Research Syntheses High-Leverage Practices in Special Education

Although there are several quality social skill curriculums widely available, most approach social skills as if the student has a skill “deficit”; that is, the student does not know how to display the appropriate social skill. For students with moderate to severe disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability, this might be the case. For most students with mild disabilities, however, social skill challenges are often “performance” problems. In other words, the student knows what social skill they should use under specific conditions (e.g., “count to 10 when I get angry”) but displays an inappropriate skill because it leads to outcomes that maintain the problem skill (e.g., “if I throw things, I am removed from the classroom and I am no longer angry”). It is essential to match the focus and outcome of each social skill lesson to the student problem type (i.e., deficit or performance).

Within each lesson, the special educator should first identify and define the social skill and when to use it (e.g., “When you are angry, the first thing you do is stop”). Second, after discussing what it means to be angry and a range of ways to “stop,” (tell), the teacher should demonstrate (show) a range of appropriate ways to stop and also inappropriate ways to stop (i.e., the non-example or social skills the student is currently using that have been labeled inappropriate). Following examples and non-examples, the student should practice using only the appropriate social skill through role plays. Teaching social skills within a small group format is generally straightforward and

successful; the challenge is promoting generalization and maintenance of learned skills. Strategies such as teaching directly within targeted settings, providing frequent prompts or reminders to use newly learned skills, and providing high rates of positive specific feedback are all empirically validated strategies to promote generalized responding over time.