Background: Kindergartens and other preschool facilities provide preschool children with an important setting for social interactions. Social interaction supports the development of social skills in children and is associated with better subsequent performance in arithmetic. Objective: This study reviewed the literature to; (a) identify targets…

Social communication is a core deficit of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) play a key role in evaluating social skills of individuals with autism. Use of person-centered assessment tools in individuals with autism to explore social communication may facilitate improved consideration of perspectives of individuals…

This pilot study explored the efficacy of a social-cognitive intervention program for adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Seven adolescents with ASD (mean age = 12.57 years) attended a school-based 10-week program. Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scales, Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS), and Theory of Mind Inventory were…

The ability to understand and effectively interact with others is a critical determinant of academic, social, and life success (DiPerna & Elliott, 2002). An area in particular need of scalable, feasible, usable, and scientifically sound assessment tools is social-emotional comprehension, which includes mental processes enlisted to encode,…

Many treatment programs for individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) target social skills, and there is growing attention directed toward the development of specific interventions to improve social skills and social interactions in this population (Hestenes & Carroll, 2000; Strain & Hoyson, 2000). However, there are limited tools…

Educational performance based on the learning outcomes of formal schooling in a future knowledge society could be significantly different from that of today. This study investigates the possibilities of developing an educational performance indicator for new-millennium learners (NMLs). The researchers conducted literature reviews, a meeting of…

Background: A few recent studies have adopted a social cognitive perspective to explore how individuals with intellectual disabilities (IDs), who present problems of aggression, view their social world. The focus has mainly been on participants' perceptions of others' behaviour within conflict situations. The present exploratory study aims to…

Efforts to identify factors associated with peer acceptance have historically focused on behavioral and social cognitive processes, whereas less empirical attention has focused on the impact of children's other personal attributes and competencies that are not inherently a component of social competence. The current study examined the association…

This study describes the initial validation of an innovative social-behavioral observational assessment tool that is designed to be used on a repeated basis to assess growth and development of social competence over time to: (a) identify the social functioning of all students, (b) assist in planning support for students at risk, and (c) evaluate…

Elementary school children with normal intelligence and autism (n = 20), mental retardation and no autism (n = 24), and typical development (n = 37) were observed for 15 minutes during recess at school. Ten behaviors were scored as present or absent using the Playground Observation Checklist. Children with autism were distinguished from children…

Although it is documented that parent interaction influences children's development, few studies have focused on methods for reliably assessing molar-level caregiver-child interactions that are used regularly in treatment evaluations in community-based settings, and none have targeted children with autism spectrum disorders. Thirty-five children…

A child's ability to develop relationships and connections with others, a sense of who he or she is in the world, and an ability to control impulses and emotions are at the core of social-emotional development. In early childhood, parent reports are one of the most common methods for assessing this type of development. However, parents from…

Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the aims were (a) to obtain, describe, and compare different solutions of three, five, and six first-order factors raised in the previous literature about the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI); (b) analyze the number and nature of the second-order factors; (c) test which model best reproduces…

The authors advocate a performance-based approach to assessing social competence in which multiple staff and parents evaluate the adequacy of the child's behavior in social interactions with peer and adults. An example illustrates the approach in an early childhood special education setting. (CL)

A review of the literature indicated a recognition that interview behavior was critical to job placement and successful employment. Previous research, however, has not specified either the structure of inverview training with the mildly retarded or the outcomes of those programs. In a recent study, 29 of 40 mentally retarded young adults filled…