ASSIGNMENT 26
Intervention in School and Clinic 49(2) 77 –83 © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2013
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Feature Article
Abstract Social skills instruction is as important for many students with disabilities as instruction in core academic subjects. Frequently, students with autism require individualized social skills instruction to experience success in general education settings. Literacy-based behavioral Interventions (LBBIs) are an effective intervention that instructors may use to increase positive social skills among students. This article describes LBBIs, provides step-by-step instructions for creating an LBBI, and describes the benefits of LBBIs.
Keywords autism, social skills, behavioral intervention
493168 ISCXXX10.1177/1053451213493168Intervention in School and ClinicFrancis et al. research-article2013
1University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA 2Webster University, St. Louis, MO, USA
Corresponding Author: Grace L. Francis, University of Kansas, 1200 Sunnyside Ave., 3125 Haworth Hall Lawrence, KS 66045, USA. Email: glucyf@ku.edu
Increasing the Social Skills of a Student With Autism Through a Literacy-Based Behavioral Intervention
Grace L. Francis, PhD1, Victoria B. McMullen, PhD2, Martha Blue-Banning, PhD1, and Shana Haines, PhD1
Autism is the fastest growing diagnosis in the United States, with the number of individuals diagnosed having increased more than 17% in the past 10 years (Sansosti & Powell- Smith, 2008). Students with autism frequently experience difficulty understanding and executing basic social skills, such as reciprocating conversation, observing personal space, and making and maintaining eye contact (Kroeger, Schultz, & Newsom, 2006; Lopata, Thomeer, Volker, Nida, & Lee, 2008; Matson, Matson, & Rivet, 2007). Not surpris- ingly, these deficits can lead to issues such as social exclu- sion, challenging behavior, depression, and even academic challenges. However, evidence-based interventions for stu- dents with autism can improve social skills and mitigate
these unacceptable outcomes (Koegel, 2007; Rao, Beidel, & Murray 2008).
Today’s richly diverse inclusive classrooms call for edu- cators to support the social skill development of students with autism. There are many evidence-based practices that instructors may use to improve social skills, including
78 Intervention in School and Clinic 49(2)
social stories, social narratives, video modeling, visual sup- ports, and social skills groups (National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder [NPDC on ASD], 2012). Research indicates that literacy-based behavioral interventions (LBBIs) increase social skills and other positive behaviors among adults with various devel- opmental disabilities in the workplace (Bucholz & Brady, 2008; Bucholz, Brady, Duffy, Scott, & Kontosh, 2008). However, these interventions hold promise for individuals of all ages with various needs and disabilities in multiple settings (Bucholz & Brady, 2008).
Similar to interventions such as social narratives (i.e., brief stories designed to increase social skills by highlight- ing key social cues and appropriate responses and by some- times including visual aids; NPDC on ASD, 2012), LBBIs use literacy interventions to teach social skills. On the other hand, LBBIs are unique in that they combine literacy inter- ventions such as social narratives with various media and other positive behavioral interventions to replace problem behavior with positive alternatives. Research on LBBIs demonstrates many examples of effective combinations of literacy and behavioral interventions, including social sto- ries, social narratives, directions, illustrations, photographs, comic strips, clip art, sound bites, and videos (Bucholz & Brady, 2008). This article provides step-by-step instructions for creating an LBBI and describes the benefits of LBBIs, highlighting Ella’s (pseudonym) experience with her LBBI.
Ella was a 9-year-old fourth grader, with a diagnosis of autism (see Note 1). Like any other fourth grader, Ella sin- cerely desired friends. She often discussed her longing to attend birthday parties and sleepovers, events she would commonly overhear her peers discussing. However, Ella did not have the social skills necessary for building friend- ships. Although she could complete grade-level work with moderate accommodations and modifications, she spent the majority of each school day in the special education class- room because of her behavior in the general education set- ting. Ella’s greatest barrier to full inclusion in the general education setting was her use of negative behavior to gain her teachers’ and peers’ attention. Ella required frequent reminders to give personal space, use a friendly and age- appropriate tone of voice, make eye contact when convers- ing, play cooperatively with peers, and refrain from yelling at or touching her peers in every school setting. Although Ella had appropriate speech skills, she often spoke in a “baby,” shrill, or angry tone of voice. Ella also made animal noises, ran through groups of peers, pulled hair or clothing, and asked the same questions over and over (e.g., “When is your birthday?”). These negative attention-seeking behav- iors increased exponentially in unstructured environments such as field trips, specials classes (e.g., gym, science, music, art), lunch, and especially during recess.
