Social Stories: Improving Responses of Students with Autism with Accurate Social Information:
01 Apr 1993-Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities (SAGE Publications)-Vol. 8, Iss: 1, pp 1-10
TL;DR: The social impairment associated with autism is reflected in his answer, as it is in the many behaviors associated with this complex disorder as mentioned in this paper, and social cognition research helps to explain the effectiveness of a new approach to teaching social behavior that centers around social stories.
Abstract: Cincinnati, Ohio A student with autism was asked what makes his teacher laugh. He responded, &dquo;Boy, I don’t even know that. I guess I’ll never know about that.&dquo; The social impairment associated with autism is reflected in his answer, as it is in the many behaviors associated with this complex disorder. To further understand the social behavior of persons with autism, researchers have focused on social cognition -the cognitive skills required for social interaction. This area of research has dismissed some longheld beliefs, while piecing together a new understanding of the social and behavioral challenges facing persons with autism. Social cognition research helps to explain the effectiveness of a new approach to teaching social behavior that centers around social stories. Social stories are short stories that describe social situations in terms of relevant social cues and often define
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TL;DR: The extent and quality of empirical literature on social interaction for young children with autism is reviewed, existing descriptive and experimental research that may inform us of relations between autism and characteristics that support social development, and efforts to promote improved social outcomes are highlighted.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to review the knowledge available from aggregated research (primarily through 2000) on the characteristics of social interactions and social relationships among young children with autism, with special attention to strategies and tactics that promote competence or improved performance in this area. In its commissioning letter for the initial version of this paper, the Committee on Educational Interventions for Children with Autism of the National Research Council requested “a critical, scholarly review of the empirical research on interventions to facilitate the social interactions of children with autism, considering adult–child interactions (where information is available) as well as child–child interactions, and including treatment of [one specific question]: What is the empirical evidence that social irregularities of children with autism are amenable to remediation?” To do this, the paper (a) reviews the extent and quality of empirical literature on social interaction for young children with autism; (b) reviews existing descriptive and experimental research that may inform us of relations between autism and characteristics that support social development, and efforts to promote improved social outcomes (including claims for effectiveness for several specific types of intervention); (c) highlights some possible directions for future research; and (d) summarizes recommendations for educational practices that can be drawn from this research.
576 citations
TL;DR: While an area of severe involvement, social behavior is also responsive to intervention, and several studies have demonstrated that social engagement directly affects other important behaviors like language, even when these behaviors are not specifically targeted by the teaching program.
Abstract: Social dysfunction is perhaps the most defining and handicapping feature of autism. Improved social functioning has long been considered one of the most important intervention outcomes. A variety of social interventions have been designed, empirically examined, and published in the autism literature. Children with autism have been found to be responsive to a wide variety of interventions aimed at increasing their social engagement with others, both adults and peers. Successful strategies employing peer-mediated approaches and peer tutoring have involved typically developing peers. Furthermore, several studies have demonstrated that social engagement directly affects other important behaviors like language, even when these behaviors are not specifically targeted by the teaching program. Thus, while an area of severe involvement, social behavior is also responsive to intervention.
523 citations
Cites background from "Social Stories: Improving Responses..."
...A particularly well-publicized intervention involving adult instruction involves Gray’s ( Gray & Garand, 1993 ) social story technique, in which written stories are created to teach social rules and the reasons for them in a supportive, noncritical, and understanding way....
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TL;DR: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the leading inherited form of intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder, and patients can present with severe behavioural alterations, including hyperactivity, impulsivity and anxiety, in addition to poor language development and seizures as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the leading inherited form of intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder, and patients can present with severe behavioural alterations, including hyperactivity, impulsivity and anxiety, in addition to poor language development and seizures. FXS is a trinucleotide repeat disorder, in which >200 repeats of the CGG motif in FMR1 leads to silencing of the gene and the consequent loss of its product, fragile X mental retardation 1 protein (FMRP). FMRP has a central role in gene expression and regulates the translation of potentially hundreds of mRNAs, many of which are involved in the development and maintenance of neuronal synaptic connections. Indeed, disturbances in neuroplasticity is a key finding in FXS animal models, and an imbalance in inhibitory and excitatory neuronal circuits is believed to underlie many of the clinical manifestations of this disorder. Our knowledge of the proteins that are regulated by FMRP is rapidly growing, and this has led to the identification of multiple targets for therapeutic intervention, some of which have already moved into clinical trials or clinical practice.
514 citations
TL;DR: A new computer program designed to teach people with autistic spectrum disorders to better recognize and predict emotional responses in others is used and results suggest positive effects.
Abstract: This randomized controlled trial looked at the effect of a new computer program designed to teach people with autistic spectrum disorders to better recognize and predict emotional responses in others. Two groups of 11 children (age 12-18) with autism or Asperger syndrome at two special schools participated: one group used the computer program for 10 half-hour sessions over 2 weeks. Within-program data showed a significant reduction in errors made from first to last use. Students were assessed pre- and post-intervention using facial expression photographs, cartoons depicting emotion-laden situations, and non-literal stories. Scores were not related to age or verbal ability. The experimental group made gains relative to the control group on all three measures. Gains correlated significantly with the number of times the computer program was used and results suggest positive effects. Further research could assess whether these gains generalized into real life or improved performance on theory of mind measures.
444 citations
TL;DR: Virtual reality technology may be an ideal tool for allowing participants to practise behaviours in role-play situations, whilst also providing a safe environment for rule learning and repetition of tasks.
