T. Rene Jamison, Ph.D.
Presented at the “Beyond the Diagnosis: Autism Across the
Lifespan” Conference October 14, 2010
 Discuss construct of social competence
 Social skills training core components
 Example program to promote social competence in
girls with ASD / DD
“Girls Night Out”
What is it?
“Social, emotional, cognitive skills and behaviors that
children need for successful social adaptation”
-Welsh & Bieman
“adequacy of a person’s social functioning”
-Gresham, 1998-
Improvements in social skills likely result
in higher social competence.
Social skills, awareness, self-confidence
Who’s got it?
Those who other’s believe have it…..
And Probably those who believe they have it….
(Perceived social competence)
How do you know you’ve got
it?
Social Status
Awareness
Friendships
Perceived competence
Social Adaptation
Understanding of social skills
Peer nominations
Self Esteem
 When social skills result in peer acceptance and
positive judgments from important others
 Change in target social behaviors should predict status
on important social outcomes such as peer status
In other words….someone has to notice!!!!
Social Competence
Well then how can I get it?
 Improved social skills
 Increased awareness
 Targeted self esteem and emotional wellness
 Change perceptions of others
 Build self confidence!
 An empirical consensus states that physical appearance
contributes most to self-esteem during adolescence
compared with other domains of perceived competence
(Harter, 1990). The second domain is social acceptance.
 According to Renick and Harter (1989), 84% of adolescents
in specialized classes want to compare themselves to
typically developing peers because they want to be
considered “normal”
 Modeling
 Assessment
 Coaching / Feedback
 Peer Mediated
 Reinforcement
 Cognitive – Behavioral
Strategies
 Generalization component /
plan!!!!
 Individual goals
 Evaluation of outcomes
Gresham, Sugai, & Horner, 2001
A social skills and self care program……………
Visual Supports
 Social Narratives
 Scrapbook
 Conversation Key rings
Peer Mediated (trained peers)
Targeted specific social
conversational skills
 Age appropriate activities in
 Live coaching/specific feedback
 role play / modeling




