Social Skills Training in LD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Title: Social Skills Training for Children with Learning Disabilities Lead Reviwer: Lucy

Funderburk Co-Reviewers: Jamie Schwartz Chad Nye

Funderburk, Schwartz, Nye

Contact Reviewer: Chad Nye UCF CARD 12001 Science Dr Suite 145 Orlando, FL 32826

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According to the 2006 Annual Report by the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), there are over 15 million children, adolescents and adults with learning disabilities in the United States (US) alone. Over the past 35 years, the term learning disability (LD) has been used to identify and subsequently inform instruction for children struggling in the classroom. The characteristics typically defining children with LD include recognition of a neurological processing disorder impacting oral or written language as exhibited in tasks involving speaking, listening, reading, writing, spelling, or mathematic calculations. (IDEA, 34 Code of Federal Regulations 300.8 (c)(10); NJCLD, 1997, ). The term learning disability does not include individuals with sensory impairment (e.g., deaf, blind), mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage; although individuals with these handicapping conditions frequently have difficulty learning [IDEA, 34 Code of Federal Regulations 300.8 (c)(10); NJCLD, 1997]. Unfortunately, the definition of LD is not universal and does not necessarily cross international boundaries. In other countries (e.g., United Kingdom, Belgium), the term learning disability refers to individuals with mental retardation. In these countries terms such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia are used to identify those children who have specific difficulties learning and may not necessarily be identified as LD based on the US definition. Although the definition of learning disability centers on the difficulties in academic achievement, difficulties in self-regulation, social perception, and social interaction also may exist in children with LD. Social skill deficits in children with LD have the potential to affect adversely not only their social interactions but academic achievement as well. Researchers (Kavale & Forness, 1996; Kavale & Mostert, 2004; Swanson & Malone, 1992) have 2

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demonstrated the importance of social competence on the overall development and well-being of children with learning disabilities. Implications of Social Skills Deficits Social skills can refer to a wide range of behaviors and abilities, which can be categorized as behaviors associated with social interactions (Kavale & Forness, 1996), and social competence (McFall, 1982). These dimensions of social interactions and competence can include friendliness, helpfulness, self-control, the ability to cooperate, and the ability to share (LaGreca, 1987). The positive attributes of these social behaviors result in successful social interactions for the child while the negative attributes are viewed as deficits that can lead to problems such as aggression, impulsiveness, acting out, and an overall inability to get along with peers in social situations (LaGreca, 1987). Social interaction and competence deficits prove to be a defining characteristic of most individuals with LD, especially in children and adolescents. Kavale and Forness (1995) suggested that social skills deficits are a prominent feature in 75% of children with LD. The implication of such a high rate of social deficit is that children and adolescents with LD are faced with compound deficits that impact both the quality of life and academic performance in school. Few would argue that development of social skills does not play an important role in how all children adapt to both societal and academic pressures, thus the presence of social skill and competence difficulties can only exacerbate the lack of school success for children with LD. Social skill and competency deficits are readily identified at the pre- and early adolescence age. Social skill deficits have been shown to increase chances of involvement with juvenile authorities, legal problems, or both (Parker & Asher, 1987; Bender & Wall, 1994; Winters, 1997). 3