Ella’s special education instructor (hereafter referred to simply as “the instructor”) created an LBBI that primarily
relied on a social narrative and video self-modeling in an effort to improve her behavior during recess. However, the instructor also used additional positive behavior strategies in the LBBI, including colored visual cues, self-modeling photographs, choice making, and role-playing. The instruc- tor used all of these subsequent behavioral strategies with Ella prior to the LBBI, but not as an integrated intervention, and with minimal or no success.
To determine the effectiveness of the LBBI, the instructor measured Ella’s behavior during outdoor recess via interval data recording. She divided up the first 10 minutes of recess into 10-second intervals and recorded whether Ella engaged in appropriate behavior for each interval. She then divided the number of intervals in which Ella engaged in the skills by the total number of intervals to determine Ella’s improve- ment. After three weeks of intervention, Ella’s ability to communicate with her peers and play cooperatively during recess improved, resulting in the development of peer rela- tionships necessary for successful inclusion. Specifically, Ella went from using these skills 0% of the time at recess to independently using social initiation 80%, social response 83%, and reciprocal play 86% of the time. Refer to Figure 1 for a chart of Ella’s use of social initiation, social response, and reciprocal play skills before and after the LBBI.
Steps to Creating an LBBI
The instructor used an eight-step process to create, employ, evaluate, and fade the LBBI used in this intervention: (a) determining the skills and settings the student will work on, (b) developing a literacy intervention, (c) developing a
Figure 1. Ella’s use of social initiation, social response, and reciprocal play skills during outdoor recess. This figure displays Ella’s use of these skills before watching the literacy-based behavioral intervention (LBBI), while creating the LBBI, while watching the LBBI before recess, and 6 weeks after the LBBI was totally faded. Percentages indicate the number of opportunities Ella appropriately engaged in each behavior divided by the total number of opportunities.
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behavioral intervention, (d) combining literacy and behav- ioral interventions to make an LBBI, (e) teaching the student how to use the LBBI, (f) allowing the student to indepen- dently use the LBBI, (g) monitoring the student’s progress, and (h) fading the LBBI. Although these steps may appear time-intensive or complex, LBBIs are relatively easy to cre- ate and implement once you become familiar with the pro- cess (Bucholz & Brady, 2008). Using Ella’s LBBI as a model, key steps adapted from Bucholz and Brady (2008) are highlighted in the remainder of this article.
1. Determine Skills and Settings for the Intervention
The first step in creating the LBBI included determining which skills and in what settings Ella needed to improve. Teachers must carefully consider which skills or positive behavior will most benefit their students and also specify the setting(s) where the student needs to perform these skills (Scott et al., 2004). The instructor used information from a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to identify the most crucial skills Ella needed to successfully partici- pate in outdoor recess, which helps instructors determine the function of problematic behaviors and inform appropri- ate interventions that specifically address underlying func- tions (Scott et al., 2004). As a part of the FBA, the instructor collected various types of data (e.g., frequency, duration, intensity) on Ella’s behavior in various school environ- ments (e.g., lunchroom, general education classroom, play- ground, music room) and also interviewed Ella, her general education teachers, and her peers.
The instructor used information from the FBA to deter- mine that the function of Ella’s behaviors was attention seek- ing. The instructor also used the FBA to select outdoor recess as the setting for the intervention because Ella’s negative attention-seeking behaviors occurred most often during recess and frequently escalated from antisocial to extremely dangerous in that setting. As a result, despite her intention and desire to build friendships with peers, Ella spent the majority of recess in the special education classroom or out- side “on the wall” as punishment for breaking schoolwide recess safety rules. These behaviors exacerbated the stigma- tizing reputation she developed among general education teachers and students, further alienating her from inclusive settings. Furthermore, Ella’s instructor theorized that social skills learned during outdoor recess (i.e., the most unstruc- tured part of the day where her negative behaviors occurred most frequently) would generalize more easily to other envi- ronments such as lunch and special classes.
