AUTISM AND SOCIAL ETIQUETTES: A CASE STUDY

Autistic kids are wired differently for social interaction than their neurotypical counterparts. These neurodivergent individuals express and exhibit cultural and social norms and values in their own atypical way. But these sometimes make them misfit in the social and cultural milieu around them and impacts their social interaction and interfaces. Thus, this is quite imperative to improve their social interaction style and etiquettes. The researcher presents a case study in the form of action research to further investigate this concern. This paper highlighted the importance of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) and interventions to improve the social etiquettes of Autistic kid. Observation technique was used to record the behavior of the subject. The researcher observed the subject during school hours around 7 hours each day, as she is a special aide (one to one) for the case. She only implemented the interventions under the guidance of a trained ABA professional and recorded the behaviors and executed the Discrete Trial Teaching for teaching social etiquettes to the subject. Researcher conducted Informal interviews from all stakeholders who interacts with the case on day-to-day basis, like teachers, teacher aides, special aid teacher and parents to discuss the positive changes in autistic kid’s social etiquettes. In conclusion, this case study of a 6-year old autistic kid did confirm, that ABA therapy and DTT could bring positive observable and measurable changes in social etiquettes of Autistic kids.