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In addition, Seidel and Vaughn (1991), Bear, Kortering and Braziel (2006), and Reschly and Christenson (2006) have all found that youth with LD are at a higher risk of dropping out of school. An understanding of difficulties that these students face (Sabornie, 1994) and the impact that these deficits have on factors such as peer status and acceptance (Bruininks, 1978; DudleyMarling & Edmiaston, 1985; Wiener, 1987), the student-teacher relationship (Brophy, 1979; Garrett & Crump, 1980; Siperstein & Goding, 1985; Northcutt,1986; Seidel & Vaughn, 1991), self-concept and perceptions of others (Gresham & Reschly, 1986, Bryan, 1991), and adjustment later on in life (Parker & Asher, 1987; Gerber et al, 1990; Kavale & Forness, 1996; Winters, 1997; Moisan, 1998) may be important to academic success. Thus, attention to interventions that will remediate these deficits may be an important component of an individuals educational program. Social Skills Training (SST) SST has been approached from several different cognitive and behavioral intervention models such as direct instruction, coaching, modeling, rehearsal, shaping, prompting, and reinforcement. Though these models have distinctly unique dimensions they all share the same core goal of developing more normalized social behaviors in children and adolescents with learning disabilities. The interventions for the various social skills and competencies target behaviors such as learning how to listen, ask questions, and ask for assistance; anger control; disappointment management; or, demonstrating appropriate emotions and expression of feelings. Evidence regarding SST can be drawn from at least three different types of research information including primary studies, narrative reviews, and meta-analyses. Findings from Primary Studies 4

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SST has been advocated by many in the research community as an effective means to treat social skills deficits in children and adolescents with LD. For instance, Amerikaner & Summerlin (1982) found that group counseling and relaxation techniques were effective in promoting social self-esteem and reducing the probability of acting out and distracting others. Likewise, Omizo & Omizo (1988) incorporated similar techniques into a treatment program and found that the individuals who participated scored significantly higher on the Piers-Harris Childrens SelfConcept Scale (Piers, 1969). Trapani and Gettinger (1989) studied the effects of SST and tutoring on school-aged boys with LD and found that a combination of a direct instruction method for SST and cross-aged tutoring had a positive effect on both the childs overall communication ability and academic test scores. SST interventions that focus on role-playing, modeling, and feedback have also reported mixed or inconclusive findings. Berler, Gross, and & Drabman (1982) found that a five-week intervention implemented in group sessions was effective in improving appropriate verbalizations and speech duration. However, there was no noted improvement in observed sociometric ratings by peers. Hart (1996), who applied a cross-age tutoring and social skills training program similar to Trapani but applied to school-aged girls with LD, reported inconclusive results suggesting that any social intervention must take into account gender differences. Not all research has produced positive intervention effects. Some studies have reported an absence of compelling results to support SST (Berler, Gross, & Drabman, 1982; Straub & Roberts, 1983; Wanat, 1983; Blackbourn, 1989; Fox, 1989; Utay & Lampe, 1995; Wiener & Harris, 1997; Conway, 2001). Other studies have reported little to no improvement in outcomes measured, including sociometric scores, teacher ratings, self-perception, starting and maintaining 5

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conversations, and responding to failure (LaGreca & Mesibov, 1981; Byham, 1983; Merz, 1985). Discrepancies across these studies can be attributed to sampling, measurement, and methodological differences; but it is clear that there is a substantial body of research on the topic that warrants attention in order to summarize and synthesize the available research regarding the efficacy of SST in children and adolescents with LD. Findings from Narrative Reviews The need for SST for children and adolescents with LD has been a focus of the research community for over 30 years (La Greca & Mesibov, 1979; Schumaker & Hazel, 1984; Vaughn, 1985) . The awareness of this need has prompted several seminal narrative reviews on the topic. In 1980, Zigmond and Brownlee pointed out the need for children with LD to have training in social skills. They argued that adolescents with LD need some form of SST and that instruction in social skills is as important to the education process as instruction in academic and vocational skills. The focus of this summary addressed a series of recommendations as to on what an SST program should entail, including aspects of social perception and social behavior; how to implement adequately a program through careful assessment and instruction of targeted skills; and what kind of student would benefit from SST such as individuals with inappropriate, passive, or aggressive behaviors. Other researchers have provided similar narrative reviews that have highlighted the need for SST in children and adolescents with LD due to low social acceptance ratings among their peers. LaGreca (1987) summarized the social skills research in terms of four primary categories of issues related to social skill research for children with LD. The first issues was that of heterogeneity of the definition of LD which is reflected in the presence of children in the 6

