This presentation was filmed at the 2016 CCBS Autism Conference in Buellton, California
About the presentation:
Social skills are an elusive target of instruction, and often are the source of frustration for caregivers and clinicians. Our most modest gains occur in this realm, and many misconceptions exist about the pertinence of ABA to social skills instruction. Furthermore, social skills are often targeted through multi-element interventions, making it difficult to identify the procedures that do contribute to change. Compounding the confusion is the plethora of non evidence-based instructional methods that are used ubiquitously. In this talk, we will review the critically important social skills for different aged learners and we will highlight the outcomes that are most socially significant. In addition, we will review procedures that have been empirically validated, and we will discuss methods to assess the impact of different procedures in multi-element interventions. The important issues of generalization and independence will be discussed in the context of social skills instruction.
About the presenter:
Mary Jane Weiss, PhD, BCBA-D is a Professor at Endicott College, where she directs the Master’s Program in ABA and Autism. Dr. Weiss has worked in the field of ABA and Autism for almost 30 years. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Rutgers University in 1990 and she became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2000. She previously worked for 16 years at the Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center at Rutgers University, where she served as Director of Research and Training and as Clinical Director. Her clinical and research interests center on defining best practice ABA techniques, evaluating the impact of ABA in learners with autism, teaching social skills to learners with autism, training staff to be optimally effective at instruction, and maximizing family members’ expertise and adaptation.