Action Plan
My action plan consisted of several interrelated steps including explicit instruction of interventions, guided practice, data collection, data analysis, and reflection. The calendar below outlines the daily activities that led to my research results.
Interventions included:
- Printed Social Stories of target behaviors
- Video Modeling of target behaviors
- Verbal Redirection and Reinforcement
Target Behaviors included:
- Greeting others
- Starting a conversation
- Ending a conversation
- Introducing yourself and meeting someone new
- Staying on topic
Instructional Interventions
Printed Social Stories
Nina read printed social stories on a daily basis at the beginning of the day and when redirection was needed throughout the day. To support her in choice activities, I utilized a social story for swimming practice and competitions. Click each link below to read how social skills were reinforced using print social stories.
What is a Social Story?
A Social Story is a first person narrative directed towards the student. Social stories are mostly used for students with Autism, but can be used with other students when appropriate. This social narrative focuses on specific skills that the student is working on. The story tells why the student should do these skills and how it will help the student. Social Stories should include meaningful interests and preferred activities to help motivate the student. These stories can be used with children, adolescents, and adults. The stories length depends on the student and age, but most are short stories or articles.
Video Modeling
"“Video modeling is an intervention which uses video modeling instead of live modeling for teaching a new behavior or changing an existing one; it is implemented by getting learners to watch all the steps of a target behavior from a video before being taught,” (Gul, 2016, p. 85). I introduced one target behavior every two weeks. Nina practiced the target behavior in various settings and I collected anecdotal and quantitative data to inform further instruction.
Verbal Redirection and Reinforcement
Students with autism and other learning disabilities benefit significantly from direct instruction and practice. Many students have picture, verbal, or text reminders reviewing social skills to support their application in school environments (Kagohara, 2013). As Nina practiced target skills, I used consistent language to reinforce positive application of each behavior. Other adults who interact with Nina such as paraeducators also used these phrases.