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research that present with learning deficits who do not meet the formal definition of a learning disabled child (e.g., attention deficit disorder, hyperactive). Further, LaGreca points out that

even among the identified LD population, the heterogeneity of cognitive, behavioral, and social skills is remarkable. For example, in some studies, the participatning LD children were drawn from children identified as ADDH making the interpretation of the appropriateness of any intervention difficult to extrapolate for those identified specifically as LD. A second area of concern regarding social skill training for LD children centers on social status. LaGreca (1987) concluded that several studies reported that most children with LD are perceived as socially unappealing and that they are generally rejected by their peers. Several sociometric issues emerged that would warrant a more indepth investigation of social skill intervention for LD children. For example, several studies reported that girls were at a disadvantage in social acceptance in spite of the fact that the prevalence of LD is considerably higher in males. Other studies reported not all identified LD children have social skill problems and concluded that non-academic characteristics may be critical to school success. The third area of interest for LaGreca (1987) was social cognitive skills in which a case is made for confusion in understanding the research in the area of social skills. LaGreca points out that LD children have difficultly in the areas of social perception, social motication, and social knowledge and that the research in these areas is inconsistent in terms of the nature of the deficits as well as the efficacy of remediation. The conclusions drawn from this summary suggested that while social processing may social processing poses potential difficulties for LD children, the evidence for the impact of remediation is questionable.

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Lastly, LaGreca (1987) suggested that the area of social skill training is noticeably absent a rich research literature. She points out that while a few studies suggest that intervention studies suggest a measure of improvement, the generalization of the trained skills and the impact on social status are unknown. In a more recent summary, Olmeda & Trent (2003) explored the need for including minority individuals with LD in research investigating SST. The authors stressed that the social behaviors resulting from sociocultural contexts need to be taken into consideration when assessing an individuals social skills abilities. Olmeda and Trent argued that there is a need for incorporation of perspectives reflecting multicultural aspects when designing and implementing SST interventions. These summaries indicated that cognitive, behavioral, and social interaction contribute to the low social acceptance of children and adolescents with LD. The primary shortcoming of the all of these reviews was the absence of a critical assessment of the existing research that would provide guidance in the implementation of a social skill intervention program for learning disabled children. That is, they did provide a narrative description of the conclusions that might have been gleaned from the primary research, but little attention was paid to either the critical analysis of the reported research or the efficacy of that research base. The conclusions drawn from these narrative reviews offer a consistent picture of the nature, need, and importance of SST for individuals with LD. However, they provide little insight into the practices or social skills interventions that might be effective in providing LD children with an improved social skill set. A quantitative summary of SST programs would provide an

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independent and objective assessment of the magnitude of effect for SST programs. Several such meta analyses have been reported and are summarized next. Findings from Meta-analyses Kavale and colleagues (Forness and Kavale (1996); Kavale and Forness, 1996; Kavale & Forness, 1995; Kavale and Mostert, 2004) reported results from one (reported in four different publications) meta-analysis assessing the effectiveness of SST training for children and adolescents with LD. The meta-analysis included 53 empirical studies of varying research design representing 2113 participants, 74% of whom were male, with a mean age of 11.5 years and a mean IQ of 96. The included studies spanned the years 1976 to 1991. The focus of the review was SST programs for children and adolescents with LD that targeted specific behaviors associated with social interactions and competence. Summaries of SST effect were presented for peer, self, and teacher report. Results suggested that overall, SST programs produced minimal results, with about two-tenths of a standard deviation improvement reported by peer and self report studies and teachers reporting an SST effect size of about .16. In order for a social skills training program to be more effective, Kavale and colleagues have suggested that research on STT programs should provide more attention to a higher level of research rigor in the areas of (1) design quality, (2) fidelity of program implementation, (3) outcome measurement, and (4) implementation of reliable and valid SST programs. The Need for a Systematic Review Several primary and summary studies have been reported regarding the nature of the social skills and competencies of children and adolescents with LD and the effects of programs designed to improve those skills and competencies. However, only Kavale and colleagues 9

