INTERACTIVE SIMULATION APPROACH TO TEACHING JOB-RELATED SOCIAL PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS TO LEARNING DISABLED ADOLESCENTS

LEARNING DISABLED (LD) ADOLESCENTS EXPERIENCE SIGNIFICANT DIFFICULTY MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM SCHOOL TO WORK. STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT ONE OF THE MAJOR CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT OF LD YOUTH IS A LACK OF JOB-SPECIFIC SOCIAL SKILLS. THE CHALLENGE TO DEVELOP THESE SKILLS IN LD YOUTH IS THE IMPETUS FOR THIS RESEARCH PROPOSALWHICH WILL INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF COMPUTER-BASED INTERACTIVE SIMULATION AS A TOOL TO HELP LD ADOLESCENTS DEVELOP SOCIAL PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS NECESSARY TO OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN COMPETITIVE EMPLOYMENT. INTELLIPRO BELIEVES A MULTISENSORY APPROACH IN WHICH SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES ARE INTEGRATED AND PRACTICED IN WORKPLACE SITUATIONS MAY BE ESPECIALLY APPROPRIATE IN DEVELOPING SPECIFIC SKILLS IN LD STUDENTS. EXISTING SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAMS GENERALLY DISREGARD STRATEGY INSTRUCTION AND JOB-RELEVANT PRACTICE. INTELLIPRO PROPOSES TO (A) IDENTIFY THE SPECIFIC SOCIAL SKILLS PERCEIVED BY EMPLOYERS AS CRITICAL FOR SUCCESSFUL EMPLOYMENT, (B) FORMULATE A TRAINING PROGRAM TO DEVELOP AND PROMOTE GENERALIZATION OF THESE SKILLS, AND (C) DEVELOP A SOFTWARE DESIGN AND SPECIFY A COMPUTER PLATFORM TOIMPLEMENT THE INSTRUCTION. TO INVESTIGATE THIS APPROACH, INTELLIPRO HAS ASSEMBLED A TEAM OF EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALSWITH EXPERTISE IN SIMULATION AND COMPUTER SYTEMS DESIGN, SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING AND INSTRUCTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT.