8

Social Skills:
Strategies and Challenges
Mary Jane Weiss

Social skills are agreed upon as centrally important in instructing

individuals on the autism spectrum. They are, however, among the most
elusive targets to impact. One challenge to teaching such skills is that
learners with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may have minimal intrin-
sic interest in learning these skills. Many learners with ASD lack social in-
terest, have constricted social interests, have difficulties following social
rules, and/or fail to comprehend social nuances. Additionally, they often
exhibit little social initiation, as well as reduced social responsiveness.
In summary, it is not difficult to understand the instructional challenges
when we examine the diagnostic features and the motivational issues.
One of the reasons clinicians struggle in this context is that social skills
are particularly and uniquely challenging to individuals with autism.
Furthermore, it is often difficult to conceptualize how to instruct in-
dividuals with autism in such skills. Most social skills are multi-element
skills that require the individual to engage in several different and dis-
tinct tasks. Consider turn taking. We could list many different discrete
skills required for successful turn taking. These include: listening to di-
rections, inhibiting actions, following rules, understanding cues for ac-
tion and non-action, delay of gratification, etc.
Perhaps most importantly, most of the skills in the social realm in-
volve an element of judgment (i.e., is it appropriate to engage in this be-
havior with this person at this time?). These varying situational elements
and instructional complexities make it difficult to teach such skills. How
does one define social judgment so it can be measured and is it even pos-
sible to do so? Furthermore, how can we program for generalization of
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Social Skills

these skills? Is it even possible to prepare learners for the myriad possibilities
that exist in real life?
This chapter will review these challenges to definition and to instruc-
tion, some of the ways in which such skills are commonly taught to individu-
als on the autism spectrum, and some broad issues that relate to the utility of
these skills.
We have already reviewed some of the issues in definition. The core is-
sues revolve around defining social skills in a functional context. What is a
social skill? Is it simply a skill that is expected in society? Is it a skill that
increases navigation independently? Is it a skill that prevents negative con-
sequences? In other words, are social skills really rules about what not to do?
The chapters in this book present several frameworks for defining and
teaching social skills. While there are differences in authors’ views, each
chapter presents a pragmatic approach to enhancing social functioning.

Instructional Challenges
There are several ways that social skills are approached in instructional
contexts. Often, a skill will be discussed as a curricular area, as in play skills.
Such an area may be broken down into stages and sub-stages of instructions,
with corollary and corresponding programs. At times, a core or pivotal skill
may be focused on as a distinct skill or progression of skills. For example,
Theory of Mind or perspective taking is often discussed in this way. These
elegant interventions provide an operationally defined set of procedures and
a clear instructional progression.
In practice, however, social skills are often targeted in a multipronged
approach. Many commonly used approaches are packaged interventions with
several components that are used in combination with other procedures.
Weiss and Harris (2001) provide a thorough description of several strategies
for teaching social skills to young children on the autism spectrum.
Unfortunately, many commonly used strategies have limited empirical
support to date. Additionally, some approaches have been empirically support-
ed with different populations, but not with individuals on the autism spectrum.
(For example, systematic problem-solving curricula have been successful in
teaching problem-solving skills to children with ADHD.) The utility of these
interventions is unclear, but many clinicians use procedures from other popu-
lations to address higher-level social skills. Several commercially available so-
cial skills chapters and curricula have well-formulated and clear lessons for a
variety of social skill instructional targets (e.g., Baker, 2002; 2003; McGinnis &
Goldstein, 1990; Richardson, 1996; Taylor, 2001; Taylor & Jasper, 2001).
 Teaching Social Skills to People with Autism I


In clinical application, a number of commonly used strategies fit the de-

scriptions above (i.e., they have limited empirical support or have been used
primarily with other types of learners). Nevertheless, such procedures are
often used to remediate social deficits and to teach social skills. Importantly,
they are often used in combination with other, direct behavior change pro-
cedures, such as reinforcement and prompting. Examples of such commonly
used procedures that will be reviewed here include Social Stories, role-plays,
rule cards, scripts, and video modeling. This review is designed to provide
examples of the challenges that exist both in our empirical literature and in
our guidelines for clinical practice. The procedures described are commonly
used as parts of multi-component or package approaches to behavior reduc-
tion and skill acquisition. As such, it can be difficult to isolate the effects of
any one component. This is a major problem in the empirical verification of
procedures used in social skills instruction.

