A Validation of Social Skills for Students with Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

Secondary students with behavioral disorders, regular education secondary students, secondary teachers of students with behavioral disorders, regular education secondary teachers, and parents of both student populations from the states of Washington, Iowa, and Colorado were asked to complete the Adolescent Social Skills Survey (Walker, Todis, Holmes, & Horton, 1988). The survey consists of 48 items about how adolescents relate to themselves, to other adolescents, and to adults. Overall, all groups thought all items on the survey were important. As a group, students with serious behavioral disorders rated interpersonal skills higher than other skills on the survey; However, these same students consistently rated all items lower. These students also rated compliance and cooperation skills as less important than the two teacher groups. Discussion centers around the implications these results have on programing for seriously behaviorally disordered students, with future needs being directed toward developing a functionally valid list of critical social skills.

Preferred and Promising Practices for Social Skills Instruction

“…This definition aligns with the Gresham definition of social skills and considers how relevant individuals in the student's social environment judge the student's performance (Hollinger, 1987;Meadows et al, 1991). In addition, this definition assumes that social skills and social competence are acquired in ways similar to how academic skills, concepts, and competence are acquired.…”

Social skills intervention for students with emotional/behavioral disorders aged six through 12 years

“…Research has shown that deficiencies in social competence have been associated with poor academic achievement (Kauffman, 2001); social maladjustment (Gresham, 1995); peer rejection (Coie, 1990); and psychopathology that may carry over into adulthood (e.g. Meadows et al, 1991). For students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD), the existence of this particular disability further interferes with their acquisition of social, academic, and vocational skills and negatively affects adult adjustment (Gresham, 1998).…”

Peer Relationships as Support for Children with Disabilities

“…Narrowly defined social skills as targets of intervention enhance precision and accuracy in assessment, but such an approach overlooks the complexity of the natural settings in which the child must generalize the skills (Mathur & Rutherford, 1996). In natural settings, social interactions are complex and contextually specific, and necessary skills are not easily discernable or predictable by adults (Meadows, Neel, Parker, & Timo, 1991 ). Kennedy and Shukla (1995) (p. 28).…”