Teaching social skills for employment
Course Description:
Due to the staggering frequency of job vacancies, the current climate presents an ideal opportunity for behavior analysts to serve as job coaches for young adults with disabilities so that they may acquire the skills to procure meaningful employment. I will detail case studies of two young adults at two different ends of the autism spectrum. I will explain how I implemented behavioral skills training to teach various customer service skills to each individual at two retail stores while coaching store managers on how to provide feedback to the learners. I will provide video examples of the teaching methods as well as data to support acquisition and long-term maintenance of skills for each learner. Finally, I will describe how I faded my presence at the job sites. I will conclude with a discussion of social validity and methods of replicating these outcomes.