Ms. Jones wanted Marcus to use the skills he learned in VOISS across different school settings. She wanted him to become proficient in accepting another’s opinion in the lunchroom, classroom, and gymnasium, as well as on the school bus.

Ms. Jones operationally defined two outcomes that indicated her generalization lessons were effective:

• Upon hearing peers discussing their favorite video games or claiming one game is “best,” Marcus will say, “That’s cool. Why do you like that game best?” on 9/10 opportunities.
• When a peer says they like / believe something that Marcus doesn’t like / agree with, Marcus will say, “That’s cool. I like (name of something else)” or walk away without saying anything on 9/10 opportunities.

Ms. Jones then identified a setting to build this skill. She felt Marcus would benefit from practicing the skill in a small group instructional setting. Marcus attended a “lunch bunch” group to learn informal social skills for 90 minutes per week. Ms. Jones decided to use this time for small group instruction.

As role play is an effective instructional method for teaching social skills to small groups, Ms. Jones opted to include the peers in Marcus’s lunch bunch in the role plays.

• Instructional Setting: Small group
• Instructional Method: Role play

Ms. Jones identified prompting as the generalization tactic to use for this skill. She trained Marcus’s paraprofessional, Mr. Park, to prompt him (using verbal or gestural prompt). Ms Jones and Mr. Park created a simple hand signal and a verbal prompt to help Marcus use the targeted skills. They planned to reinforce the skill using Marcus’s token system.

• Generalization Tactic: Train others to prompt and reinforce
• Support Strategy: Prompting (verbal and/or gestural)

Ms. Jones’ Lesson on “Accepting Another’s Opinion”

Creating the Role Play

Ms. Jones worked with the students in the lunch bunch to write a script. Role play requires specific roles for players, situations, and scripts for players to follow, much like a short play. In the role play, Ms. Jones wanted to focus on teaching Marcus to say, “That’s cool. Why do you like that game best?”

Ms. Jones worked with four students (including Marcus) in the lunch bunch. She explained to them what role play is and asked for their help in developing the script. She told the students to have a typical conversation about their favorite video games. Based on their model, she wrote a brief script and gave students the printed versions of the script to read.

Marcus’s three peers rehearsed the scripted scenario a couple of times while Marcus waited and watched. Ms. Jones prompted him when it was appropriate to say his line: “That’s cool. Why do you like that game best?” They practiced the role play several times.

Following the role play activity, Ms. Jones asked Marcus to identify situations where this conversation might occur. She prompted him to think about how this conversation might come up during lunch, while in the classroom, and during computer class. She reminded him to say, “That’s cool. Why do you like ___ best?”

Initiating Peer Support and Practice Skills

Following the lesson, Ms. Jones asked peers in Marcus’s other classes if they would be willing to help Marcus practice this skill. She explained that Marcus was learning how to accept another person’s opinion rather than getting upset or arguing, and that he should say, “That’s cool. Why do you like that best?” or a similarly-phrased question. She explained that although he might get frustrated during practice, that was okay and that no one would get in trouble.

Some of the peers volunteered to participate and help. Ms. Jones gave them ideas about engaging in conversations about favorite video games when Marcus was nearby.

Recruiting Support from the Paraprofessional

Ms. Jones talked to Mr. Park about how to further generalize and maintain the skills. She told Mr. Park about the peers who had volunteered to help Marcus practice what to say. Ms. Jones and Mr. Park decided they needed an alternative when a verbal prompt was not appropriate (e.g., during lunch with peers or from across a classroom). They decided to use a gesture similar to holding / using a video game controller as an alternative prompt. This gesture would prompt Marcus to say “Thats cool […].”