordia University

A Research Report Presented to

The Graduate Program in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Masters in Education

Concordia University-Portland

2016

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SOCIAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS

Social Skills Interventions and Their Effects on

Positive Peer Relationships Research

As children with special needs mature, they may fall further behind their peers in social

skills essential to build peer relationships. These skills involve the theory of mind and

understanding of intentionality. For children with special needs the acquisition of social skills

may not occur naturally. Without social skills learning opportunities and interventions that focus

directly on social and play skills within the context of the inclusive setting, these children may

continue to feel like they exist in isolation (Harper & Symon, 2008). In addition, research states

that social deficits contribute substantially to poor outcomes for adults with special needs. A

lack of social competence may result in difficulty with maintaining employment, poor school

achievement, depression, and anxiety. However, improvements in the social functioning of

children with special needs will lead to a reduction in the risk of mental health problems, an

enhancement of academic functioning, and more positive relationships with peers (Radley,

2014).

Literature Review

Didactic Instruction for Increased Peer Interaction

Children with disabilities are more commonly educated in inclusive settings; however,

play and social skills continue to need to be explicitly taught in order to provide opportunity for

positive social interactions. Harper and Symon (2008) incorporated Pivotal Response Training

(PRT) through peer-mediated practice to improve social interactions for children with autism

during recess activities. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to assess social

skills gains in two elementary school children. The results demonstrated an increase in the

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important social skills of social initiations and turn taking during recess (Harper & Symon,

2008).

According to research, the use of peer mediated strategies, peer tutoring and adult

instruction in social games are all social skills interventions that help students build positive peer

relationships (Rogers, 2000). In the peer mediated approach, typical peers are taught to initiate

play organizers involving sharing, helping, giving affection, and praise. Peers role-play with

adults until they have learned the strategies successfully and then are cued by adults to interact

with the target children around typical play materials and activities. The peers are reinforced by

adults for their efforts, and the reinforcements are systemically and carefully reduced. This

strategy is powerful in increasing the social interactions of young children with special needs

(Garfinkle, 2002).

In the study by Radley (2014), the effects of the Superheroes Social Skills (SSS) program

on four elementary students with special needs were analyzed. The hypothesis of the study was

that as children gain social skills and social competence, these skills will lead to the building of

friendships and more effective interpersonal relationships.

SSS is a social skills curriculum composed of evidence based practices. The SSS

program uses typically developing peers in the training process. This strategy allows children

with special needs to have contact with typical peers who naturally have successful social skills.

Generalization of target social skills is also achieved by videos, role playing, and social stories

that expose children with special needs to multiple examples of appropriate social initiations and

responses (Radley, 2014).

The peer-mediated procedures appear to gain their effectiveness by using typical peers as

the interventionists. This eliminates the need to develop procedures to transfer learning from

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adult partners to peer partners. This is ideal since studies have found that the use of adult

partners to increase interactions of children with special needs does not easily generalize to peer

partners (Owen-DeSchryver, 2008).

The SSS program was found to be effective in increasing social engagement of children

with special needs in an analog setting when led by trained and coached parents. Observations

of social interactions between the children during recess were completed using a modified

version of the Playground Observation of Peer Engagement (POPE). Results suggest the SSS

program may be effective in promoting generalization and maintenance of social interaction

skills (Radley, 2014).

The Friendship Survey was provided to participants and their classmates before and

immediately following conclusion of the social skills intervention to assess the effects of the SSS

program. The current study replicated results of previous research that found the SSS program to

produce immediate improvements in both training and generalized settings (Radley, 2014).

Adult instruction in social games involves using a student’s preferred interests as the

basis for invented games. This strategy is well suited for students with a severe social deficit.

An adult creates group games for the intervention based on each of the children with special

needs’ interests. These games are taught to the children and some typical peers during a recess

period at school. Results have included dramatic increases in peer interaction that were

maintained through the intervention and beyond. This includes generalization to other activities,

and increases in positive affect in both target children and peers during interactions (Radley,

2014).

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In a quantitative educational research study, Baker, Koegel, and Koegel (1998)

completed a study of three high-functioning elementary students. An adult created group games

from each of the children’s special interests and then taught the game to the child and some

typical peers during a recess period at school. Results included increases in peer interaction that

were maintained through the follow-up period (Rogers, 2000).

