Beneath the surface: How effective are targeted interventions for behaviour and communication difficulties?

The thesis explores targeted interventions for children with behaviour difficulties that are delivered within primary schools.

The review paper investigated the impact of support for children who present challenging behaviours in mainstream settings.

A search of the literature between 1999 and 2015 identified seventeen journal articles which met inclusion criteria. These studies explored a variety of targeted individual and small group interventions to address externalising behaviour problems.

The studies were evaluated, critiqued and weighted according to coding protocols.

Convincing support for the effect of intervention on externalising behaviour was found, particularly in terms of outcomes for increased positive behaviours.

The empirical paper sought to further explore one of the factors thought to co-exist with behaviour difficulties in many cases.

The association between language and behaviour difficulties is well-documented in psychological literature and, increasingly, pragmatic language skills are viewed as playing a crucial role in this relationship.

Less is known about how to intervene to support children with both behaviour and communication difficulties.

The study aimed to explore whether Social Stories, a commonly used intervention for children with autism, would lead to improvements in problematic behaviour for children with behaviour and pragmatic language difficulties.

Four children in Key Stage 2 and four members of school staff in two primary schools were recruited to a single-case multiple-baseline design study.

Direct observations were examined through visual analysis and intervention effects calculated. Generalisation, social validity and intervention fidelity data were also collected and analysed.

The Social Story intervention led to a reduction in problematic behaviour across all four participants, with intervention effect size ranging from small-medium (NAP=.58-.79).

Findings related to the generalisation of Social Story effects were inconclusive; however, social validity was deemed to be high.

Social Stories therefore offer a promising intervention for children with pragmatic language and behaviour difficulties.