The Effects of the Video Social Skills Program on the Social Skills of Adolescents Identified as Exceptional

The following research was conducted in order to determine the effectiveness of the Video Social Skills Program in enhancing the social skills of adolescents identified as disabled. Previous research indicated that students identified as disabled suffered from greater social skill deficits than non-disabled students. The research suggested that these social skill deficits can significantly impair student academic performance. Numerous studies have found video self-modeling effective in improving the social competence of students. Thus far, the majority of research in the area of video self-modeling has been conducted using one or two subjects in a highly structured environment. The following study examined the effectiveness of video self-modeling on a larger group of students (five) with varying disabilities using a less structured format, (The Video Social Skills Program). The research concluded that video self-modeling used in the Video Social Skills Program format did not significantly improve the social competence of students identified as disabled as measured by the Behavior Rating Profile-2. However, through the use of informal assessments it was discovered that the self-efficacy of the subjects did improve both during the intervention and for a period of two to four weeks following the intervention. [NOTE: Manuscript includes VHS video cassette]