To incorporate peer tutoring, typical peers are first carefully trained to deliver instruction

to the target child. Peer tutors are reinforced for their efforts. Adult prompts to the peer tutors

are systematically withdrawn. This strategy has demonstrated long term increases in reciprocal

social behavior and social initiations, in addition to increased peer acceptance. Also, typical

peers also tend to maintain greatly increased rates of social initiations to the children with special

needs across the fading of adult prompts (Rogers, 2000). A benefit of this intervention is that it

may be delivered in the child’s regular education setting with familiar peers, thus avoiding an

interruption to the child’s inclusive setting.

Owen-DeSchryver (2008) evaluated the impact of a peer training intervention on social

interactions among three children with special needs and their typical peers. For each child with

special needs, two to four typical peers participated in sessions that targeted increased social

interactions. Data collected during lunchtime and recess showed that the peer training

intervention generally resulted in increased initiations by trained peers as well as increased

initiations and responses by children with special needs. Unexpectedly, untrained peers also

showed increased initiations (Owen-DeSchryver, 2008).

Gray’s social story technique has been found to be an effective social skills intervention

for children with special needs (Gray & Garand, 1993). Written stories are created to teach

social rules and the reasons for them in a supportive, noncritical, and understanding way

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(Rogers, 2000). Norris and Dattilo (1999) completed a study of a single subject examined the

use of social stories to increase social interactions of a child with special needs and peers. The

study used a multiple baseline approach to monitor changes in three social behaviors of an eight-

year-old girl with special needs. The behaviors studied were increasing appropriate social

behavior, decreasing inappropriate behavior, and decreasing isolation. Three different stories

were written per manual directions to increase social interactions in school at lunchtime. One of

the stories was read daily before lunch for thirteen days following baseline. There appeared to

be a treatment related change in only decreasing inappropriate behavior. The response was

variable. Therefore, according to research, this strategy did not prove to be as effective as the

adult created and taught game method (Rogers, 2000).

The use of peer mediated strategies, peer tutoring and adult instruction in social games

are all social skills development interventions that help children build positive peer relationships

(Rogers, 2000). All three strategies will help children begin to feel a sense of belonging and

involvement within the school. This will lead to self-confidence and friendship building.

Historical Methods of Social Skills Training

Researchers have been exploring the building of social skills for many years. Strain

(1979) used peer training strategies in play organizers with four lower functioning elementary

students. A typical peer was taught to elicit, prompt, and reinforce social behavior between two

pairs of children with special needs. It was noted that social behaviors increased dramatically

during the treatment phase, but returned to baseline when the specific interventions were

withdrawn and only general social interactions were used. Therefore, no evidence of

generalization was demonstrated. Later studies of this approach have shown the importance of

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using typical peers in natural settings. Careful use and fading of reinforcers for the peers must be

used in order to achieve maintenance and generalization (Rogers, 2000).

In addition, historical models of social skills training continue to benefit students today.

Shafer, Egel, and Neef (1984) used a direct model and prompt training strategy to train peers

who had mild disabilities to elicit increased levels of interactive toy play for four children with

special needs. Peers quickly learned the interventions and children with special needs

demonstrated increased appropriate social interactions that were maintained over time. Finally,

when the trained peer and child with special needs were combined with two other untrained

peers for play sessions, the untrained peers increased their interactions with the children with

special needs as well, demonstrating generalization across peers. Improved social interactions of

both peers and children with special needs were maintained over time and generalized across

settings. However, both groups tended during generalization episodes to deliver the

interventions only to their previous training partners (Rogers, 2000).

Limitations of These Studies

The limitations in the previously discussed studies involve the rules of ethics. The two

overriding rules of ethics are that participants should not be harmed in any way; physically,

mentally or socially. In issues that are related to personal privacy and confidentiality, protecting

participants from embarrassment or ridicule is of utmost importance (Gay, 2009). In each of the

above studies, students may be exposed to embarrassment or ridicule. The studies did not

describe a method to prevent the exposure from happening.

In addition, researchers must obtain the participant’s informed consent. The studies did

not indicate that informed consent was obtained. Researchers obtain informed consent by

making sure that research participants enter the research of their own free will and with

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understanding of the nature of the study and any possible dangers that may arise as a result of the

participation. Participants who are not of legal age or are not mentally capable cannot give

informed consent. In these cases, permission must be given by parents or legal guardians. Even

if permission is granted from a guardian, all participants still retain the right to decline to

participate (Gay, 2009).

