Abstract
The present study examined effects of Social Skills Training (SST) including self-monitoring for children with developmental disorders. Elementary school first graders (N=3; 2 boys, 1 girl) were given 6 sessions of SST. The target social skills included initiation of conversation and responses to peers. In the self-monitoring procedure, the children checked by themselves whether they had carried out the target social skills when they were at school, and their parents reinforced them at home. Effects of the training were measured by behavioral observations during free play; social skills were also measured by their teacher's assessments. The results indicated that all participants increased the initiation of conversation and responses to peers after SST. The effects were maintained after 1 month. Moreover, the teachers assessments revealed similar effects in social skills. One factor that may have promoted maintenance of the effects was that the participants' parents continued reinforcing the children's target social skills even after the end of the SST.
