Running head: SOCIAL SKILLS AND AUTISM 1

Transcription

1 Running head: SOCIAL SKILLS AND AUTISM 1 Learning Social Skills as a Child and Adult with Autism Patricia Stewart University of Arizona

2 SOCIAL SKILLS AND AUTISM 2 Learning Social Skills as a Child and Adult with Autism Without appropriate social skill training, children with autism remain isolated and do not look for social interaction independently. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder of early onset marketed by a profound social disability affecting a person s capability for understanding other people, intuiting their feelings, and establishing reciprocal relationships (Klin, Jones, Schults, Volkmar, & Cohen, 2002). Some of the common symptoms that people with autism share are in the core domains of social reciprocity, communication, and repetitive behaviors (Sukhodolsky, Scahill, Gadow, Arnold, Aman, McDougle, Vitiello, 2008). Motivating people with autism might be difficult to achieve in general and it takes time to know each person and see what are the activities/toys/items that motivate them, but once someone gets to know better a person with autism then it is easier to learn what can be used as a motivational instrument. The concept of this is to turn the child s current non-social interests into interactive social activities (Vernon,Koegel, Dauterman, & Stolen, 2012). Most individuals with autism in low-to-middle functioning need individualized support throughout life. Few live independently, or have close friends or permanent employment (Howlin, Goode, Hutton, & Rutter, 2004), this is why we need to approach people with autism as soon as possible for them to be able to learn how society is built. Teaching people with autism how to socialize and practicing with them in frequent setting helps to develop and better understand how social life happens. Studies have been made where programs to promote the participation in social and recreational activities, but there has not been a comparison on whether the outcome on learning social skills since childhood helps more in the development of the skills than if they are learned during the adult stages of life.

3 SOCIAL SKILLS AND AUTISM 3 The purpose of this study is to determine whether an early intervention therapy given in early stages of life in children with autism will increase their independent social interaction more than if intervention is given in adulthood. The study will address the following question: How does social group interactions early in life affect engagement in social settings for people with autism? The research hypothesis is that children with autism that are engaged in social groups with children without autism will learn better social skills and be more open in social situations than adults with autism learning social skills for the first time. The objectives of this study are to (a) increase the social interaction of people with autism, (b) learn if there is a difference on social life depending on what stage of life social intervention therapy is given, and (c) set a base on the development of a social intervention therapy for people with autism. The dependent variable, independent social interaction, is defined as how can a person start a social interaction by learning the daily skills needed for socializing. The independent variable is the amount of sessions where participants with autism will interact socially with people without autism, where participants will be able to learn what social skills are and how to implement it on a daily basis. Method Research Design A single-subject design will be used for this study. Single-subject design is useful when the research wants to know the effects of manipulating an independent variable on the behavior of an individual. With single-subject design we will be able to measure the social interaction of participants before we start the treatment, this will be our baseline date, then the treatment will be applied for the duration of the sessions, and finally there will be a withdraw of the treatment.

4 SOCIAL SKILLS AND AUTISM 4 An ABAB design will be implemented to reintroduce the treatment and get the social interaction back to where it was as the result of the first attempt when a result of the treatment is shown. Participants A sample of 10 individuals (5 children and 5 adults) with Autism Syndrome Disorder (ASD) that have never had a social intervention therapy before will be participating in this study. Females, males and individuals from all racial and ethnic backgrounds will be eligible to participate in this study as long as they meet the criteria that they never have had social intervention therapy before. Participants will range from age 3 to 33, the reason is to be able to compare the results of children and adults. We will have 5 participants range age between 3 and 17, and 5 participants range age between 18 and 33. Potential participants will be selected from local clinics and autism center. Participants will be contacted by letter by the principal investigator and the director of each center will give the letter to the potential participants, meanwhile the principal investigator will not get any information about the potential participants. Social interaction therapy is associated with very few side effects and problems, consequently individuals participating in the study will be placed in minimal risk during the social interaction sessions. Regardless of the minimal risk participants are place in, if a participant reports that he or she is experiencing problems at any point of the study with the therapy, then the social interaction therapy session will be stopped. To ensure that after each session each participant is feeling satisfied and not at risk, investigator will ask each participant individually how they are feeling and search for any signs of anxiety and will respond accordingly to each individual.

