SOCIAL SKILLS INSTRUCTION FOR STUDENTS WITH ASD 1

Social Skills Education for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Elise Lubben

SPED 472: Elementary Instruction

Dr. Amy Andersen

March 25, 2024

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ABSTRACT

All students deserve to have meaningful connections. Students with Autism Spectrum

Disorder (ASD) are no different. Autism Spectrum Disorder causes deficits in social skills,

which can cause difficulties in all aspects of life. Social skills education can help lessen these

deficits and give students with autism spectrum disorder a chance to make friends and thrive in

our society.

I chose this topic partially because social skills education is an area I would like to learn

more about. I also gravitated toward this topic because I work with a student at Washington-

Kosciusko Elementary School who has autism spectrum disorder who has severe social deficits.

He is a very gifted child but struggles heavily with making friends. Every so often students in the

class are asked what they want their learning goal to be, and his answer is always “I want to learn

to make friends.”

It’s easy for educators to get so focused on academic content that they forget their other

responsibilities. A teacher's job isn’t just to teach students how to read, but how to be human.

Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder struggle to relate to their peers and often feel isolated.

Social skills are often learned implicitly through social interactions, but children with ASD

require explicit instruction on these skills. It is vital that educators, especially special education

teachers, know concrete strategies on how to teach social skills to students with autism spectrum

disorder.

Minnesota does not have any standards pertaining to social skills that I could find.

However, it is worth noting that in my extensive search for Minnesota social skills standards, I

found many news articles citing petitions to create them. Wisconsin and other U.S. states

however have explicit standards relating to “Social and Emotional Learning.”

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SUMMARY OF PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES

Developing Social Skills and Social Competence in Children with Autism

This article discusses the significance of social skills education in the classroom. In fact,

it is argued that of all the things children learn in school, social skills have the largest impact on

the future lives of students. “Social development is one of the most critical developmental areas

for human beings. Deficits in social skills may negatively impact several essential domains

including academic achievement, interpersonal relationships, behavior, mental health, and adult

life outcome” (Silveira-Zaldivara et al. 2021). With this astronomical impact, it is vital that

educators give students with autism spectrum disorder specific interventions to achieve

competence in these skills.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder often have core deficits in their social skills and

abilities. Without explicit, direct interventions to enhance social skills, children with ASD often

struggle to obtain social competence and may experience various challenges in school, home,

and community settings. However, with specific interventions, children with autism can learn the

essential social skills that can help mitigate their deficits and strengthen their social competence

(Silveira-Zaldivara et al. 2021). In other words, children with autism spectrum disorder can be

successful in social situations, but many require extra interventions in order to develop

appropriate social and adaptive skills. Children with ASD have difficulty learning these skills

through natural social interaction as other children often do and require explicit guidance.

This article looks at the social deficits caused by Autism Spectrum Disorder as

impermanent. Students with ASD are often characterized by their awkward and socially inept

nature, but the journal argues that it doesn’t always have to be this way. While children with

autism spectrum disorder should still be encouraged to be their authentic selves, their social
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deficits can be rectified. “Evidence-based social skills interventions are paramount in

counteracting the negative effects of social deficits that are inherent in a diagnosis of autism

(Silveira-Zaldivara et al. 2021). Explicitly teaching students with ASD how to socially interact

can greatly impact the rest of their lives.

Effect of social skills training on interpersonal interactions of children with autism: an

interventional research

This article discusses the impact of Social Skills Training on students with Autism

Spectrum Disorder. According to the author, “Social Skills Training (SST) is the major area of

intervention suited for effectively remediating deficiencies of children in interpersonal

relationships that produce positive effects” (Yizengaw 2021). The article then goes on to explain

SST further and define its purposes. Social Skills Training is an instruction planned to advance

the acquisition and/or performance of social skills (Yizengaw 2021). SST focuses on a very

targeted approach, changing the content of each lesson depending on individual student needs

and deficits.

Social Skills Training has three primary purposes: enhancing existing skills, promoting

skill acquisition, and facilitating the generalization of skills across settings and persons. The

social skills focused on in SST encompass both verbal and non-verbal behaviors, including

greetings, conversation strategies, imitation, sharing, making eye contact, initiating play, asking

for help, requesting things, and giving and acknowledging compliments (Yizengaw 2021). These

skills are necessary for children to function not only in their current life but later on in their

future.
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After discussing what SST is, the article dives into why it is important. Much like the

previous article, Effect of social skills training on interpersonal interactions of children with

autism: An Interventional Research describes why social skills education is important. “It is also

evident that, due to the interrelatedness and interdependence of developmental domains, deficits

in social skills early in life can have a profound long-term deleterious effect on children’s overall

development throughout life” (Yizengaw 2021). The article then goes on to compare data of

students with and without SST intervention. It is then concluded that Social Skills Training

intervention positively impacted children with autism.