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(Forness and Kavale (1996); Kavale and Forness, 1996; Kavale & Forness, 1995; Kavale and Mostert, 2004) have attempted to summarize statistically the nature and magnitude of the effect of SST for LD children and adolescents. Unfortunately, the authors did not provide a sufficiently transparent and systematic approach to their study in order to replicate the findings. In addition, the review did not include studies reported since 1991. Further, their analyses did not provide an assessment of the differential effects of SST based on the quality of research design related characteristics (e.g., design type, allocation procedure, and fidelity of implementation). Thus, the purpose of this review will be to conduct a comprehensive up-to-date systematic review of SST programs to provide an assessment of the magnitude of SST effects based on a more extensive, transparent, and explicit presentation of the information retrieval, data extraction, analysis, and synthesis processes. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this review is to assess the effectiveness of school based social skills training programs on learning disabled school-aged children (grades K - 12) as measured by observational, criterion, or formal measures of social skill outcomes.

Operational Definitions of learning disability and social skills training Learning Disability For this review the term learning disability (LD) will be defined as ". . . a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, 10

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brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia." Learning disabilities do not include, "learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage." [IDEA, 34 Code of Federal Regulations 300.8(c)(10)]. It is recognized that this definition is not universal and indeed most countries do not use the term LD to identify individuals who have difficulty learning. In other countries individuals that may be identified LD in the US may be identified as having learning difficulties (e.g., United Kingdom, Australia, Zimbabwe) or instrumental disabilities (Belgium). In addition, many countries do not provide services in the schools for these individuals. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), for the 22 countries most likely to provide services to children with special needs only 54% provide LD services (OECD, 2004). The following are common qualities of individuals with LD regardless of the terminology used to describe them: --reading, mathematics, and/or written language achievement substantially below that of peers despite normal intelligence, --visual and/or auditory perceptual problems, --adequate academic instruction, --LD first identified in elementary grades, --may demonstrate social or emotional difficulties, --generally life long Social Skill Training Social skills training are those cognitive or behavioral interventions used to develop more normalized social behaviors in children and adolescents with learning disabilities. The 11

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intervention may include any of the following strategies: direct instruction, coaching, modeling, rehearsal, shaping, prompting, and/or reinforcement. METHOD Inclusion Criteria and Procedure Inclusion of studies will be achieved through a process of screening for (a) titles and abstracts and (b) full texts. At the first stage of screening (title/abstract), citations will be reviewed for the following inclusion criteria: 1. social skills training intervention targeted towards participants identified as learning disabled; AND 2. participants in grades K 12 (or international equivalent) AND 3. two group comparison designs. Information Retrieval Database thesauri will be consulted, if available, to ensure that appropriate terms and synonyms have been included in the participant, intervention and outcome search term categories. Search terms and retrieval techniques will be modified to meet the requirements of each individual database. No restriction will be used for publication source, language, or date. Electronic Databases At a minimum, the following electronic databases/sources will be searched: 1. PSYCINFO 2. ERIC 3. DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS 4. MEDLINE 12

Social Skills Training in LD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 5. GOOGLE SEARCH 6. SAGE FULL TEXT EDUCATION 7. BRITISH EDUCATION INDEX 8. AUSTRIALIAN EDUCATION INDEX 9. FRANCIS 10. CBCA EDUCATION 11. EDUCATION ABSTRACTS 12. ACADEMIC SEARCH PREMIER

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All databases, including grey literature, will be submitted to the same information retrieval criteria described below. Reference lists from a variety of sources such as reviews, retrieved studies, anthologies, and conference papers, will be searched for potential inclusion characteristics. The following information will be reported for the electronic search: a. Databases searched b. Time frame searched c. Search terms used d. Number of citations retrieved Grey literature search will be limited to the databases cited above. No attempt will be made to search non-professional databases such as Google, AltaVisa, or Web Crawler in order to focus time and resources on the professional database sources. Search Strategy All electronic searches will be comprehensive without restriction to date, language, or source. Additional grey literature citations will be sought through contact with experts and 13

