Conversational skills training for retarded adolescents

Five retarded adolescents who had difficulty conversing with others received group conversational skills training that focused on both discrete social behaviors (such as asking questions, talking about oneself, and making speech acknow-ledgers) and on the topic content of their conversations. Training was introduced across these skills in multiple baseline fashion. The intervention's effectiveness was shown through: behavioral ratings of unstructured and extended conversations between pairs of subjects and of extended conversations between each subject and unfamiliar nonretarded partners; global judgments of improved skill; and maintenance of skill improvement at 5-month follow-up.