Abstract: Background: People with autism experience profound and pervasive difficulties in the social domain. Attempts to teach social behaviours tend to adopt either a behavioural or a ‘theory of mind’ (ToM) approach. The beneficial aspects and limitations of both paradigms are summarized before an examination of how virtual reality technology may offer a way to combine the strengths from both approaches. Methods: This is not an exhaustive review of the literature; rather, the papers are chosen as representative of the current understanding within each broad topic. Web of Science ISI, EMBASE and PsycInfo were searched for relevant articles. Results: Behavioural and ToM approaches to social skills training achieve some success in improving specific skills or understanding. However, the failure to generalize learned behaviours to novel environments, and the unwieldy nature of some behavioural methodologies, means that there is a need for a training package that is easy to administer and successful in promoting learning across contexts. Conclusions: Virtual reality technology may be an ideal tool for allowing participants to practise behaviours in role-play situations, whilst also providing a safe environment for rule learning and repetition of tasks. Role-play within virtual environments could promote the mental simulation of social events, potentially allowing a greater insight into minds. Practice of behaviours, both within and across contexts, could also encourage a more flexible approach to social problem solving. Virtual environments offer a new and exciting perspective on social skills training for people with autistic spectrum disorders.
437 citations
References
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Journal Article•
8,054 citations
TL;DR: The prevalence, in children aged under 15, of severe impairments of social interaction, language abnormalities, and repetitive stereotyped behaviors was investigated in an area of London, and a system of classification based on quality ofsocial interaction was considered.
Abstract: The prevalence, in children aged under 15, of severe impairments of social interaction, language abnormalities, and repetitive stereotyped behaviors was investigated in an area of London. A “socially impaired” group (more than half of whom were severely retarded) and a comparison group of “sociable severely mentally retarded” children were identified. Mutism or echolalia, and repetitive stereotyped behaviors were found in almost all the socially impaired children, but to a less marked extent in a minority of the sociable severely retarded. Certain organic conditions were found more often in the socially impaired group. A subgroup with a history of Kanner's early childhood autism could be identified reliably but shared many abnormalities with other socially impaired children. The relationships between mental retardation, typical autism, and other conditions involving social impairment were discussed, and a system of classification based on quality of social interaction was considered.
2,476 citations
"Social Stories: Improving Responses..." refers background in this paper
...Though a severe social impairment is characteristic of autism (Kanner, 1943), not all persons with autism display withdrawn social behavior (Wing & Gould, 1979)....
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TL;DR: An assessment method for identifying situations in which behavior problems, including aggression, tantrums, and self-injury, were most likely to occur was developed and results demonstrated that both low level of adult attention and high level of task difficulty were discriminative for misbehavior.
Abstract: It is generally agreed that serious misbehavior in children should be replaced with socially appropriate behaviors, but few guidelines exist with respect to choosing replacement behaviors. We address this issue in two experiments. In Experiment 1, we developed an assessment method for identifying situations in which behavior problems, including aggression, tantrums, and self-injury, were most likely to occur. Results demonstrated that both low level of adult attention and high level of task difficulty were discriminative for misbehavior. In Experiment 2, the assessment data were used to select replacements for misbehavior. Specifically, children were taught to solicit attention or assistance or both verbally from adults. This treatment, which involved the differential reinforcement of functional communication, produced replicable suppression of behavior problems across four developmentally disabled children. The results were consistent with an hypothesis stating that some child behavior problems may be viewed as a nonverbal means of communication. According to this hypothesis, behavior problems and verbal communicative acts, though differing in form, may be equivalent in function. Therefore, strengthening the latter should weaken the former.
1,907 citations
"Social Stories: Improving Responses..." refers background in this paper
...In fact, some behaviors previously described as inappropriate may now be regarded as evidence of communicative intent (Carr, 1985; Carr & Durand, 1986; Donnellan, Mirenda, Mesaros, & Fassbender, 1984; Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1982; Wetherby, 1982)....
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TL;DR: Results showed a great deal of both between and within-subject variability, however, in six of the nine subjects, higher levels of self-injury were consistently associated with a specific stimulus condition, suggesting that within- subject variability was a function of distinct features of the social and/or physical environment.
1,767 citations
TL;DR: Although the Affective theory makes better sense of the results from emotional recognition tasks, the Cognitive theory predicts the particular pattern of impaired and unimpaired social skills in autism, as well as the pragmatic deficits.
Abstract: Autism is characterized by a chronic, severe impairment in social relations. Recent studies of language in autism also show pervasive deficits in pragmatics. We assume, uncontroversially, that these two deficits are linked, since pragmatics is part of social competence. This paper reviews the literature describing these deficits, and then considers two different psychological theories of these phenomena: the Affective theory and the Cognitive theory. Although the Affective theory makes better sense of the results from emotional recognition tasks, the Cognitive theory predicts the particular pattern of impaired and unimpaired social skills in autism, as well as the pragmatic deficits. These two theories might usefully be integrated in the future.
656 citations
"Social Stories: Improving Responses..." refers background in this paper
...It is important to note that &dquo;autistic children’s social development is not impaired in a blanket fashion&dquo; (Baron-Cohen, 1988, p. 382)....
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...&dquo; In light of research describing a more complex and specific deficit in the area of social cognition and pragmatics (Baron-Cohen, 1988), these general descriptors become less and less accurate....
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...Some social skills are unaffected by the disorder (Baron-Cohen, 1988; Langdell, 1978; Stone & Lemanek, 1990), while others remain significantly impaired....
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