Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Henington, Carlen

Committee Member

Reisener, Carmen D.

Committee Member

McCleon, Tawny E.

Committee Member

Justice, Cheryl A.

Date of Degree

12-13-2014

Original embargo terms

MSU Only Indefinitely

Document Type

Dissertation - Campus Access Only

Major

Educational Psychology

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

College of Education

Department

Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Foundations

Abstract

With the increase in the prevalence rate of children with autism in the U.S. there is a growing need for empirically based treatments to address the many deficits that children with autism manifest. Social Stories™ is one such treatment that has grown in popularity to address social deficits in children with autism. However, no meta-analysis done in recent years has found Social Stories™ to be an effective treatment, stating weak and inconsistent research methodologies as one of the primary issues in the studies examined. The current study sought to examine the use of Social Stories™ using best practice research standards for single subject design. A total of 4 elementary aged students with a special education eligibility of autism participated in the study. Results of the study revealed an increase in pro-social skills for all 4 participants and a promising future for further Social Story™ research and the quest to recognize it as an effective, empirically based treatment for children with autism. Furthermore, teachers reported that they found Social Stories™ to be an effective, feasible intervention, that helped them to better understand their students’ social deficits.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/20408

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