Social Skills Training in LD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 review: a. Domain Terms: learning disabil*, social skill*,

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organizations (e.g., CED) representing individuals with learning disabilities in the US and abroad(e.g., LDUK). Because the primary print sources for research in learning disabilities are cataloged in the major databases (e.g., ERIC, PsycInfo) a comprehensive and extensive handsearch on individual journals would not be an appropriate use of resources. However, if five (5) or more included studies are retrieved from any single journal publication source, a hand-search of that journal will be conducted. For each database, we will use the following terms to locate relevant studies for this

b. Intervention Terms: interven*, Treat*, Therap*, training method*, program evaluation, behavior-modification, counseling c. Target Population Terms: , elementary*, secondary or high school, Sschool-age, adolescen* Title and Abstract Screening Procedure All citations at the title/abstract and full-text retrieval stages will be assessed for inclusion criteria by two authors independently. In the event of a disagreement between the two reviewers regarding inclusion of a study at the title/abstract stage, the full text of the article will be retrieved and read by both reviewers for a decision. Should the reviewers still disagree, the full-text article will be reviewed by a third author and a final decision made whether to accept the study for inclusion. Reviewers will not be blinded at any level of the review to the name(s) of the author(s), institution(s), or publication source. Full-Text Screening Procedure 14

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All citations at the full-text retrieval stage will be assessed for inclusion criteria by two authors independently. In the event of a disagreement between the two reviewers regarding inclusion of a study at the full text retrieval stage, the full-text article will be reviewed by a third author and a final decision made whether to accept the study for inclusion. Reviewers will not be blinded at any level of the review to the name(s) of the author(s), institution(s), or publication source. Coding Procedure and Categories for Included Studies Coding of included studies will be conducted independently by two authors. Any discrepancies in coding of an article will be resolved through discussion between the two authors. If the reviewers cannot come to a consensus regarding a particular study, a third author will be consulted for final judgment. Interrater reliability will be reported in the final review. All coding will address design, participant, intervention, and outcome characteristics. Coding for Included Non-English Studies Studies meeting the inclusion criteria but published in a language other than English will be coded using the same form as the English language publications. The coding will be conducted by an individual proficient in the written form of the non-English language and guided by one of the trained coders of the included English language studies. While we recognize that there is not a reliability of coding in the non-English language, a limitation on resources and access to multi-lingual coders make this a reasonable approach to obtaining a coding for nonEnglish studies. Research Design Characteristics All included studies will be either randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental 15

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designed studies in which the control and/or comparison group is either matched or statistically controlled for at the pre-treatment level. Studies assigning participants at the group level (class, school, or district) or individually will be included for review and analysis. No study will be included that utilizes a pre-experimental group design (pre- post treatment only), single subject design, or qualitative approaches to data collection or analysis. Participant Characteristics Participants of the included studies for this review will be Kindergarten through High School (or the international equivalent). Each study will be coded for participant characteristics such as age, gender, SES, grade in school, severity level, and the number of participants in experimental and control or comparison groups. Any study performed outside the United States will be examined for the international equivalents of US grades. Excluded populations include individuals who were not identified as learning disabled or individuals in whom a learning disability was not the primary diagnosis (e.g., deaf, blind, mental retardation, emotional disturbance). Intervention Characteristics Intervention characteristics will include dimensions such as type of intervention (e.g., cross-age tutoring, direct instruction, counseling), length of intervention program (e.g., number of days/weeks of program implementation), length of intervention session (number of minutes, hours per session) , number of sessions, structure of intervention (e.g., group, individual, both). Studies will be excluded from this review if they include only pharmacological interventions. In the event that a study treats participants with both behavioral and 16

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pharmacological interventions, ONLY the behavioral intervention outcomes will be included AND only if there is an accompanying non-experimental control (comparison) group for comparison. Follow-up assessments will be identified for maintanence and generalization where provided and coded for the length of time immediately post intervention.

