Teaching social skills for employment

Written By Lauren Gianino, M.S., B.C.B.A.

Course Description:

Due to the staggering frequency of job vacancies, the current climate presents an ideal opportunity for behavior analysts to serve as job coaches for young adults with disabilities so that they may acquire the skills to procure meaningful employment. I will detail case studies of two young adults at two different ends of the autism spectrum. I will explain how I implemented behavioral skills training to teach various customer service skills to each individual at two retail stores while coaching store managers on how to provide feedback to the learners. I will provide video examples of the teaching methods as well as data to support acquisition and long-term maintenance of skills for each learner. Finally, I will describe how I faded my presence at the job sites. I will conclude with a discussion of social validity and methods of replicating these outcomes.

Watch the full course on BehaviorLive.com

Lauren Gianino, M.S., B.C.B.A.

Lauren Gianino, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, has been practicing in the field for the past twenty years. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Clemson University and completed her Master’s degree at Florida State University.

Within her career, she has served as a teacher, therapist, school consultant, parenting coach, and job coach for individuals with disabilities, ages two through adulthood. Lauren has provided consultation on evidence-based practices for teaching social skills throughout the United States and in Sydney, Australia.

In 2011, she led a state-wide program in which she taught a series of workshops to teachers in rural school districts on best practices for teaching students with ASD. In 2017, she directed a non-profit social skills camp for children with Autism, which focused on coaching typically developing children to serve as peer mentors.

Since 2013, she has served as Clinical Director of Strategies for Social Success, LLC., a practice dedicated to teaching social skills and employment skills to individuals with disabilities. In her free time, Lauren enjoys open water swimming, running, biking, camping, Scrabble, travel, and spending time with her husband and two cats.