CURRENT PLACEMENT ANALYSIS

My current field placement teaches social skills during lunchtime. Washington Kosciusko

Elementary functions on a five-day schedule, ranging from A to E days. On B and D days,

students with at least one social skills goal in their IEP are invited to “Lunch Bunch.” During this

time, they eat lunch in the classroom while learning a targeted lesson relating to social skills.

While the main lesson varies daily, Lunch Bunch begins very routinely. Students find

their seats at the front table and wait for everyone to arrive. When the whole group is ready, the

lesson starts with changing the “Idiom of the Week.” The teacher walks to the board and replaces

the current idiom somewhat ceremoniously. The Idiom of the Week remains on the whiteboard

for the rest of the week, and students are encouraged to try using it. The idiom can be relevant to

the time of year or can be random. For example, the idiom during the last week before winter

break is always “White Christmas.” This way students know important terms they may be

hearing soon and can better to relate to their peers and families.
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After the Idiom of the Week is changed, the students take turns answering questions from

the “How Am I Feeling” conversation cards. These double-sided cards show an expressive fruit

or vegetable on one side and have questions on the other. The first question always relates to

how the fruit/vegetable in the image is feeling, and the second question is more reflective. For

example, the back of one of the cards reads “Is the orange frustrated, relaxed, or sulky? What do

you do when you feel this way?” Sometimes, students are asked to create a silly story of why the

fruit/vegetable feels that way. I’ve found that the students in my classroom love using these

flashcards, and it does seem to improve their empathy skills.

The main lessons are often organized into units. For example, the last unit focused on

“Friendship skills.” Within this unit, lessons varied from conversation skills to knowing when

someone is a good friend. I would argue that Universal Design for Learning is being utilized

during these lessons. The lessons are given in a very explicit format, and students are offered

many different examples and instructions to help them understand the topic. All of the students

in the Lunch Bunch group have ASD and are very structure driven. The lessons are often

differentiated to fit the needs of the various students. For instance, one student loves Lunch

Bunch and wants to make sure he remembers everything, so he is often given note sheets and

worksheets to take home. Students with higher needs are given lots of extra instruction and

attention, often at their own request. Overall, the lessons I have observed have been very

differentiated while remaining structured, aligning with a UDL format.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Social competence is a necessary skill for all people to have in order to be successful.
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Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder require explicit and direct instruction when it comes to

social skills. Educators must assume students don’t know skills until they show they can master

them, even if they seem simple. For example, if a child has never been taught to smile when they

are feeling happy, they might not understand why adults always tell them to “change their

attitude.”

I really admire the way social skills education is conducted in my current field placement,

and I anticipate that I will use many of the same strategies. The routine of working through

flashcards at the beginning of the lesson is a great warm-up, and I recommend educators use silly

strategies like this. Students think the cards are hilarious, and probably aren’t even aware of the

lessons and skills they are learning. Keeping social skills lessons and activities fun is vital to

their success.

I recommend that educators ask their students what they want to work on in terms of

social skills. Some students may be aware of their deficits and want to know concrete ways to

remedy them. Involving your students in lesson planning can create a sense of leadership and

control in them, along with increasing engagement. Students are much more likely to focus when

they care about what they are learning about.

I would also recommend that educators tell kids why they need social skills. Most

students with autism spectrum disorder struggle to make eye contact, and they may not

understand why this is an issue. Teaching students why they are learning what they are can

increase participation and retention. This can also help explain to them why their peers don’t

understand or get along with them. Overall, educators must teach social skills to children on the

autism spectrum explicitly and carefully, in order to improve their future lives.
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REFERENCES

Silveira-Zaldivara, T., Özerk, G., & Özerk, K. (2021). Developing social skills and social
competence in children with autism. International Electronic Journal of Elementary
Education, 13(3), 341–363. https://doi.org/10.26822/iejee.2021.195
Yizengaw, S. S. (2021). Effect of social skills training on interpersonal interactions of children
with autism: Interventional research. International Journal of Developmental Disabilities,
68(6), 858–866. https://doi.org/10.1080/20473869.2021.1902730