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Using Social Stories and Literacy-Based Behavioral Interventions to Improve Employment Skills in Employees with Mental Retardation

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Date Issued:
2007
Summary:
Preparing people with disabilities for employment is an important task. Many of these individuals have difficulty learning and performing new tasks without support or guidance. There are many accessible interventions that can increase the learning and performance of individuals with disabilities, including positive instructional, literacy based behavior interventions. A social story (Gray, 2000) is one example of a literacy-based behavioral intervention that has been effective for teaching social skills. This type of intervention typically has been used with children with autism. Several studies have used social stories to decrease disruptive behavior or teach self-help skills such as using a napkin or hand washing. Very few of the studies have examined the effects of a social story intervention for individuals with disabilities not on the autism spectrum (Sansosti & Powell-Smith, 2004). The present study was designed to examine the effects of social stories to improve the job skills of employees with developmental disabilities. Two experiments were conducted. In the first experiment a multiple baseline across subjects was employed to examine the potential of the intervention on employees' requests for materials and supplies, and any resulting improvements in their work engagement. The second experiment employed a multiple baseline across time periods, with an embedded ABAB design to assess whether the intervention would increase independence and improve "on-time" return-to-work. The results showed that employees with developmental disabilities made substantial improvements in employment skills as a result of the social story intervention, and similar improvements were observed in co-workers as well.
Title: Using Social Stories and Literacy-Based Behavioral Interventions to Improve Employment Skills in Employees with Mental Retardation.
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Name(s): Bucholz, Jessica L., author
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Brady, Michael P., Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Created: 2007
Date Issued: 2007
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, FL
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 158 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Preparing people with disabilities for employment is an important task. Many of these individuals have difficulty learning and performing new tasks without support or guidance. There are many accessible interventions that can increase the learning and performance of individuals with disabilities, including positive instructional, literacy based behavior interventions. A social story (Gray, 2000) is one example of a literacy-based behavioral intervention that has been effective for teaching social skills. This type of intervention typically has been used with children with autism. Several studies have used social stories to decrease disruptive behavior or teach self-help skills such as using a napkin or hand washing. Very few of the studies have examined the effects of a social story intervention for individuals with disabilities not on the autism spectrum (Sansosti & Powell-Smith, 2004). The present study was designed to examine the effects of social stories to improve the job skills of employees with developmental disabilities. Two experiments were conducted. In the first experiment a multiple baseline across subjects was employed to examine the potential of the intervention on employees' requests for materials and supplies, and any resulting improvements in their work engagement. The second experiment employed a multiple baseline across time periods, with an embedded ABAB design to assess whether the intervention would increase independence and improve "on-time" return-to-work. The results showed that employees with developmental disabilities made substantial improvements in employment skills as a result of the social story intervention, and similar improvements were observed in co-workers as well.
Identifier: FA00000655 (IID)
Degree granted: Dissertation (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2007.
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Includes bibliography.
College of Education
Subject(s): People with mental disabilities--Employment--United States
Behavior modification
People with disabilities--Vocational guidance--United States
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000655
Sublocation: Digital Library
Restrictions on Access: All rights reserved by the source institution
Restrictions on Access: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Restrictions on Access: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.