Focus group 1 topic guide

Barry Wright; David Marshall; Joy Adamson; Hannah Ainsworth; Shehzad Ali; Victoria Allgar; Danielle Collingridge Moore; Elizabeth Cook; Paul Dempster; Lisa Hackney; Dean McMillan; Dominic Trepél; Chris Williams

Introduction

The protocol suggests that the overall aim of the focus groups is to ‘gather information relating to the optimum design and use of Social Stories in children and young people with autism spectrum disorders’.

The focus group aims include checking that the ‘intervention can feasibly be delivered in this particular context and to ensure the intervention is acceptable to users and providers’ so the following factors will be taken into consideration:

the helpful and unhelpful parts of the social story intervention

the characteristics of individuals best placed to deliver the intervention

determining which professional groups are best equipped to deliver and or support this package

mode of delivery including the role of parents or carers

the style and content of the manual

the construction of the social stories (for example the ratio of directive to descriptive sentences in the story, the use of pictures, etc.)

teaching in the social story theory, and dissemination.

Further, the writing group want qualitative information which will enable them to make informed decisions about what to include in the manual.

An initial focus group will cover eight main sections based on the factors highlighted above. The amount of attendees has meant that the questions have needed consolidating. I have taken on board the landscape interviews and further suggestions of colleagues and the writing group and have created a final synthesis. There is further space in the second focus group to pick up issues that arise in the first. Questions for the second round will be written in light of analysis and discussion with the team and writing group.

The format for the focus group will be mainly discussion but I have decided to include two Post-it^® (Evernote Corporation 3M, Maplewood, MN, USA) exercises. The requirements for the focus groups will be name tags for participants, pens and post it notes. A board or wall space on which to put the top three behaviours will also be required. Table 52 shows the overall questions which may be asked of teacher/clinician focus groups. Text displayed in bold are prompts.

Tables

TABLE 52

The overall questions for the teachers and clinicians focus groups

Task	Teachers and clinicians	Time
Introduction questions	Shall we start with some introductions?	8
	Can I have your full name, job title and organisation?
	*Clarify teacher or clinician?*
	If I say your name after any comments that you make this is for taping purposes
Exercise Check group understanding: what is the social story?	What are the most important behaviours for autistic children to address within school?	3
	How would you define social stories?	7
	How do you use social stories (in your work)?	7
	Does anyone do it in a different way?	7
Behaviours most suited to social stories Exercise	The trial will look at the success of using a manual for developing social stories within schools	7
	Which of the behaviours already identified do you think may be suited to use in social stories within school?	7
	Why?	6
	*Why do social stories work well with these behaviours?*	6
	Which behaviours are least suited and why?	2
	Total	15
The characteristics of individuals best placed to deliver the intervention?	What characteristics do you need to have when delivering social stories?	3
Determining which professional groups are best equipped to deliver and/or support this package AND Mode of delivery including the role of parents or carers	Who would be best placed to write and develop social stories in schools?	3
	*Does that ring true of the schools you are involved in?*	3
	Who is best placed to deliver/read them? Why?	3
	What different ways have you delivered social stories in the past?	5
	*I.e. has it always been in picture book format/read?*
	*Have you tried other formats?*
	How can parents support social stories that are being used in school?	6
	Where is the best location to deliver social stories within a school?	3
	Total	20
The style and content of the manual	We want to produce a manual about writing and delivering social stories in schools	20
	What should the manual contain (and anything to avoid)?
	Use top example from earlier
	How much theory should the manual contain? Is it how to do it . . . do you want the theory or just how to . . .
	How much about autism?
	Checklists for behaviours
	In terms of presentation what style should the manual take that would best suit schools?	5
	DVD, written, how long, length, lists of links websites e.g. clip art, etc.	5
	Total	25
The construction of the social stories	What are the different components you use when putting together a social story?	5
	*E.g. pictures, descriptive text, text which instructs the child*
	*What rules of thumb do you use?*
	Do you find some components work better than others?	5
	*How do you know if a social story works? Which components? Why do they work better? Is there a ratio?*	5
	What tools do you use to help write social stories?	5
	*Do you use the manual (Carol Gray’s)?*
	*What other resources do you use? Websites, other books, etc.*
	Total	15
Teaching social story theory, and dissemination	If you have been on any training sessions on social stories, what did you find useful?	10
	What would you like future social story training to cover?	5
	In what format would you prefer the training?^a	5
	*Workbooks, workshops, scenarios, role-playing, case studies or vignettes*	5
	How long would you like the training to be?^a	4
	*E.g. half day/day*	4
	Is there a time and day that would be better for you?^a	3
	*Friday mornings?*	3
	Where is the best location for training?^a	3
	Total	30

a: Add as questions to a handout for filling in.
: Text displayed in bold are prompts.

Copyright © Queen’s Printer and Controller of HMSO 2016. This work was produced by Wright et al. under the terms of a commissioning contract issued by the Secretary of State for Health. This issue may be freely reproduced for the purposes of private research and study and extracts (or indeed, the full report) may be included in professional journals provided that suitable acknowledgement is made and the reproduction is not associated with any form of advertising. Applications for commercial reproduction should be addressed to: NIHR Journals Library, National Institute for Health Research, Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre, Alpha House, University of Southampton Science Park, Southampton SO16 7NS, UK.

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Bookshelf ID: NBK338484

Contents

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Appendix 5Focus group 1 topic guide

Introduction

Tables

TABLE 52