Advanced Group Treatment for Developmentally Disabled Adults with Social Skill Deficits

Abstract

Objective This social work research evaluates the effectiveness of an advanced, experimental treatment program for improving social skills with 6 developmentally disabled adults in a vocational training project. Method The effectiveness of the group treatment program was evaluated using multiple baseline designs replicated for 6 participants across six social skills. The intervention was developed in a previous study, and the skills were selected using a needs assessment. Results Results were mixed, and treatment gains from baseline to treatment phases were inconsistent across skills and participants. A 1-year follow-up assessment revealed that posttreatment skill levels were usually maintained. Conclusions These results only partially support the effectiveness of the group treatment program. Possible explanations for this conclusion are given, and clinical implications for social workers are discussed.

Single-case designs in group work: Past applications, future directions.

“…Hall, Dineen, Schlesinger, and Stanton (2000) used a MBD to evaluate the effectiveness of group training in verbal interactive skills for developmentally disabled adults in a vocational training program. Six complex verbal skills (e.g., “social conversation”) were successively taught with instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback over a 7-week period, and the effects of training were evaluated with a concurrent MBD across responses.…”

“…Group data plotted within a concurrent MBD across skill components showed that the five skills were rarely exhibited during baseline phases, but these same skills showed immediate and significant increases following training. Hall, Dineen, Schlesinger, and Stanton (2000) used a MBD to evaluate the effectiveness of group training in verbal interactive skills for developmentally disabled adults in a vocational training program. Six complex verbal skills (e.g., "social conversation") were successively taught with instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback over a 7-week period, and the effects of training were evaluated with a concurrent MBD across responses.…”

Social Skills Training for Adolescents With Intellectual Disabilities

“…Following implementation of BST, improvements in accurate object use and number of social initiations were observed for both participants. Hall, Dineen, Schlesinger, and Stanton (2000) evaluated BST in a group setting as a strategy for teaching six target skills (i.e., conversation, inviting, saying no, giving criticism, differing in opinion, receiving criticism) to six young adults with ID (Hall et al, 2000). Although results of the study indicated mixed effects, changes in rater perception of social functioning remained at higher levels at a 1-year follow-up.…”