Reinforcement of specific
behaviors / skills
 GNO Bucks
 GNO Store
 Specific praise
Support / Motivation
community settings
Personal goals and challenges
Homework
“Buddy” system
Self monitoring through ‘What I
Did This Week’ sheets
 Visual Schedule
 Scrapbooking
 Social Narratives
 Conversation Key Rings
 Task Analysis
Remember…..
1. Get my body ready
2. Find out: where they go, what they do, and things
in common
3. Take turns: Listen and Talk
Salon Visit
Task Analysis and Social Narrative
Scrapbooks….Visual Supports!
•What are you going to have the stylist do to your hair?
“What kind of jewelry are you going to
make?”
“What is your favorite TV show?”
“What do you like to do after school?”
“I like their hair or that it “looks cute” today.”
What colors do you think you look best in?”
“What do you like to do on the weekends?”
 Examples:
 Personal Information
 Activity Related Information
 Emotional Support / Compliments
 Appropriate transitions
• GNO Bucks
•GNO Store
•Specific Praise
$$$
GNO BUCKS
•Peer Mediated
•Age appropriate activities
in community settings
•Personal goals and
challenges
•Homework
•“Buddy” system
•Self monitoring through
‘What I Did This Week’
sheets
I called
a friend
A friend
called me
Went to a
friend’s
house
Wednesday
XXX
XXXXX
X
Thursday
XXXX
XX
Friday
XXX
XX
X
Saturday
XXXXX
XX
X
Sunday
XXX
XXXXX
Monday
XX
XX
Tuesday
XX
X
A friend
came to
my
house
I
participated
in an after
school
activity
I gave a
compliment
I
talked
to a
friend
over
text or
online
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
I called
a friend
Wednesday
Thursday
A friend
called me
Went to a
friend’s
house
A friend
came to
my house
I
participated
in an after
school
activity
I gave a
compliment
X
X
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
X
I
talked
to a
friend
over
text or
online
Girls Night Out:
Take 3
Participants and Peers
 4 girls, ages 14 to 17 with a diagnosis of AS
 3rd grade reading level or above
 4 typically developing peers, ages 15-18
Sessions
 Two baseline (no intervention) sessions
 Nine intervention sessions across 7 weeks
 One wrap up data collection session
Teaching Session
Reinforcing Session
Skill taught through direct teaching
Skill is reviewed from the previous week
Social narratives used to identify key steps Skill is modeled by peers and/or
involved in the skill and to reinforce the
participants
skill
Participants and peer brainstorm ways in
which to appropriate use the social skills
in different contexts
Group and partner activities used to
practice the skill
The skill is modeled by facilitators and/or
peers
Coaching/immediate feedback occurs
during practice opportunities and
throughout activities
Participants role play the skill
Participants use the skill in natural
environments with other girls their age
 Is there a relationship between involvement in
GNO and improvement in specific
conversational social skill?
 Do the adolescents involved in GNO show an
increase in general social skills according to the
Social Responsiveness Scale upon completion
of the GNO program?
Primary Measures
 Girls Night Out Social Conversation Coding System
(GNO SCCS) based on the Social Conversation Coding
System (SCCS; Thiemann, 2009)
 Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS)-Parent Report Form
(Constantino & Gruber, 2005)
Anecdotal Measures
 Satisfaction Surveys – Parent, Participant, and Peer Forms
 Fun-O-Meters
 Videotaped 10-minute social interactions for each
participant per session
 No intervention strategies were used with the target
participant during this time
 GNO SCCS was used to code the social interactions
 Observers achieved 80% inter-rater agreement on practice
tapes
 % of intervals skills were used were graphed for each of the
target conversational skills
 Looking at three specific social conversational skills
1.
2.
3.
initiations and responses related to personal
information and activity related topics (ARI/PRI)
encouragement, compliments or emotional support
statements (EMOT)
transitioning to a new and/or related topic (TRAN)
For the following questions, please circle the number you feel best
represents your answer.
1.Have you noticed positive changes in your daughter’s conversational or social
skills, as a result of her participation in the Girls Night Out program?
1
Notice NO
positive
changes
2
Noticed
barely any
positive
changes
3
4
Noticed a
FEW positive
changes
Noticed
SOME
positive
changes
5
Noticed LOTS
of positive
changes
2.Have you noticed positive changes in your daughter’s self-care skills (e.g.,
hygiene, clothes, make-up, etc.), as a result of her participation in the Girls Night
Out program?
1
Notice NO
positive
changes
2
3
4
Noticed
barely any
positive
changes
Noticed a
FEW positive
changes
Noticed
SOME
positive
changes
5
Noticed LOTS
of positive
changes
1
Boring
2
OK
3
Not fun, but
not boring
4
Fun
5
REALLY Fun
 Info Night
 One data point
collected
 Coffee Shop
 Two data points
collected
 Fun-o-meter: 4.43/5
Jazzy Jewels
Fashion 101
Salon
Teach session
Reinforcing session
Reinforcing session
Fun-o-meter:4.25
Fun-o-meter: 4.43
Fun-o-meter: 3.67
Ceramic Café
Fabulous Faces
GNO-Literally
Fitness Frenzy
Teach session
Reinforcing session
Reinforcing session
Reinforcing session
Fun-o-meter: 4.57
Fun-o-meter: 4.5
Fun-o-meter: 5
Fun-o-meter: 4.63
Fabulous Faces, Take 2
Photo Finish
Wrap-up Session
Teach session
Reinforcing session
Reinforcing session
Fun-o-meter: 4.5
Fun-o-meter: 4.86
Highlights
Participant Data
1
Boring
2
OK
3
Not fun, but
not boring
4.48 / 5.0
4
Fun
5
REALLY Fun
 Have you noticed positive changes in your daughter’s