Commonly Used Techniques

Social Stories
Social Stories™ are an intervention developed by Carol Gray (Gray, 1993;
1994) that provide information about social situations and about behavior
that is expected in those situations. Gray has suggested a formula or ratio of
one directive statement to every three to five informational statements. This
ratio is designed to ensure that the story convey information about complex or
hard-to-comprehend social circumstances.
Social Stories can be written in various ways. Many clinicians combine
text with pictures, and some clinicians make the stories extremely individu-
alized (including using the names of people the individual knows and using
the first person). The stories are used to convey information and expectations
for multi-element tasks (such as cleaning up or lining up for recess). They are
often used as part of a group of interventions to reduce challenging behaviors,
and offer functional alternatives to the target behavior, such as asking for help
instead of throwing materials.
There is some encouraging empirical support for the effectiveness of
Social Stories in increasing social communication skills (e.g., Thiemann
& Goldstein, 2001). However, the data are quite variable and knowledge
is limited (Reynhout & Carter, 2006). Some of the problems that exist in
the current body of literature include: highly variable effect sizes, highly
variable methodology, and a lack of reports of cognitive level of individu-
als in the studies.
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Social Skills

Even in a clinical context, there are more questions than answers. Many
clinical aspects of the use of Social Stories remain unanswered from a re-
search perspective. It does not appear that there is an effect for descriptive
sentences (Reynout and Carter, 2006). Little is known about most other ele-
ments of story construction or clinical implementation. It is not known how
frequently reviews of the story need to be done, whether comprehension ac-
tivities make it easier for learners to master the content, or the best sched-
ule for presentation of the story. The data are not robust with regard to the
ability of Social Stories to facilitate behavioral change. Furthermore, data on
the maintenance and generalization of such changes are largely unavailable.
Given that maintenance and generalization are critical issues for individuals
with ASD, this is a serious limitation.
However, consumers like Social Stories, are enthusiastic about includ-
ing them in curricular planning, and are fairly compliant about implementing
them. There are also many anecdotal reports of success with their use. The
question for the clinician is whether, how, and when to use them. It may be
possible and advantageous to use them as part of a package/group of inter-
ventions, as long as more direct change procedures are also used. However,
the responsible behavior analyst would want to know whether, how, and how
much Social Stories are contributing to behavior change in the individuals
with whom they are working.

Role Plays
Role plays provide an opportunity for the rehearsal of desired behav-
iors (e. g., Snell & Janney, 2000; Weiss & Harris, 2001). We know that stu-
dents with ASD often need multiple opportunities to learn and to practice
desired skills. Hence, role plays may naturally provide such additional op-
portunities and supplement a low number of naturally occurring events in
the natural environment.
Role plays can be used to target elements and nuances of interaction
that are central to social success. Examples include orientating to the speak-
er, maintaining eye contact, and answering questions appropriately. Role
plays can be done in different ways, with characters, puppets, people, and
the target student. When the student participates, he or she can take on dif-
ferent roles, demonstrating the initial skill or the response. Role plays are al-
ways used together with feedback on performance. While there is not a body
of research on role-play procedures, there is some support for the broad use
of behavioral rehearsal strategies. This is one of the strategies that has been
demonstrated to be effective with populations other than individuals with
autism, and may be relevant.
 Teaching Social Skills to People with Autism I


Rule Cards
Rule cards assist students in following the social rules that are asso-
ciated with a particular activity (e.g., Weiss & Harris, 2001). A rule card
states the specific behavioral expectations for an activity. Rule cards are
sometimes reviewed prior to an activity and can also be used in combina-
tion with other procedures (such as behavioral rehearsal). Rule cards are
very helpful for targeting skills such as taking turns, sharing materials, and
asking peers for items. They can also be used for delineating behavioral
expectations for a particular environment or activity, such as the library or
school assemblies. While there is not a body of literature on the use of rule
cards per se, they are a common clinical intervention and are related to a
variety of visual prompting strategies and behavioral rehearsal techniques
that have been shown to be effective (e.g., Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007;
Snell & Brown, 2000).