As part of the FBA, the instructor observed Ella and recorded anecdotal data on her behavior, as well as frequency data on the number of times she engaged in each type of behavior. She also collaborated with Ella, classmates from her social skills group, and Ella’s fourth grade general education
teacher to obtain additional information concerning appropri- ate behavior that Ella needed to demonstrate during recess. Three primary skills were identified that were used by other children during outdoor recess: (a) social initiation (i.e., mak- ing eye contact, standing up straight, using personal space), (b) social response (i.e., asking to play, talking in an age- appropriate voice, responding or commenting to peers), and (c) reciprocal play (i.e., maintaining interactions with peers, playing by the rules). Ella, her teachers, and her peers deter- mined that these three skills were necessary for relationship development. The instructor used these skills to develop the literacy and behavioral components of the LBBI.
2. Develop a Literacy Component
The second step in creating an LBBI is to develop the liter- acy component of the intervention. The instructor selected a social narrative for Ella’s LBBI, which is one type of literacy intervention commonly used in LBBIs (Bucholz & Brady, 2008). Social narratives are an evidence-based practice that involves brief stories about social situations that cue readers on essential social cues and appropriate responses to social situations (Wragge, 2008). They are used with students such as Ella who experience high-functioning autism and/or hyperlexia (i.e., an enhanced ability to decode words with minimal instruction; Soenksen & Alper, 2006).
Traditionally, instructors conduct assessments including FBAs to target skills and create social narratives for stu- dents. However, research indicates that, in addition to using FBAs, involving children directly in selecting behaviors on which they want to work and developing their own social narratives increases skill acquisition (Bucholz & Brady, 2008; Scattone, 2008). Involving students in developing their social narratives also ensures that the narratives are customized to fit individual needs, interests, and cognitive and language levels.
To develop the social narrative, the instructor first asked Ella to list several appropriate and inappropriate recess behav- iors to include in the narrative. Ella independently listed “ask- ing to play,” “using a fourth-grade voice,” and “giving personal space” as appropriate behaviors. She also identified “scream- ing,” “pushing,” and “falling down” as examples of inappro- priate behavior. The instructor collaborated with Ella to develop additional examples, such as (a) making eye contact and (b) getting up after falling as appropriate behaviors, while (a) kicking, (b) touching peers, (c) pretending to be sad, (d) pretending to be hurt, (e) hurting others, and (f) not listening to peers were shown as examples of inappropriate behaviors.
Using this list as a guideline, the instructor and Ella col- laborated to write a social narrative. The instructor modi- fied Gray’s (2000) Social Story format to cue Ella to develop descriptive sentences (i.e., the where, what, why, and how of Ella’s recess behavior), perspective sentences (i.e., how other people think and feel about Ella’s recess behavior),
80 Intervention in School and Clinic 49(2)
and directive sentences (i.e., specific behavior Ella should use at recess). In addition to these types of sentences, the instructor included choice-making and role-playing ele- ments in the social narrative. The choice-making elements prompted Ella to select a playground activity and a play- mate from a list of games and peers she developed. The role-playing element of the social narrative provided Ella with a variety of ways to ask a peer to play and prompted Ella to practice asking a friend to play with the instructor before heading out to recess.
Ella asked the instructor to include a visual cue intro- duced to her earlier in the school year to amplify the dif- ference between appropriate and inappropriate behavior. This visual cue involved writing all appropriate behavior (e.g., asking to play and using an adult voice) in green and inappropriate behavior (e.g., kicking and touching peers) in red. Ella selected this method based on her familiarity with a prior behavior intervention that used green and red to represent good and bad choices. See Table 1 for an outline of the social narrative. The instruc- tor used the social narrative to guide the behavior com- ponent of the LBBI.