Outcome Characteristics

Outcomes for this review will include:

8 9 10

a. b. c.

Behavioral (e.g., anger, aggression) Cognitive (e.g., social problem solving, self image) Social (e.g., peer interactions, cooperation)

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Measurement of the outcome characteristics can include observational report, criterion referenced assessments, rating scales, or standardized tests Assessment of Methodological Quality The quality of the methodological rigor of a study may have an important impact on the magnitude of the treatment effect size. Individual study methodological quality will be coded and assessed for characteristics such as design type, unit of assignment/analysis, attrition, and fidelity of treatment implementation. The results of this assessment will be analyzed for their impact on the treatment effects. The analysis of this studys methodological quality will be used as moderating variables in the data synthesis and interpretation.

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Social Skills Training in LD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Calculating Effect Size

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Since outcome data may be reported in a variety of formats within individual studies, Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA; Borenstein 2001) will be used to calculate the treatment effect sizes. This software has the ability to accept data in more than 100 different formats in order to transform it to a common effect size and variance. This information is then used in the meta-analysis. The following are the primary metrics anticipated for the calculation of the effect size: Standardized Mean Difference Statistic (d-index) For studies reporting outcomes on a continuous scale, the post-treatment mean of the control group will be subtracted from the post-treatment mean of the experimental group and the difference will be divided by the pooled standard deviation of both groups. For studies reporting statistics such as t, F, or p value statistics only, conversion formulae will be used to calculate the d-index for the effect size estimate. All study calculations will be weighted by the inverse mean variance to allow larger n studies to contribute proportionately in any effect size synthesis. All effect sizes will be calculated using a 95% confidence interval. Effect Size Adjustments Adjustments to the calculated effect sizes will be made for both sample size and assignment/analysis mismatch. In order to maximize the interpretation of the calculated effect size, we will calculate all effect sizes using Hedges g. Hedges g is a standardized mean difference with a small sample size bias correction factor. Missing Data For any included study presenting missing or inadequate data for analysis, the senior author 18

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will be contacted in an effort to obtain the needed data. Should that data not be available, the study will be excluded from analysis. Synthesis of Effect Sizes When estimating the overall effect size of an intervention, the study is represented by the mean value of all outcomes in the study. For those studies presenting multiple outcomes, we will employ a shifting unit of analysis approach. However, when examining potential moderators of the overall outcomes, a studys results will be aggregated only within the separated categories of the moderator variable(s). For example, if a study on the effect of social skill training on social behavior measured two outcomes, acting-out and distractibility, those two effects would be averaged for purposes of estimating the interventions effect on social behavior. However, when examining the type of outcome measure as a moderator variable, the study would contribute an effect size to the acting-out variable category, and an effect size to the distractibility variable category. Heterogeneity Analysis The heterogeneity analysis allows for an assessment of the amount of variation in the calculated effect beyond what is expected due to sampling error. Two basic models of analysis are available: fixed effects and random effects. Since the results derived from a random effects model will allow us to apply inferences of effect to a population of studies involving individuals who have been engaged in a social skill-training program we will use only a random effects model for our data analysis. Sensitivity Analysis A sensitivity analysis allows for the assessment of potential bias that may be part of the 19

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calculated effect size. This bias may be present in a variety of characteristics including attrition, type of treatment, missing data, sample size, and study design. At a minimum and, where appropriate, we will assess potential bias for extreme study effect size, bias using the one study removed analysis and funnel plots depictions. Post Hoc Subgroup and Moderator Analyses It may be important to analyze the impact of specific subsets or study moderators such as design, participant, or treatment characteristics. We will examine a limited number of these subgroup comparisons or study moderator variables. These analyses may include: 1. Types of Treatment 2. Severity Level 3. Attrition 4. Intention to Treat vs. Active Treatment only 5. Age of Participant 6. Length of Treatment

