The Effects of Social Stories and a Token Economy on Decreasing Inappropriate Peer Interactions with a Middle School Student

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One of the many challenges that children with learning disabilities (LD) experience, apart from academics, is severe deficits in the areas of social skills and peer relations. The learning of social skills and appropriate ways to interact with peers are crucial for school-aged children with learning disabilities. Without these skills, it can be difficult for these children to maintain meaningful relationships as well as interact with peers in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to decrease inappropriate peer interactions in a middle school student with learning disabilities using simultaneous intervention delivery of social stories and a token economy. From previous studies, the use of social stories and token economies have both been shown to decrease inappropriate behaviors and increase appropriate behavior. Based on these studies, it was hypothesized that implementation of a token economy combined with social stories would be successful at decreasing inappropriate peer interactions. The participant was a 13-year-old boy with LD enrolled in a middle school in the Pacific Northwest. The researcher used a multiple baseline across settings design and implemented the two interventions simultaneously. The researcher found that the simultaneous use of social stories and a token economy was successful in decreasing inappropriate peer interactions in a middle school student with learning disabilities.