3. Develop the Behavior Component
The third step in creating an LBBI involves developing the intervention’s behavior component. The instructor selected video self-modeling and photographs as the primary behav- ior component for Ella’s LBBI. LBBIs support the use of visual media, including video modeling, to increase posi- tive social skills (Bucholz & Brady, 2008). Video self- modeling is a specific type of video modeling that involves individuals viewing a video of themselves engaging in posi- tive behavior (Sansosti & Powell-Smith, 2008). The indi- vidual views the video on a schedule (e.g., every morning before getting on the bus) and is expected to imitate the actions seen on the video. It is important that video self- modeling interventions include only appropriate behaviors that are errorless and unprompted; otherwise the student may replicate inappropriate behaviors or errors in the video or become reliant on any prompts not edited out of the video.
Ella engaged in role-playing each appropriate or “green” behavior in her social narrative with her peers during her social skills group, while the instructor recorded the role- playing with a digital camera (with permission from each stu- dent’s parent and the school). The instructor uploaded the brief videos onto her computer and used digital video soft- ware to edit out any errors (e.g., “baby voice,” laughing) or prompts that the instructor provided Ella during the role-play- ing (e.g., verbal cues such as “look up!”). This editing process resulted in short, errorless videos of Ella modeling appropri- ate behavior (e.g., Ella approaching and asking to join a group playing a handclapping game on the playground).
There were several behaviors for which Ella required excessive prompts and cues for successful engagement, making it impossible for the instructor to edit out every prompt. For these behaviors the instructor took photographs of Ella “posing” to demonstrate the appropriate behavior. For instance, Ella required extensive verbal prompts to maintain eye contact. So, instead of video recording Ella making eye contact and attempting to edit out every prompt, the instructor simply snapped a photograph of Ella engag- ing in the behavior. Once the instructor finished editing the videos and photographs, she combined the social narrative and behavioral interventions into a single PowerPoint to create the final LBBI.
4. Combine the Literacy and Behavioral Components to Create the LBBI
The fourth step in creating an LBBI involves combining the literacy and behavioral components. The instructor used PowerPoint to create Ella’s LBBI. First, the instructor cre- ated a new slideshow presentation, selecting a plain white background with black text to minimize distractions. Next, the instructor created a title slide, “Making Friends” (at Ella’s suggestion). She then typed the social narrative, put- ting each sentence on a separate slide and color coding the words “green” and “red” in colored font. Finally, the instruc- tor embedded the video recordings and photographs of Ella into the presentation slides.
5. Teach the Student How to Navigate the LBBI
The fifth step in creating an LBBI is to teach the student how to navigate it. The instructor taught Ella how to use the LBBI independently by accessing PowerPoint on the classroom computer. The instructor provided Ella direct instruction on how to plug in her headphones, progress and/or return to slides within the LBBI, activate videos, verbalize her recess choices, and role-play asking a friend to play. The instructor began by modeling these navigation steps and then monitored Ella’s independent use from her desk located at the opposite end of the classroom. Ella experienced no issues navigating the intervention after the steps were modeled for her.
6. Enable Independent Use
The sixth step involves enabling the student to independently use the LBBI on an ongoing basis. Ella independently viewed the LBBI 10 minutes before recess, with the instructor moni- toring from a distance to ensure that she went through each slide and watched the videos. After Ella would finish watch- ing the last video, she would verbalize her recess choices and role-play initiating play with the instructor. If Ella failed to engage the instructor appropriately (e.g., spoke in a baby voice), she would repeat the activity until successful. Finally,
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before joining the rest of the fourth grade for recess, the instructor would remind Ella that she was expected to ask a friend to play and cooperate with that person for the first 10 minutes of recess and, after 10 minutes, she could choose to continue to play or excuse herself and play independently.
Ella understood that the instructor would stand next to the swing set to let her know when the 10-minute interval was over. The instructor enabled Ella to review the story as many times as she wanted before going outside. On average, Ella spent 7 to 8 minutes completing the LBBI.
Table 1. Example Slides From Ella’s LBBI.
Slide Literacy component Behavioral components
1 Making Friends • None (title page) 2 Sometimes I get RED attention. • The word RED is in red text. 3 RED attention is kicking, touching my peers, pretending
I am sad, pretending I am hurt, hurting others, and not listening to my peers. When I get RED attention I only have peers.
