A Validation of Social Skills for Students with Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

Secondary students with behavioral disorders, regular education secondary students, secondary teachers of students with behavioral disorders, regular education secondary teachers, and parents of both student populations from the states of Washington, Iowa, and Colorado were asked to complete the Adolescent Social Skills Survey (Walker, Todis, Holmes, & Horton, 1988). The survey consists of 48 items about how adolescents relate to themselves, to other adolescents, and to adults. Overall, all groups thought all items on the survey were important. As a group, students with serious behavioral disorders rated interpersonal skills higher than other skills on the survey; However, these same students consistently rated all items lower. These students also rated compliance and cooperation skills as less important than the two teacher groups. Discussion centers around the implications these results have on programing for seriously behaviorally disordered students, with future needs being directed toward developing a functionally valid list of critical social skills.