Effects of Social Story Interventions on Preschool Age Children with and Without Disabilities
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UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-2010 Effects of social story interventions on preschool age children with and without disabilities Cori Michelle More University of Nevada Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, and the Special Education and Teaching Commons Repository Citation More, Cori Michelle, "Effects of social story interventions on preschool age children with and without disabilities" (2010). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 220. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/1442532 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. 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EFFECTS OF SOCIAL STORY INTERVENTIONS ON PRESCHOOL AGE CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES by Cori Michelle More Bachelor of Arts The University of Montana 1994 Master of Arts in Teaching Western New Mexico University 1997 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Special Education Department of Special Education College of Education Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2010 Copyright by Cori Michelle More 2010 All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE COLLEGE We recommend the dissertation prepared under our supervision by Cori Michelle More entitled Effects of Social Story Interventions on Preschool Age Children With and Without Disabilities be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Special Education Nancy Sileo, Committee Chair Kyle Higgins, Committee Member Michelle Tannock, Committee Member Richard Tandy, Graduate Faculty Representative Ronald Smith, Ph. D., Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate College May 2010 ii ABSTRACT Effects of Social Story Interventions on Preschool Age Children with and without Disabilities by Cori Michelle More Dr. Nancy Sileo, Examination Committee Chair Associate Professor of Special Education University of Nevada, Las Vegas More children are receiving care outside of their home under the age of six (Childstats.gov, 2007). The quality of these programs has a direct impact on student’s readiness for school (Burchinal, Roberts, Nabors, & Bryant, 1996). Social readiness is the foundation for school readiness and academic achievement (Blair, 2002; Brigman, Lane, Lane, Lawrence, & Switzer, 1999; Raver, 2004). Acquisition of social skills plays a key role in preschool age children’s readiness for school, thus interventions that teach young children social skills are of importance. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Social Story interventions on preschool age children with and without disabilities. In this study, a Social Story-Only intervention was examined along with a Social Story-Plus Practice Session intervention to determine if Social Stories were an effective intervention for preschool- age children with and without disabilities. The study examined teachers’ perceptions of the interventions using the Teacher Impression Scale (Odom & McConnell, 1997) as well as student interactions using the Social Interaction Observation System (Kreimeyer, Antia, Coyner, Eldredge, & Gupta, 1991). The study took place in a public preschool / learning center. Observations of student play were iii video recorded during play activities including blocks, housekeeping, table toys and dramatic play. The Social Story interventions were conducted over a five week period, with additional data collected at pre-intervention and maintenance periods. The data were analyzed using a mixed model ANOVA. Based on the results of the data analysis, there was no statistically significant change in teacher perception over the course of the intervention as a result of the Social Story intervention. There was no statistically significant change in the acquisition of social skills by the participants over the course of the intervention as a result of the Social Story intervention. These results should be utilized cautiously as there were additional factors that may have impacted the results. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this time to thank the people who supported me through the dissertation process. I would like to start by thanking the members of my committee. Dr. Nancy Sileo thank you for being flexible, encouraging and for keeping me going; Dr. Kyle Higgins thank you for knowing what to say and when to say it; Dr. Richard Tandy thank you for helping me focus my dissertation questions and for asking the important questions; and Dr. Michelle Tannock thank you for helping me see data from a different perspective. I would also like to thank the entire Special Education faculty and staff at UNLV. I would not have completed my dissertation without this help and support. Thank you to Mia Youhne and Lindsay Diamond for your patience, persistence and time. A special thanks to Shannon Sparks who always had a smile or a word of encouragement. To those UNLV Special Education graduates who have gone before me, thank you for being a positive role model, for your support and words of encouragement. I also want to thank all of my coworkers and friends who always believed in me and kept me grounded throughout the process. Finally, a special thanks to my immediate family and my extended Anderson family. Mom and Dad, you gave me confidence to accomplish anything and everything I want to in life. I am thankful everyday for the sacrifices you have made for me. Kim thank you for listening to me repeat things over and over again-- I appreciate your constant ear and friendship. Shannon thank you for being my constant champion. Robert, Michael, and Christopher thank you for the uplifting laughs. And finally, to Ty, thank you for your constant support, love and joy you bring to my life. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 Overview .................................................................................................................... 1 Accountability ............................................................................................................ 3 Children ..................................................................................................................... 4 Social Stories ............................................................................................................. 5 Purpose .................................................................................................................... 10 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................. 13 Summary .................................................................................................................. 17 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE .......................................... 18 Literature Review Procedures .................................................................................. 18 Selection Criteria ..................................................................................................... 19 Social Skills Instruction ........................................................................................... 20 Social Story Interventions ........................................................................................ 35 Summary .................................................................................................................. 87 CHAPTER 3 METHOD ........................................................................................... 88 Research Questions .................................................................................................. 89 Participants .............................................................................................................. 90 Setting ...................................................................................................................... 98 Instrumentation ...................................................................................................... 101 Materials ................................................................................................................ 102 Training .................................................................................................................. 104 Design and Procedures .......................................................................................... 106 Data Collection