• The words RED are in red text. • A photo of Ella looking sad “on the wall” outside.
4 When I get GREEN attention, my peers can become my friends.
• The word GREEN is in green text. • A photo of Ella looking happy on the playground.
5 GREEN attention is making eye contact. • The word GREEN is in green text. • A photo of Ella and a peer making eye contact outside.
6 GREEN attention is asking if I can play. • The word GREEN is in green text. • A video of Ella walking up to a group of peers and asking
to join a game outside in an appropriate voice. 7 GREEN attention is giving personal space. • The word GREEN is in green text.
• A photo of Ella lining up to go inside after recess and extending her arm to provide enough space to the per- son in front of her.
8 GREEN attention is using an adult voice. • The word GREEN is in green text. • A video of Ella telling a friend “I’m next!” to play on the
swings in an appropriate voice. 9 GREEN attention is getting right back up when I fall down. • The word GREEN is in green text.
• A video of Ella falling off the monkey bars and standing right up.
10 When I use GREEN attention, people want to be around me.
• The word GREEN is in green text. • A video of Ella playing appropriately with her peers on
the playground. 11 We can play at recess, go to each other’s house, and have
slumber parties. I feel happy when I get friends. • A photo of Ella happy with a big smile.
12 At recess I can swing. • A photo of Ella swinging appropriately with peers. 13 At recess I can jump rope. • A photo of Ella jumping rope with a group of peers. 14 At recess I can draw with sidewalk chalk. • A video of Ella drawing with sidewalk chalk with a group
of peers. She comments on a peer’s drawing in an appro- priate voice.
15 I can do all of these things at recess with my friends. • A photo of Ella and her peers smiling on the playground.
16 I feel happy when my peers become my friends because they want to be around me when I get GREEN attention.
• The word GREEN is in green text. • A photo of Ella and her peers laughing in a group
outside. 17 Today I will have fun playing: • A list of playground choices.
• Ella verbally makes a choice. 18 Today I will have fun playing with: • A list of peers.
• Ella verbally makes a choice and a backup choice. 19 Now it’s time to practice asking to play with my teacher. • Ella role-plays with instructor before going outside.
I can say: • “Hey, can I play?” • “Do you want to play with me?” • “What are you guys doing?”
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7. Take Data on Student Behavior
The seventh step in implementing the LBBI entails the instructor recording and analyzing data to determine if the LBBI is effective. The instructor video recorded Ella’s unprompted behavior, using a small digital camera, for the first 10 minutes of outdoor recess to determine the effec- tiveness of the LBBI. She later analyzed the data by review- ing the video and marking a plus or minus sign indicating if Ella independently engaged in social initiation, social response, and/or reciprocal play in every 10-second interval for each recording. This process was somewhat time- consuming. The instructor could have used a simpler method such as tallying every time Ella did not engage in social ini- tiation, social response, or reciprocal play on the video of her at recess or even by taking simple observational data during recess with a notepad and pen. Although the methods may vary, analyzing data is essential to understand if the interven- tion is working, if the intervention needs to be modified, and/ or if the intervention is no longer needed.
8. Fade the LBBI
The eighth and final step in implementing the LBBI is to systematically fade the LBBI once a student no longer requires it to engage in appropriate behavior. The instructor began fading the LBBI once the data indicated that Ella appropriately used all three skills 80% of the time over three different days. The instructor selected 80% as an ideal percentage because she believed it was a reasonable expec- tation for Ella and that behaving appropriately 80% of the time would significantly improve her interactions with her peers. To determine the percentage of skill use, the instruc- tor counted all of the plus signs for each skill for each day and divided that number by the total number of pluses and minuses.
The criteria an educator uses to determine when to fade an intervention depend largely on the type of data collection. For instance, an instructor may begin fading the LBBI when the number of tallies of negative behaviors drops from 30 before the LBBI to 6 (i.e., that would mean the student is using appropriate behavior approximately 80% of the time).
