WHAT DID YOU SAY - USING REVIEW OF TAPE-RECORDED INTERACTIONS TO INCREASE SOCIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS BY TRAINEES IN A COMMUNITY-BASED VOCATIONAL PROGRAM

Dana and Rick, two adults with developmental disabilities enrolled in a restaurant training program, had poor prospects for long-term employ ment because of inappropriate social behavior. They often made no resp onse, mumbled inaudibly, or made a negative remark when spoken to by t heir supervisors or other employees. Each trainee's Individual Vocatio nal Plan (IVP) included goals of prompt and polite acknowledgment of c oworker initiations. Previous efforts to improve Dana and Rick's ackno wledging behavior had been unsuccessful. Throughout the study, each tr ainee's responses to 20 verbal initiations by coworkers (i.e., request s, questions, corrective feedback, praise, and social comments) were r ecorded during each of two observation periods per workshift. Througho ut one of the observation periods during the intervention phases, the trainees carried in their work aprons a small, audio cassette recorder that recorded their interactions with coworkers. The primary interven tion consisted of a preworkshift meeting in which the trainee and expe rimenter reviewed five randomly selected interactions recorded during the previous day's shift. The review included self-evaluation, praise, corrective feedback, and role-play. A multiple baseline across subjec ts design showed each trainee acknowledged a greater number of coworke r initiations as a function of the intervention. Each trainee also ack nowledged more coworker initiations during the second observation peri od when the tape recorder was never worn. In a subsequent intervention phase. Dana reviewed her tape-recorded interactions prior to randomly selected shifts. Rick's acknowledgements increased to a socially vali d level when the review procedure was supplemented with graphic feedba ck. Both trainees continued to acknowledge their coworkers' initiation s at levels equal to nondisabled restaurant employees when they no lon ger wore the tape recorder during a final phase and during follow-up o bservations 4 to 8 weeks later.