Scripts
Many students with autism have a difficult time engaging in conversa-
tions, even if they have well-developed language comprehension. They may
also have difficulty in creative play. In both conversations and creative play,
it is difficult to predict what other individuals will do, so the demands for
flexibility are high. As a result of their deficits, individuals with autism may
engage in much less interaction than they might appear to be capable of. One
way to address this issue is to provide scripts for conversations or creative play.
Scripts can be provided in the form of sentences, words, or pictures, and they
can be used in a variety of circumstances (e.g., Snell & Janney, 2000). Scripts
can also be specifically developed for a particular context, game, or activity.
Scripts can help the learner to engage in the target behavior for longer dura-
tions. Also, they can assist the learner in staying on topic and engaged while
involved in interaction. A number of studies document the effectiveness of
scripts, including in facilitating social initiation and social interaction (e.g.,
Krantz & McClannahan, 1993, 1998).
Rote behavior or rigidity can be a concern whenever scripts are used. It
is therefore important to program in variability in the script and to reinforce
flexibility in the response. It is not functional if the learner can speak about a
topic in only one way or play with a toy in only one unchanging sequence. We
need to prepare individuals with ASD for the wide variety of circumstances
they are likely to encounter in their interactions, and we need to build their
capacity and tolerance for change.
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Social Skills

Video Modeling
Video modeling, which is described in the chapter by Rebecca MacDon-
ald, is an area where more research literature does exist. Video modeling has
been shown to be a very effective means of teaching students with ASD to im-
itate peers (Haring, Kennedy, Adams, & Pitts-Conway, 1987), learn sign lan-
guage (Watkins, Sprafkin, & Krolikowski, 1993), develop play skills (Char-
lop-Christy, Le, & Freeman, 2000), and develop conversation skills (Charlop
& Milstein, 1989; Sherer et al., 2001). Increasingly, video modeling is being
used successfully to build a variety of skills, including functional academic
skills, community-relevant skills, conversational exchanges, and play skills
(e.g., Snell & Brown, 2000; Taylor, 2001; Weiss & Harris, 2001). The litera-
ture about its effectiveness is compelling and robust.
The use of video is also clinically appealing, as many students with ASD
are strong visual learners and enjoy watching videos. There has been specu-
lation that individuals with autism may attend better to a model presented in
a video clip than they would to a live model demonstrating a skill. Clinically,
video modeling is often presented as an adult demonstrating the skill first.
When using an adult model, it may be easier to ensure that the important
aspects of the target behavior are made salient. In addition, older peers or
mature peers can be used as models. These individuals have inherent advan-
tages, because of their similarities to the target students.
Video modeling has been used to teach a variety of play skills. While
there is some variability in how video modeling is implemented to build play
skills, it usually involves having learners observe a clip and then enact the
demonstrated skills themselves. There may be a phase of concurrent imita-
tion of the behavior (doing the actions along with the model on tape), fol-
lowed by a phase of delayed imitation of the observed behavior (watching
the clip and then playing). The rote nature of the response is a concern, so
it is important to program in variability. The learner can also be eventually
rewarded for expanding upon or varying the modeled skills.
In addition, the video medium can be used to provide feedback to learn-
ers on their performance. Both reinforcement and corrective feedback can
be provided, and the experience can be used to develop better skills. Specifi-
cally, strategies for targeted areas of weakness can be modeled and rehearsed
(e.g., Taylor, 2001). This may be an especially useful strategy for situations in
which an individual has demonstrated difficulty understanding social rules,
such as respecting personal space or staying on topic in a conversation.
Guidelines for the use of video with students with ASD have been de-
veloped (e.g., Krantz, MacDuff, Wadstrom, & McClannahan, 1991). Specifi-
cally, these authors suggest: assessing learners for necessary prerequisite
 Teaching Social Skills to People with Autism I


skills; removing extraneous stimuli from the environment; factoring in the

history of the learner with the people who are presenting the video or mod-
eling on the video; and considering cognitive level as a possible prerequi-
site (as learners with more developed cognitive skills may have better out-
comes). You may also wish to refer to Seeing Is Believing: Video Self-Modeling
for People with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities by Tom Buggey
(Woodbine House, 2009).

