Using a Self-Management Packet to Increase Conversational Skills and Social Fluidity in Teenagers with Asperger's

Robert L. Koegel, Jane L. Talebi, & Lynn Kern Koegel

The current study investigates the effects of a self management intervention for social conversation on three teenagers diagnosed with Asperger's. Specifically, the study seeks to discover the effectiveness of a self-management package individually designed for each participant targeting various conversational and/or social skills. Prior to intervention, the participants respectively demonstrated low levels of question-asking and initiating, high levels of perseveration on preferred topics, and difficulty in perceiving when conversational partners had lost interest in their topic. Initial data indicate that implementation of this intervention does significantly increase the participants' ability to initiate with others by asking questions, edit their preferred topics to appropriate lengths for conversation, and appropriately notice other's nonverbal pragmatics and change the conversation topic accordingly.