The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of computer-presented Social Stories and video models on the social communication skills of three children with High-Functioning Autism/Asperger's Syndrome (HFA/AS). Using a multiple-baseline across-participants design, computer-presented Social Stories and video models were implemented and…

This project provides a comprehensive overview of the research literature on social anxiety disorder (SAD) in adolescents and concludes by offering a set of 10 group therapy lesson plans for SAD that therapists can use in their practice. The overview includes a description of social anxiety disorder and highlights various theories of anxiety. The…

Advantages and disadvantages of environment-focused methods (such as operant and parent training techniques) and of person-focused approaches (such as social skills training) with aggressive children are examined. A synthesis of the two approaches is urged. (Author/CL)

Traditional behavioral strategies used with adolescents with behavior disorders are reviewed and nontraditional approaches incorporating behavioral and cognitive psychology into social skills training and anger control training are described. (CL)

School-wide, selective, and individual positive behavioral supports are critical elements of a comprehensive, tiered model of service delivery. Positive peer reporting (PPR) involves brief, highly structured sessions during which peers are provided the opportunity to praise the behavior of target students. PPR procedures were modified in this…

This article describes a sixteen-week, read-aloud intervention conducted using culturally and experientially-relevant literature with six urban middle school youth with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), to facilitate prosocial skill development through opportunities for personal reflection and sharing through journaling and group…

Background: For healthy development, children need positive relationships with adults. Due to changes in family systems and shifting social norms, many children may be receiving less parental support than in the past and may be discouraged from forming natural mentoring relationships with other adults. Mentoring programs are designed to facilitate…

Behavioral techniques derived from social learning theory to training social skills are reviewed. Studies using handicapped and nonhandicapped populations are included. It is concluded that social skills training represents a potentially effective appraoch to successful mainstreaming of handicapped children. The issues of generalization and…

The present study attempted to replicate the findings of the Zahavi and Asher (1978) study with Head Start preschoolers. These authors found that brief oral instructions decreased observed aggressive behavior. This study found limited support for the effectiveness of brief oral instructions. Teacher ratings did reveal significant improvements in…

Behavior problems continue to be an issue for teachers and parents to address. Studies have shown that challenging behaviors in early childhood are linked to problems in the areas of academics and socialization in adolescence and adulthood. Most schools use a reactive, consequence-based approach to behavior management. With school violence and…

Sometimes educators are puzzled by how students can demonstrate a social skill perfectly during a practice session in a social skills curriculum but fail to use the same skill in real-life situations. Students with a lack of social skills are more likely to experience teacher and peer rejection, and are more at risk for negative life outcomes,…

This study examined the effects of adding perspective sentences to Social Stories[TM] on improving the adaptive behaviors of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and related disabilities. In Study 1, two students with ASD read two different types of Social Stories: Social Story without perspective sentences (SS without PS) and Social…

This guide presents information and clinical tools to implement the Anger Coping Program, an empirically supported intervention for students in grades 3-6. Practitioners are taken step by step through setting up treatment groups, teaching vital skills for reducing aggression and disruptive behavior, and building strong partnerships with teachers…

In individual behavior therapy two clients were evaluated using behavior categories created by the therapist. Both clients were observed to improve in terms of social competence. One demonstrated a significant inverse correlation between improvement of social competence and weight loss during treatment (16 sessions) and lost weight. The other…

An anger management procedure and a moral education intervention were added to Structured Learning, a prosocial skills training intervention for adolescents, to constitute a combined intervention package labeled Aggression Replacement Training. The package was tested with a sample of 60 adolescents. (Author/CH)