J. Stephen Hazel

Application of a Group Training Program in Social Skills and Problem Solving to Learning Disabled and Non-Learning Disabled Youth

The efficacy of training learning disabled adolescents in social and problem-solving skills was evaluated by conducting a group skill-training program with three sets of youths: learning disabled adolescents attending an alternative high school, non-learning disabled youths attending the same school, and court-adjudicated youths on probation with a juvenile court. The six skills taught as part of the program included: giving positive feedback, giving negative feedback, accepting negative feedback, resisting peer pressure, negotiation, and problem solving in social situations. Training procedures consisted of skill explanation, rationales, modeling, and behavioral rehearsal with feedback. Skills were trained in a multiple-baseline design across skills. Youth performance of the skills was assessed through behavioral role-play testing using novel, nonpracticed situations. All three groups of subjects showed increased skill levels following training. On the cognitive problem-solving skill, learning disabled adolescents demonstrated only a slight gain when compared to non-learning disabled and court-adjudicated youths.

Social Competencies as a Pathway to Successful Life Transitions

Learning disabilities have been examined most carefully in the academic setting; however, learning disabilities is a lifelong condition that impacts individuals outside the academic environments. Since the formal school setting accounts for so little of a persons life experiences, it becomes important to understand the nonacademic manifestations of learning disabilities. Impaired social competency is one of these common manifestations exhibited by young adults with learning disabilities. This article describes post-secondary outcomes of young adults with learning disabilities, specific areas of social problems encountered, and the results of an assessment of social competencies in adults with learning disabilities. The authors recommend that secondary and post-secondary curricular experiences include greater attention to improving social competencies.

Group Training for Social Skills A Program for Court-Adjudicated, Probationary Youths

A group training program for teaching social skills was conducted with 13 court-adjudicated youths on probation with a juvenile court. The program taught eight skills—giving positive feedback, giving negative feedback, accepting negative feedback, resisting peer pressure, problem-solving, negotiation, following instructions, and conversation. The youths were divided into three groups, two of which had a homenote procedure that required the youths to practice the skill at home during the week. The skills were trained in a multiple-baseline design across skills using skill explanation and rationales, modeling, and behavioral rehearsal with feedback. Behavioral role-play results showed substantial skill increases for the youths in all the groups with the youths in the two homenote groups showing more rapid increases in skill levels. Folow-up testing eight months later showed good retention of the majority of the skills. Self-report questionnaires showed that the majority of the youths viewed themselves as more competent following the training.

A MENTOR PROGRAM FOR FACILITATING THE LIFETRANSITIONS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE HANDICAPPING CONDITIONS

In order to ensure that more youths with learning disabilities graduate from high school, enroll in postsecondary training, and are employed in jobs commensurate with their training, a transition program has been developed. Each youth is paired with a mentor during his or her junior year in high school, and the mentor/protege team works cooperatively to complete tasks related to the individual goals of the protege. A transition coordinator monitors the efforts of teams and provides access to needed resources. Preliminary results are promising with regard to increasing graduation and postsecondary enrollment rates.

Group Social Skills Training with Adolescents

Over the past decade, social skills training in groups has become a popular method of therapy for adolescents. This treatment approach has evolved from work in several fields: research in applied behavior analysis focusing on social skills training with court-adjudicated adolescents (e.g., Phillips, Phillips, Fixsen, & Wolf, 1972); research by social psychologists (e.g., Argyle, 1972); work by clinical psychologists (e.g., Goldstein, 1973); and group work with children, adolescents, and adults (e.g., Rose, 1972; 1977). Group therapy programs have most often been implemented with “problem adolescents,” those who are usually labeled as “acting out” and who frequently exhibit severe social skills deficiencies. Because group therapy is often considered an economical form of treatment, particularly when a large number of adolescents need the same type of therapy, it has been conducted in schools, group homes, and institutions.

Social Skills Assessment and Training for the Learning Disabled

This months Topical Review is the first in a two-part series on the social skills of learning disabled children. In a field traditionally dominated by concerns about intellectual functioning, concern for the development of social skills in LD children has been sparked by data showing that skill deficiencies in this area are associated with poor long-term adjustment and success both in and out of the classroom. This two-part Review presents information about the social skills deficits of LD children, methods for assessing social skills, and treatment programs designed to ameliorate weaknesses in social skills. The first two of these topics are covered this month, while the last topic will be addressed in the next issue.--J.K.T.