In 1974, Congress enacted the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

(FERPA) to address these concerns regarding the confidentiality and accessibility of student

records. Researchers must adhere to FERPA in their practices. The Family Educational Rights

and Privacy Act applies to all students who attend public schools that receive federal financial

assistance (Yell, 2012).

FERPA was designed to protect the privacy of students’ educational records. Data that

may identify a student may not be made available unless written permission is acquired from the

legal aged student or legal guardian. The previously discussed studies did not indicate the use of

a permission form. Researchers must create and provide a permission form that indicates what

data may be disclosed, for what purpose, and to whom (Gay, 2009).

Analysis

Results suggest that social engagement between peers can be significantly increased in

inclusive settings through social skills learning and training opportunities. The training may be

provided by an adult or typically developing peer. In the previously discussed studies, the

participants’ overall initiations and responses increased with either method of training. The

results are important, as research has found that children with special needs tend to have fewer

initiations and responses in social interactions when compared with their typically developing

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peers. Finally, social response skills in children with special needs are predictive of future social

and communication abilities as they mature into adulthood.

Research states that social deficits contribute substantially to poor outcomes for adults

with special needs. A lack of social competence may result in difficulty with maintaining

employment, poor school achievement, depression, and anxiety. However, improvements in the

social functioning of children with special needs will lead to a reduction in the risk of mental

health problems, an enhancement of academic functioning, and more positive relationships with

peers (Radley, 2014).

Conclusions and Future Study

In conclusion, children with special needs may be diagnosed with primary deficits in

social interactions, while continuing to be responsive to a wide variety of interventions aimed at

increasing their social engagement to typical peers and adults. In addition to increasing social

engagement for children with special needs, it would be ideal to foster the capacity for long term

positive relationships with peers, family members and others in their community. Positive

relationships and social skills will help to ensure a more enriching adulthood.

Friendship is an important relationship to understand. Researching social skills

interventions to help build positive peer relationships throughout the school will benefit all

students. Children share the desire to make friends and build social connections with their peers.

A sense of belonging will allow students with special needs to achieve a more successful

academic experience and more positive outcomes as they mature. Unfortunately, there seem to

be better methods for assessing the presence of social interactions than for assessing qualities of

relationships.

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Future research directions may involve the measurement of qualitative changes in social

relationships and opportunities in order to assist children in building positive peer relationships.

Research has shown that social engagement between peers can be significantly increased in

inclusive settings through social skills learning and training opportunities. The most effective

strategies and opportunities need to be determined for each unique setting, in order to provide the

most benefit for the children to build friendships.

Demographic Data for the Proposed Project

The research site of the proposed action research plan, to build positive peer

relationships, is a rural community in the Eastern Sierras of California. There will be 10 students

with special needs in grades K-8 involved, as well as 10 of their typically developing peers. Two

special education aides will assist in leading recess game activities amongst peers, at the start of

the project. Additional peers will be included in order to facilitate some group activities and

games. The elementary setting has a population of 72 students; 14 of which have been identified

as having special needs.

Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory (SDT) aligns with the purpose of the proposed

project. The SDT asserts that social interaction has a vital role in the cognitive development

process. Social skills development is very important, as children with special needs suffer direct

and indirect consequences related to social interaction deficits. The deficits contribute to

academic and occupational underachievement. In addition, they may cause mood and anxiety

problems later in life (White, 2007).

The target students demonstrate poor social and emotional skills on a daily basis. It is

difficult for them to understand a social situation and know what to do during that situation.

Classroom disruptions are frequent, especially following recess. Students come in crying,

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saying, “No, one likes me. They won’t let me play. I didn’t get invited”, etc. Specific behaviors

will be targeted during the intervention. Example goals for the target behaviors are:

Goal: Student will exercise increased self‐control, increasing appropriate verbal and physical

behaviors with fading prompts/models.

Objective #1: Given a recess situation where student is engaging in inappropriate behavior, he

will indicate, with modeling and/or prompts, his feelings (frustration, discomfort, fear), and

display a more appropriate behavior with language or indicate to adult that he needs to regroup

and organize himself), 80% of the time, over 30 school days, by the end of the school year.

Objective #2: Given a recess situation, when student is stressed he will initiate appropriate

interactions, without modeling or prompts 60% of the time, over 30 school days, by the end of

the school year.

Goal 2: Student will exercise increased self‐control while at school, as evidenced by increasing

lengths of time on task, and remaining in the assigned area with fading prompts.

