Autism Social Skills Profile (ASSP)

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Autism Social Skills Profile (ASSP)

The Autism Social Skills Profile (ASSP) is a reasonably new assessment tool developed for the purpose of providing a comprehensive assessment of the social functioning of adolescents and children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Specifically, the ASSP second edition measures the social competence of 6-17-year-olds. The tool assesses social skills such as active listening, empathy, respect, effective communication, and conflict resolution. The tool is administered individually. It is not meant to be a diagnostic tool as it primarily developed as a mechanism for measuring the progress of social intervention. The ASSP second edition is used with youths and takes about 15-20 minutes to complete. It can be administered by two grow-ups that have knowledge of the student’s functioning. A 4-point Likert scale is used to rate the 49 items that are being assessed. The test tends to yield three subscale yields, including Detrimental Social Behaviors (DSB), Social/Emotional Reciprocity (SER), Social Participation/Avoidance (SPA), as well as a total score (Strofylla, Charitou, Asonitou, & Koutsouki). The recorded raw scores get converted to standard scores (SD=15 and M=100). Normative data is based on the report given by parents only. One positive aspect of the ASSP is that it provides separate scoring tables for children that have a cognitive disability or significant language impairment as well as those without. The ASSP approach has been found to possess the ability to detect whenever there are changes in social skills use that are linked with interventions in children of different ages. As an instructor, I would use the autism social skills profile in the classroom because I have found it effective in assessing the social functioning of children. It would thus be helpful in understanding the capacities of the learners, which would help me meet all their needs.

Incident Teaching

Incidental teaching is a model of teaching where the instructor takes advantage of incidents that happen naturally to provide the student with a learning opportunity. An example would be a teacher using characters in a book or a video game to pass across a message that is relevant in class. Incidental learning is based on the notion that learners, including those with autism spectrum disorders tend to be more willing to learn if learning is based on issues that interest them. Although incidental learning was first developed particularly for learners with autism, research has shown that all children learn better when their everyday lives and interest are factored into lessons (Rosenberg, Artman-Meeker, Kelly, & Yang, 2020). Incidental teaching tends to improve communication skills in learners. Incidental teaching uses six steps to boost a child’s communication skill. The first step is to set up an exciting environment for the learner. Step two has to do with giving the child restricted access to an interesting object. In the third step, the teachers wait for the child to make a gesture or ask for it. In step four, the teacher prompts the child to describe the item in detail. In essence, the child should elaborate on the item. They can mention color or shape. In stage five, one waits for the child to respond before rewarding him with the object in the final step. Other uses of incidental teaching include helping children start conversations and skills transfer from one situation to the next. Noteworthy, according to high-quality research, incidental teaching has positive effects on the behaviour of children with autism spectrum disorders. I would use incidental teaching as a teaching intervention in the classroom as it has rewarding results for children. In addition to boosting language skills, it boosts courage and communication skills.

References

Rosenberg, N. E., Artman-Meeker, K., Kelly, E., & Yang, X. (2020). The effects of a bug-in-ear coaching package on implementation of incidental teaching by paraprofessionals in a K-12 school. Journal of Behavioral Education, 29(2), 409-432.

Strofylla, G., Charitou, S., Asonitou, K., & Koutsouki, D. (2021). Profile of Social Skills in Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Advances in Physical Education, 11(2), 195-206.