5 SOCIAL SKILLS AND AUTISM 5 Method of Measuring the Dependent Variable Observational and frequency recording will be used to measure the dependent variable, independent social interaction. Each session will be videotaped for the entire time to avoid being obtrusive (i.e., data should reflect participant s true behavior). After each session the principal investigator will review the video tape and record frequency of behavior on the dependent variable, social interaction, for the entire session time (1 interval). Frequency will be recorded after the principal investigator reviews the entire video tape of each session and will mark a tally mark each time the behavior occurs. We want to measure the frequency of the behavior to be able to compare and see if social behaviors occur more often in children than in adults with autism after the intervention (concurrent validity). Interobserver Reliability Data A second observer trained in the study will observe the sessions videotapes and record frequency of behavior independently to measure the reliability of the measurement instrument (Interobserver reliability or interrater reliability [IOA]). The second observer will record the frequency of each session after reviewing the videotapes and then it will be compared with the data from the principal investigator s data. Reliability estimates will be computed by dividing the number of agreements by the total number of intervals and then multiplying the result by 100 to get the percentage of agreement. The secondary observer s data tell us the degree to which we can have confidence in the data reported by the primary observer. In general, IOAs should be at

6 SOCIAL SKILLS AND AUTISM 6 least 80%, although higher percentages are preferable, especially with behaviors that are overt and easy to identify (Umbreit, Ferro, Liaupsin, & Lane, 2007). Treatment Integrity Treatment integrity for the independent social interaction procedure will be estimated by a research collaborator every month. This will be done to see the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. The treatment integrity will be done by the research collaborator by analyzing the intervention method every month and observing the data recorded to see if the stated protocol is having an effect on the participants. In addition every 3 months ABAB design will be implemented and the single-subject design dates will be programmed in advance for ABAB to be implemented. By implementing this design participants will be going back to their baseline behavior and research collaborator will make sure treatment is being introduced and not only measuring effects of withdrawal. Data Analysis Frequency recording will be graphically displayed to determine whether the independent variable, amount of sessions, is responsible for any changes observed in the rate of the independent social interaction from the baseline points of each participant. Also the mean of the dependent variable, independent social interaction, will be recorded individually for each participant to determine the impact intervention had on participants. Discussion Potential Limitation of this

7 SOCIAL SKILLS AND AUTISM 7 This study will be conducted in Arizona where the diversity of population is very large, and social interaction differs from culture to culture. Another limitation that we can encounter in this study is that participants may not attend all the sessions, or drop-out from the study before the final session. Significance and Implications for Future Research The proposed study will be significant in the development of people with autism. It will help us learn if early social intervention actually makes a difference on how individuals with autism grow to be adults. This study will give us evidence to see if an early intervention on social skills does help develop the social skills needed for kids with autism to socialize independently, rather than waiting until when the person is in their early adulthood. Even though there is extensive research about the social life of people with autism, there is no absolute record on a study that will help people with autism to have a better social interaction. Doing this study will show the difference of implementing social skills in children vs. starting the implementation when the person is an adult.

8 SOCIAL SKILLS AND AUTISM 8 References Klin, A., Jones, W., Schults, R., Volkmar, F., & Cohen, D. (2002). Defining and quantifying the social phenotype in autism. Am J Psychiatry, 159(6), doi: /appi.ajp Howlin, P., Goode, S., Hutton, J., & Rutter, M. (2004) Adult Outcome for Children with Autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 45(2) Sukhodolsky, D. G., Scahill, L., Gadow, K. D., Arnold, L. E., Aman, M.G., McDougle, C. J., Vitiello, B. (2008). Parent-rated anxiety symptoms in children with pervasive developmental disorders: Frequency and association with core autism symptoms and cognitive functioning. J Abnorm Child Psychol, 36(1), doi: /s Umbreit, J., Ferro, J. B., Liaupsin, C. J., & Lane, K. L. (2007). Functional behavioral assessment and function-based intervention: An effective, practical approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Vernon, Ty. W., Koegel, R. L., Dauterman, H., & Stolen, K. (2012). An early social engagement intervention for young children with autism and their parents. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 12(42), doi: /s