The instructor used four steps with Ella to fade the LBBI. First, Ella viewed only the slides that contained videos. The instructor selected this as the first step because Ella strongly preferred slides with videos. The instructor continued to take data on Ella’s behavior at recess to determine if she main- tained 80% skill use across all skills. If Ella’s skill decreased by 5% or more, the instructor reinstated the entire LBBI. The remaining three steps of the fading procedure included (a) viewing the videos every other day, (b) showing the videos only on Monday, and (c) showing the videos only if Ella engaged in negative behavior in the morning or if Ella requested to watch the videos. Once the instructor began the
fading procedure, Ella moved seamlessly through each stage without regressing to any inappropriate behavior.
These eight steps reflect the method used by the instruc- tor to create, employ, evaluate, and fade an LBBI. Table 1 includes an outline of the components of the LBBI. Before the LBBI, Ella was unable to participate in recess because of inappropriate and dangerous behaviors. After the LBBI, Ella played appropriately with her peers and began to form friendships with a small group of girls in her fourth grade class. Baseline data taken before the LBBI indicated that Ella used social initiation, social response, and reciprocal play skills 0% of the time during outdoor recess. However, Ella’s use of these skills increased to 80%, 83%, and 86%, respectively, when she viewed the LBBI every day before recess. Ella also continued to independently use these skills after the instructor completely faded the LBBI and Ella no longer watched it. Refer to Figure 1 for a chart of Ella’s use of social initiation, social response, and reciprocal play skills (a) before the LBBI, (b) while creating the LBBI, (c) while watching the LBBI every day before recess, and (d) after she no longer watched the LBBI.
Modifying an LBBI to Enhance Effectiveness
There are many ways to enhance an LBBI. Students them- selves can provide insight into potential enhancements for future LBBIs. While viewing the intervention, Ella fre- quently asked if she could create more videos and if the videos in the story would change, indicating that including numerous videos and interchanging them might increase student interest and motivation. Furthermore, Ella used nearly the exact verbiage included in the videos. For exam- ple, one of the videos in the LBBI shows Ella saying, “I’m next!” to demonstrate using an adult voice (see Table 1). While playing at recess, Ella always said, “I’m next!” to indicate that she wanted to play. Educators may consider creating various videos targeting the same skill and inter- changing them to increase students’ social skills repertoire. Educators may also consider recording the student reading the social narrative or, if necessary, have a peer or teacher make the recording to increase interest.
For students who require extensive supports, practitioners may use other forms of video modeling, such as peer mod- eling (e.g., the child views another individual engaging in a targeted behavior; Buggey, 2007) or perspective modeling (e.g., the child views an actor’s hands performing the tar- geted behavior; Hine & Wolery, 2006). Practitioners may also consider integrating a child’s favorite music or “special effects” such as race car noises or lightening bolts into the LBBI to maintain student interest. Finally, infusing appro- priate environmental sounds, such as a timer beeping or school bells for transition skills, may also help some stu- dents recognize those sounds as natural cues and increase independent skill use.
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Summary
Literary-based behavioral interventions are a powerful inter- vention from which individuals with a variety of strengths and needs can benefit. Ella’s LBBI is only one example of this type of intervention. LBBIs are extremely versatile and can easily be individualized to fit specific students’ strengths, needs, and interests. Teachers, parents, and/or job coaches can create LBBIs for individuals of various ages and with a range of behavioral needs in home, community, and work environments (Bucholz & Brady, 2008). LBBIs can be down- loaded onto a memory stick and transferred onto multiple computers or even onto personal devices such as iPods or tablets (Matson et al., 2007).
Although many other interventions had failed, Ella’s LBBI equipped her with skills necessary to play appropri- ately during outdoor recess. Understandably, the eight steps used to create Ella’s LBBI may appear overwhelming. However, creating an LBBI is extremely cost-effective when considering how much time is saved implementing and monitoring a single LBBI in place of multiple interventions that are likely not as effective. Creating an LBBI can be an enjoyable experience for instructors, as they get the opportu- nity to design a creative multidimensional intervention with students. Furthermore, the time invested in creating an LBBI is well spent because instructors could potentially reuse LBBIs across different students with only minor changes to fit an individual student’s needs and interests.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Note
1. The narrative vignette discussed throughout this article was developed from an authentic experience of a student and spe- cial education instructor. To protect her identity, the name of the student was changed to a pseudonym.
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