REVIEW MAINTENANCE Maintenance of the review will be the responsibility of the lead author Lucy Funderburk. TIME FRAME FOR REVIEW COMPLETION: October 2009 AUTHOR INFORMATION Lucy Funderburk lpatalano1@earthlink.net Jamie Schwartz jschwart@mail.ucf.edu Chad Nye cnye@mail.ucf.edu Sources of Support Nordic Campbell Center, Copenhagen, Denmark 20

Social Skills Training in LD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 References

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Amerikaner, M. & Summerlin, M.L. (1983). Group counseling with learning disabled children: Effects of social skills and relaxation training on self-concept and classroom behavior. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 15(6), 340-343. Bear, G.G., Kortering, L.J., & Braziel, P. (2006). School completers and noncompleters with learning disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 27(5), 293-300. Bender, W.N. & Wall, M.E. (1994). Social-emotional development of students with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 17(4), 323-341. Berler, E.S., Gross, A.M., & Drabman, R.S. (1982). Social skills training with children: Proceed with caution. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 15(1), 41-53. Blackbourn, J.M. (1989). Acquisition and generalization of social skills in elementary-aged children with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities 22(1), 28-34. Borenstein M, Hedges L, Higgins J, & Rothstein H. (2005). Comprehensive Meta-analysis Version 2, Englewood NJ: Biostat. Brophy, J. E. (1979). Teacher behavior and its effects. Journal of Educational Psychology, 71(6), 733-750. Bruininks, V.L. (1978). Peer status and personality characteristics of learning disabled and nondisabled students. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 11(8), 29-34. Bryan, T. (1991). Social problems and learning disabilities. In B.Y.L. Wong (Ed.), Learning about learning disabilities (pp. 195-229). San Diego: Academic Press. Byham, L.W. (1983). Social skills training to improve the social skills and self-concept of learning disabled adolescents. Doctoral Dissertation: University of Pittsburgh. 21

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Conway, K.M. (2004). An evaluation of social skills training for youth with learning disabilities. Doctoral Dissertation: Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Dudley-Marling, C.C. & Edmiaston, R. (1985). Social status of learning disabled children and adolescents: A review. Learning Disability Quarterly, 8(3), 189-204. Forness, S. R. & Kavale, K.A. (1996). Treating social skills deficits in children with learning disabilities: A meta-analysis of the research. Learning Disability Quarterly, 19, 2-13. Fox, C.L. (1989). Peer acceptance of learning disabled children in the regular classroom. Exceptional Children, 56(1), 50-59. Garrett, M.K. & Crump, W.D. (1980). Peer acceptance, teacher preference, and self-appraisal of social status among learning disabled students. Learning Disability Quarterly, 3(3), 42-48. Gerber, P.J., Schnieders, C.A., Paradise, L.V., Reiff, H.B., Ginsburg, R.J., Popp, P.A. (1990). Persisting problems of adults with learning disabilities: Self-reported comparisons from their school-age and adult years. Journal of Leaning Disabilities, 23(9), 570-573. Gresham, F.M. & Reschly, D.J. (1986). Social skills deficits and low peer acceptance of mainstreamed learning disabled children. Learning Disability Quarterly, 9(1), 23-32. Hart, V.H. (1996). Effects of social skills training and cross-age tutoring on academic achievement and social behaviors of girls with learning disabilities. Masters Thesis: Union Institute Graduate School. Kavale, K.A. & Forness, S.R. (1995). Social skills deficits and training: A meta-analysis of the research in learning disabilities. In Scruggs, T.E. & Mastropieri, M.A. (Eds.), Advances in learning and behavior disabilities, Volume 9, (pp. 119-160). St. Louis, MO: JAI Press, Inc. Kavale, K. A. & Forness, S. R. (1996). Social skills deficits and learning disabilities: A meta22

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