Assessing and teaching job‐related social skills to adults with autism spectrum disorder
BST plus on-the-job cue cards teaches work social skills to adults with autism, but you must train and prompt each setting separately.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Three adults with autism wanted to keep jobs. They needed to greet coworkers, ask for help, and take feedback.
The team used Behavioral Skills Training. They explained the skill, showed a model, let the learner practice, and gave praise and fixes.
They also placed small cue cards at work. The cards reminded workers when to use each skill.
What they found
All three adults quickly learned the exact skills they practiced. They used the skills on the job when the cue cards were there.
When the cards were removed, the skills stayed high in the work setting. However, the adults did not use the skills in new places or with new people unless those spots also had cards.
How this fits with other research
Bermúdez et al. (2020) also used BST with autistic learners, but they used short videos instead of live models. Both studies got fast skill gains, showing the package works across ages and models.
Yamamoto et al. (2024) tried textual prompts alone—just written reminders—for workplace niceties. Their gains were small and shaky. Grob’s fuller BST package plus prompts outperformed prompts-only, clarifying that explanation, modeling, and feedback are still needed.
Gilmore et al. (2022) pooled sixteen group studies for teens. They found moderate boosts in social knowledge but weak evidence for real-life use. Grob’s single-case data mirror that pattern: skills stuck at work, yet failed to jump to untrained settings without extra help.
Why it matters
If you support adults with autism in jobs, run BST for each social skill they need. Add small visual cues at the workstation to keep the behavior alive. Plan extra sessions for every new setting or new skill—generalization will not happen by itself.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Few studies have evaluated interventions to improve the job-related social skills of adults with autism spectrum disorder. In this study, we examined the efficacy of a treatment package for teaching several social skills that are critical to job success, such as responding appropriately to feedback and asking for a task model from the supervisor. Three adults, aged 19 to 27 years, participated. Initial training of each skill consisted of verbal explanations, modeling, and role-play with feedback, along with stimulus prompts to promote generalization to a different setting. The trainer introduced additional intervention components as needed. We also evaluated generalization across different social skills and evocative situations. Results indicated that the treatment package was generally effective in improving the targeted social skills, and that stimulus prompts may be necessary for generalization to a job setting. However, generalized responding across social skills rarely emerged. These findings have important implications for preparing individuals with autism to function successfully on the job.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 2019 · doi:10.1002/jaba.503