Problem Solving
The capacity to solve problems is an important part of success in school,
at work, in interpersonal relationships, and in life. Problem solving is also
critically important to the social world of friendships. Many students with
social skills difficulties due to other types of problems, such as ADHD, have
benefited substantially from problem-solving approaches.
Problem-solving training generally includes helping learners to both
identify problems and select appropriate solutions. Children with ASD often
have difficulties with identifying the social problem. This may be due to the
apparent ambiguity of presenting problems. They also struggle with evaluat-
ing options for a course of action. They may be impulsive and quickly act on
the first option that comes to mind, or they may simply fail to see the range of
options. Training in problem-solving (e.g., Shure, 2001a; 2001b; 2004) can
help students with ASD to identify problems, generate alternative solutions,
evaluate the effectiveness of different possible paths of action, and choose the
best option (Bieber, 1994; Dunn, 2006). This approach is flexible, and can be
done as a class-wide intervention or as an individual approach.

Evaluating Social Significance

As behavior analysts, we always discuss the importance of socially sig-
nificant change. Nowhere in curricular programming is this more important
than in the realm of social skills. Issues of social significance center on the
meaningfulness of behavior change. It is not meaningful if the skill is dem-
onstrated in an isolated context. It is also not meaningful if the skill is not
demonstrated in a functional way. For example, if the duration or latency for
a behavior is excessive, the learner will not receive reinforcement in a maxi-
mally effective way. Thus, a child with autism may miss out on the chance to
interact with a friend if it takes him too long to respond to a greeting.
Generalization is an issue of central importance in social skills. There is
little use in teaching conversation in a scripted way unless the learner even-
 I
Social Skills

tually tolerates unscripted interactions. Similarly, with play skills, students

need to respond to different fire stations, garages, farms, and dollhouses.
Our attention to generality needs to permeate our social skills programming.
We need to remember the lessons of Stokes and Baer (1977), who empha-
sized the use of multiple exemplars, the importance of training loosely, and
the strategy of varying elements of the instructional context to facilitate the
transfer of skills.
Similarly, we need to attend to time-based dimensions of behavior
when teaching social skills. Duration and latency are salient features of
social interactions. Deficits in the stamina and responsiveness of learners
have severe social consequences. Consequently, building speed of response
is critically important.

Summary of Clinical Approaches

It is difficult to specify what is meant by social skills. Many behavior
analysts single out particular skills (e.g., joint attention or play) that can be
targeted as a curricular progression. In these elegant progressions, one can
see the basic tenets of ABA in action, including operational definitions, clear
criteria for mastery, and a sequenced instructional approach.
In clinical practice, however, a variety of techniques are commonly used
for teaching social skills to individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Many
of the techniques that are commonly used are not empirically validated or
have been used primarily with other populations. They may, however, be use-
ful additional components to a package of behavioral interventions. They are
often implemented in this way—as one element of a multi-element approach.
Such packaged interventions may improve the learner’s acquisition of these
multi-element skills. At the least, they may provide more practice/learning
opportunities and increase the extent to which individuals with ASD are pre-
pared for the range of possible experiences.
In consideration of the use of non-verified treatments or packaged in-
terventions, it is important that direct behavior-change procedures always be
used to affect behavior. In addition, data on the effectiveness of all strategies
used with individual learners should always be collected to make it easier to
make data-based decisions about the continuation or discontinuation of any
treatments or any components of treatments.
In all social skills programming, our emphasis must be on the mastery
of behaviors that have true social significance. Toward that end, we must
program for generality in the stimuli we select, the settings we instruct in,
the teaching procedures we use, and the responses that we reinforce. We
 Teaching Social Skills to People with Autism I


must also attend to the issue of response availability. Students with ASD
must respond in a timely way to peer initiation, as failing to do so will result
in fewer social bids.
In the curricular realm of social skills, functionality must be our barom-
eter of effectiveness. Do the skills we teach make a real-world difference for
this individual? Does he or she now have greater access to reinforcement?
Does he have fewer negative interactions? Can he navigate social contexts
more easily? Is the learner more independent? Has he found a community of
individuals who share his interests? The focus is on ultimate outcomes. Our
teaching strategies must reflect and be shaped by this goal.

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