Increasing Behavioral Variability and Social Skill Accuracy in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Although social skills training for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often addresses deficits in social communication, restricted and repetitive social behaviors are less frequently targeted in the literature. The present study evaluated a manualized social skills training program, modified to incorporate lag schedules of reinforcement, to promote appropriate and variable responding in three children in a school setting. Participants attended social skills once weekly, with probes of social skills taking place daily. A multiple baseline design across target skills was used to determine intervention efficacy. Results of the study indicated that the social skills curriculum incorporating lag schedules of reinforcement resulted in substantial increases in the number of appropriate and variable responses demonstrated by participants during each probe session, as well as the number of appropriate and variable responses demonstrated overall.