conversational or social skills, as a result of her
participation in the Girls Night Out program?
 4.33/5
• How satisfied were you with your daughter’s overall
experience with Girls Night Out?
• 5/5
 Have you noticed any positive changes in your
conversational or social skills, as a result of the Girls
Night Out program?
 3.66/5
 How satisfied were you with your overall experience
with the Girls Night Out program?
 4.66/5
 How satisfied were you with the training and
information you received on individuals with
developmental disabilities throughout the program?
 4.5/5
 How satisfied were you with your overall experience
with the Girls Night Out program?
 5/5
Is there a relationship between involvement
in GNO and improvement in specific
conversational social skill?
 Increase in initiations and responses related to
ARI/PRI
 No increase in majority of participants in
EMOT/TRAN behaviors
 Improvement in conversational social skills
according to anecdotal observations and data
Do the adolescents involved in GNO show
an increase in general social skills according
to the Social Responsiveness Scale upon
completion of the GNO program?
Participants’ general social skills stayed within the same
range
My daughter loved this-I almost
did not sign her up as the cost
was prohibitive to me-but it
was the best money I’ve spent
on her IN YEARS. She has
grown socially, emotionally.
We need GNO
for 10 years at
least!
Thank You!
GNO is a blessing! What
a life-changing
experience!
I changed a lot.
The part I liked was that it made
me get more interaction with
people and get out of my
comfort zone.
I enjoyed getting to know all of the girls and
I’m now able to effectively communicate
with people with disabilities because of GNO.
I really enjoyed the
program and had
FUN!
I’ve come to realize that
almost all [girls with
disabilities] are capable
of holding
conversations in the
right environment and
all teenage girls really
want the same things.
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
social initiation
response to initiation
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
social initiation
response to initiation
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
social initiation
response to initiation
 “One of my daughters is more social than the other, but I have noticed the
"quiet" one is talking to her peers more and trying to interact with them.”
 “It was a very valuable experience for my daughters by giving them the
opportunity to be with "typical" peers and learn "girly" info.”
 “Definitely a valuable experience and I wish she had a group program to go
to regularly. I have seen an improvement with [our daughter ]and her
attitude and ability to communicate with others.”
 “This was an incredible experience for [our daughter]. I wish it would continue
forever.... I felt like you all really built a relationship with [her] and therefore,
set goals that were designed specifically for her. She looked forward to it every
week. Last week, she wanted to go to a another activity instead but I made her
go to Girls Night Out. There were no regrets. Her quote on the way home that
night was: "this girls night out is the most fun I've ever had." I saw an
increase in her self esteem. Unfortunately, we live so far away that she can't
really build friendships that can develop much but it was still worth it. My
child does not seem happy often but on Wednesday nights she is and
that's worth a lot. It was very well developed and well planned out. Each night
had a purpose that was helpful. I wish we could have gone to the salon because
I think that would have been very beneficial for [our daughter]. It is extremely
difficult to find social skills groups and I was very pleased with the program.
Thank you for making a difference in my child's life and mine. You are all
incredible and extremely talented at what you do. You make a difference!”
 Texting
 Inviting girls from GNO over
 Karaoke—shy? No way!
 Decline in perseveration
 Friendships
 Experience of the girls without DD
 Breaking stereotypes
 Building community partners
 Sadness of group ending 
 FUN!
 Small sample size
 Targeted conversational skills were not individualized
 Activities did not always incorporate participants’
interests
 Short duration of program
 Targeted low rate behaviors
 Scheduling of community partners
 Match social skills taught to areas of need
 Find participants and peers that are in the same
community settings
 Incorporate activities that are of interest to the
participants
 Allow more time for practicing of skills and use of
skills in natural environments
 Focus Groups in Schools (what are girls doing, why are girls








not included)
Social “clubs”
Themed afterschool or evening activities
“lunch bunch” or “dinner bunch”
Include social skills in IEP goals with generalization plan
Increase “frequency” by generalization
Personalized scrapbook
Include in transition plan or PCP
Be focused, start small, take data








Mallory Smith
Nicole Clark
Bridget Cibulskis
Emily Bellacera and Jessica Pangborn
Amanda, Erin, Sam & Jordan: GNO-2 facilitators
Karen Hinkle
All who contributed to the GNO Store
Our community partners




Matthew Braun, Lisa Walsh, and Charles Coffey for technical assistance
Center for Child Health and Development
Women’s Foundation for Greater Kansas City
KCART








JavaNut
Beauty Obsessions Salon
Ceramic Café
Nikki Bauer-Arbonne Consultant
Mission Bowl
Kirmayer Fitness Center
Bare Ecsentuals
Red Robin
 And of course the girls who participated and their families!
Questions /
Comments
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