Emily Zipprich

20 July 2015
Dr. Travers/Dr. Brasseur-Hock
SPED 843
Assessing Social Skills Deficits Part 1

Discrepancy Analysis Assessment for Bobby

Inventory of Non-Disabled
Student
Students work cooperatively in
small groups to complete
assignments.
Students stay on task and
complete in-class assignments.
Students have a wide range of age
appropriate topics to discuss
amongst themselves and can carry
on conversations.

Inventory of Bobby

Skills That Require Attention

Bobby does not work well in groups or with

other students.

- Reciprocal conversational
skills

Bobby is easily distracted by peers and

daydreams often.

- On-task time

Bobby is immature for his age and lacks ageappropriate social skills.

- Perspective understanding
and social thinking skills

Bobby does not take an interest in his peers or

the topics they are discussing. He has a narrow
range of interests and if his peers do not want
to talk about those topics he can become angry
and lash out verbally.

Bobby is a high school freshman who lacks age-appropriate social skills. While Bobbys
peers are able to work cooperatively in small groups, Bobby prefers to work alone and does not
seek social interactions with his classmates. Bobby does not have much interest with interacting
with his peers, but has shown some times recently where he has tried to engage peers, especially
his female peers in conversations. He does not possess the social skills to know how to
appropriately talk with them about topics other than what he is interested in: astronomy and
computers. Furthermore, Bobby is often distracted by his peers and outside factors, daydreaming
when he should be focused on his work.

Bobbys teacher has observed him attempting to engage his female classmates in
conversations. Because Bobby does not possess age-appropriate social skills, the girls were not
receptive to his interactions. Bobby got upset and lashed out due to their dismissal of his
attempts to form relationships with them. Due to their rejection, this could set Bobby back and
cause him to regress and avoid initiating conversations in the future.
Direct Social Skill Assessment for Bobby
Form
Bobby
attempts to
interact with
female
classmates

Context
During class
time or
unstructured
time, Bobby
tries to
converse with
female
classmates
and form
relationships
with them

Reciprocity
Female
students to
not respond or
do not
respond how
Bobby wants
them to

Goal
Bobby is
seeking
attention from
female
classmates.

Outcome
Bobby was
unsuccessful

Based on observation data and information on Bobby, the social skills that need to be
addressed for him to have more appropriate social interactions with peers are: reciprocal
communication and/or conversation skills, ignoring distractions and staying on task, and
perspective understanding and social thinking skills. Bobby does not know how to properly
engage and converse with his classmates, so he needs to work on how to carry on appropriate
conversations with others. He also has to learn ways to expand his interests or show interest in
the topics others find interesting or important. This skill can be helped by working with him on
understanding other peoples perspectives. He needs to realize that others do not share the same
interests and that to interact appropriately with others, he has to be able to recognize the value in

what others like, and listen when they are talking. Furthermore, when Bobby becomes frustrated
and angry with his classmates for dismissing his attempts at friendship, he needs to improve his
social thinking skills. He needs to work on reading nonverbal cues from his classmates, and
recognize when they are not interested in talking or that when he is talking about a particular
topic, they may not be engaged. His verbal aggression with his classmates may be reduced if he
can learn to think about and be aware of how others are feeling and recognize when he should
move on. Bobby could also learn from how his negative behavior affects others and how they
perceive him when he acts out. By improving his on-task behavior and reducing his distractions,
his peers may seem him more positively, and be more willing and likely to engage him in
conversations and accept him when he tries to connect with them.