Objective #1: Given a small group activity at recess, student will demonstrate increased self

control and remain on task, 80% of the time, over 30 school days, by the end of the school year.

Proposed Action

The reoccurring themes throughout the proposed action plan will involve the level of

social skills the child currently possesses. If found to be at the novice level, didactic instruction

in social skills development will be provided. One example of this method is social stories.

Also, didactic instruction involves the teacher explaining the steps of a particular skill often with

the skill steps provided in a visual format (White, 2007). In addition, many people use discrete

trial instruction (DTI) as one of the components of this type of structured learning approach since

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it can be effective in promoting cognitive, language and pragmatic skills (Harper & Symon,

2008).

Modeling will also be a provided intervention to students found to be at the novice level.

Once the skill steps have been explained, it is important to model them for the students before

asking them to carry them out. The teacher will model a situation with some co-actors. Before

beginning, it is important to give the students who are observing very specific instructions on

what to look for in order to keep their attention focused on what is happening. For instance,

thumbs up if the actors got the skill right and thumbs down if the actors got it wrong (Harper &

Symon, 2008).

The intervention of role play will be provided to children found to be at the intermediate

level, or to possess a moderate social skills deficit. Students will observe role play of

participating in peer tutoring and peer mediated strategies for improved social interaction. The

strategy involves rehearsing steps and acting out scenarios in a structured environment to help

children practice newly acquired skills or previously learned skills that the child is having

difficulties performing (Harper &Symon, 2008).

The entire process of teaching a particular skill, which may involve modeling the steps,

role playing the skill and providing corrective feedback, should be repeated over and over again

until the student is able to demonstrate the skill without prompting. At that point, positive

reinforcement needs to be provided. If a child receives reinforcement for initiating an interaction

with another child, he is likely to initiate another interaction again in the future (Harper

&Symon, 2008). Research states that the most important attitude that can be formed is a desire

to learn. The more motivated a person is about a given subject, the more likely he will learn that

subject. Motivation is defined as wanting to partake of an object or activity (Radley, 2014). If a

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child is found to be motivated and to possess only a mild social skills deficit, he will be trained to

provide peer tutoring and to lead recess time activities.

As a child becomes proficient with social skills, practice opportunities will be provided.

Practice at this stage means the child has acquired the required skill. He no longer hesitates

during the performance of the skill to remember the steps, so fluency increases dramatically.

However, practice is required to enhance performance and to help the student to generalize the

skill across other settings and people (Harper &Symon, 2008).

Data Collection and Analysis Methods

Triangulation Matrix

Issues to pay attention to when trying to answer research question:

Data Source #1 Data Source #2 Data Source #3

What level of social skills development does the child currently possess?

Observation(POPE)

SRS teacher & parent survey.

Friendship survey.

If a child is found to be at a novice level, and displays a significant social skills deficit, how do I proceed?

Student interviews & POPE Observation.

Results from didactic instruction and modeling. The use of social stories would be included.

SRS teacher & parent survey. Friendship survey.

If a child is found to be at a intermediate level, and displays a moderate social skills deficit, how do I proceed?

Student interviews & POPE observation during recess.

Observation of peer tutoring and peer mediated strategies.Friendship survey.

SRS teacher & parent survey. Assessment of student work samples completed during peer tutoring activities.

If a child is found to be at an advanced level, and displays a mild social skills deficit, how do I proceed?

Student interviews & POPE observation during recess.

Observation of peer tutoring training and training to lead peer mediated strategies.Friendship survey.

SRS teacher & parent survey.

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The Playground Observation of Peer Engagement (POPE) will be used to collect data on

social interaction (See Appendix A). POPE is an approach to coding and observing the way that

children interact with each other on the playground. Using this measure, an observer can track

how engaged the children are in activities, how engaged they are with each other, and if they

initiate and respond to others. This allows the observer to determine the efficacy of intervention

and areas where additional support is needed (Garfinkle, 2002).

The Friendship Survey will be provided to participants and their classmates before and

immediately following conclusion of the social skills intervention to assess the effects of the

intervention (See Appendix B). Also, the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) will be provided,

prior and following the intervention, to parents and teachers who have routinely observed the

child in their naturalistic social setting.

Ideas for Sharing Findings

The action research project could have many beneficial implications for the research site.

