Social Skills Instruction for Students With High-Incidence Disabilities: A School-Based Intervention to Address Acquisition Deficits

The purpose of this study was to examine the results of a prescriptive, classroom-based social skills intervention program for 7 students with high-incidence disabilities receiving services in a self-contained, special education classroom. Students participated in 12 hours of social skills training, led by a paraprofessional and a student teacher, during the course of the traditional school day. Outcome measures included direct observation of inappropriate classroom behavior and academic engaged time. In addition, the authors monitored behavioral points, which were a part of the existing classroom management plan, to assess students' responsiveness. Results revealed decreases in inappropriate classroom behavior and increases in academic engaged time for the majority of the participants. Despite the improvement in classroom behavior, as evidenced by direct observation data, changes were not evident in the behavioral points earned by the students. Teacher and students' perceptions of social validity of the intervention goals, procedures, and outcomes were mixed. Limitations of the study are discussed and directions for future investigations are offered.