Training Others to Teach Social Skills | BCBA CEU | Supervision | 0.5 Hour

In this presentation, the speaker discusses how to train interventionists to effectively teach social skills. She begins by emphasizing the importance of social skills for developing meaningful, high-quality relationships and notes elevated rates of bullying, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts among autistic individuals. Although social skills interventions can reduce anxiety and depression, the speaker highlights that effective outcomes depend on properly training staff.

A central competency identified is clinical judgment, defined as the ability to synthesize moment-to-moment variables such as behavioral function, learner attentiveness, environmental context, and interventionist skill set in order to adapt instruction. The speaker outlines four commonly discussed domains of social deficits: social communication, social cognition, social awareness, and social engagement/motivation. She cautions against rigid “social rules” and instead promotes teaching flexible “social tools” that allow individuals to navigate variability across contexts.

Additional required competencies include understanding long-term client goals, shaping approximations, conditioning natural reinforcers, programming for generalization, and maintaining procedural flexibility. For staff training, evidence-based approaches such as Behavioral Skills Training (BST) and the Teaching Interaction Procedure (TIP) are recommended, combined with ongoing supervision and performance-based feedback. The presentation concludes by emphasizing that effective staff preparation ultimately determines the quality of social skills instruction delivered to clients.