The researcher plans to share the resulting data in several ways. First, the researcher will share

the findings with the site’s administration. This would allow for exploration of the variety of

contexts that the research could be used to benefit children at the school site. In addition, the

research may be shared at the site within a potential staff development training, as a parent

presentation during a back to school night, and directly with parents whose children may be

involved in the intervention. Educators and families would benefit from learning how to foster

social skills development in children targeted in the intervention (Efron & Ravid, 2013).

Careful planning, progress monitoring and providing needed alterations could result in a plan

that benefits many children and their future friends.

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References

Baker, M., Koegel, R., & Koegel, L. (1998). Increasing the social behavior of young children

with autism using their obsessive behaviors. Journal of the Association for Persons with

Severe Handicaps, 23(4), 300-308.

Cunningham, A. (2012). Measuring change on social interaction skills of young children with

autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42: 593-605.

Efron, S. E., & Ravid, R. (2013). Action research in education: A practical guide. New

York, NY: Guilford Press

Feldman, E. & Maltos, R. (2012). Training paraprofessionals to facilitate social interactions

between children with autism and their typically developing peers. Journal of Positive

Behavior Interventions, 15(3), 169-179.

Garfinkle, A. (2002). Peer imitation: Increasing social interactions in children with autism

and

other developmental disabilities in inclusive preschool classrooms. Topics in Early

Childhood Special Education, 22(1), 26-38.

Gay, M. (2009). Introduction to educational research. Retrieved from

https://cupo.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-267995-dt-content-rid-3337248_1/

courses/20162021592-cup/resources/week1/w1_ethics_Gay,%20Mills%20&

%20Airasian%20(2009).pdf

Gray, C. & Garand, J. (1993). Social stories: Improving responses of students with autism with

accurate social information. Focus on Autistic Behavior, 8, 1-10.

Gulsrud, A. & Kasari, C. (2012). Making the connection: Randomized controlled trial of social

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https://cupo.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-267995-dt-content-rid-3337248_1/courses/20162021592-cup/resources/week1/w1_ethics_Gay,%20Mills%20&%20Airasian%20(2009).pdf




skills at school for children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Child Psychology

and Psychiatry, 53:4, 431-439.

Harper, C. & Symon, J. (2008). Recess is time in: Using peers to improve social skills of

children with autism. The Journal of Autism Developmental Disorder 38:815-826.

Kasari, C. & Rotheram-Fuller, J. (2005). The development of the playground observation of

peer engagement (POPE) measure. Retrieved from

http://airbnetwork.org/tools_guidelines.asp.

Norris, C. & Dattilo, J. (1999). Evaluating effects of a social story intervention on a young girl

with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 13 (3), 180-186.

Owen-DeSchryver, J. (2008). Promoting social interactions between students with autism

spectrum disorders and their peer in inclusive school settings. Focus on Autism and

Other Developmental Disabilities. Vol. 23(1) 15-28.

Radley, K. (2014). The effects of a social skills training package on social engagement of

children with autism spectrum disorders in a generalized recess setting. Focus on

Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities. Vol. 29(4) 216-229.

Rogers, S. (2000). Interventions that facilitate socialization in children with autism. Journal of

Autism and Developmental Disorders, Vol. 30, No. 5, 399-409.

Shafer, M., Egel, A., & Neef, N. (1984). Training mildly disabled peers to facilitate change in

the social interaction skills of autistic children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,

17, 461-476.

Strain, P. (1979). Effects of peer mediated social initiations and prompting/ reinforcement

procedures on the social behavior of autistic children. Journal of Autism and

Developmental Disorders, 9, 41-54.

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White, S. (2007). Social skills development in children with autism spectrum disorders: A

review of the intervention research. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

37(10) 1858-1868.

Yell, M. L. (2012). The law and special education (3rd ed.). [VitalSource Bookshelf

version]. Retrieved from http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9780131376106

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http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9780131376106


Appendix A

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Appendix B

Friendship Survey

1. What qualities do you look for in a friend?

2. Are friends more important to you now than they were at high school? Why?

3. How can you be a good friend? Give an example.

4. What's the difference between a friend and an acquaintance?

5. A true friend is somebody who knows everything about you and still likes you. What do you

think that means?

6. Why do friends drift apart?

7. What is a "best friend?"

8. Is there a difference between popularity and friendship? What?

10. What do you do if you want a person you have just met to become a part of your group, but

the others don't want to have anything to do with this new person?

11. What are the benefits of having friends who are different from us?

12. Why might friendships break up?

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