Increasing social skills and pro-social behavior for three children diagnosed with autism through the use of a teaching package

Promoting Peer Interaction

“…Since children with communication problems often have problems to generalize from one context to the other, functional/social language skills have to be consciously targeted by professionals in natural contexts without "taking over" the responsibility of the interaction. Leaf et al (2009) evaluated the effectiveness of a special intervention aiming to increase social skills and pro-social behavior in children diagnosed with autism. The intervention, called "Teaching interaction procedure", was based on reinforcement and priming in targeting four social behaviors: 1. conversation, 2. play, 3. emotional skills and 4. choosing the same friend throughout the day.…”

“…The intervention, called "Teaching interaction procedure", was based on reinforcement and priming in targeting four social behaviors: 1. conversation, 2. play, 3. emotional skills and 4. choosing the same friend throughout the day. Leaf et al (2009) found that the teaching package was effective, but since the study involved only three children during a period of just two months, the question of generalization still remains. Intervention models must thus include the question of generalization over time and over situations, and not be restricted to what has been didactically practiced within an intervention session.…”

Improving Conversational Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Study of the Teaching Interaction Procedure (TIP)

“…Social Stories™, [2] Behavioral Skills Training (BST), [4] and the teaching interaction procedure [5,6]. Although these programs appear effective, it is notable that all of these interventions, with the exception of the teaching interaction procedure, were delivered in a one-to-one setting and, often, included only one participant [2,4].…”

“…Notably, the teaching interaction procedure incorporates the general principles of BST and includes the basic components of BST in its model (i.e., instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback). In one of the first demonstrations of the success of the teaching interaction procedure for an ASD population, [6] implemented the procedure to teach four types of social skills (including social communication skills) to three children with ASD (ages 5-7). One participant was low-functioning (IQ <70) and two were high-functioning (IQ >80).…”

“…Although Leaf [6] did not use a group setting to teach conversational skills, Dotson, Leaf, Sheldon, and Sherman and Leaf, Dotson, Oppeneheim, Sheldon, and Sherman [5,6,12] delivered the teaching interaction procedure in a group format [12] demonstrated the teaching interaction procedure was effective in teaching conversational skills (i.e., eye contact, maintaining appropriate distance, asking on topic questions, moderating tone of voice/volume) to four adolescents with ASD. The participants met in a group setting twice a week (1.5 hours per day) for approximately 4 months.…”