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Social Competence and Social Skills Training and Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of a 30 week social competence and social skills group intervention program with children, ages 7–11, diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Eighteen children with ASD were assessed with pretreatment and posttreatment measures on the Walker-McConnell Scale (WMS) and the MGH YouthCare Social Competence Development Scale. Each received the 30-week intervention program. For comparison, a matched sample of ten non-ASD children was also assessed, but received no treatment. The findings indicated that each ASD intervention group demonstrated significant gains on the WMS and significant improvement in the areas of anxiety management, joint attention, and flexibility/transitions. Results suggest that this approach can be effective in improving core social deficits in individuals with ASD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital/YouthCare, Harvard Medical School, 47A River Street, Suite A200, Wellesley, MA, 02481, USA

    Albert J. Cotugno

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  1. Albert J. Cotugno
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Correspondence to Albert J. Cotugno.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 3.

Table 3 Pretreatment and posttreatment means and t-tests for two groups of non-ASD control children receiving no intervention
Full size table

Appendix 2

Parent Rating Questions on the SCDS Collected at Pretreatment and Posttreatment

  • Anxiety Control and Management

    • Enters and acclimates to group without anxiety.

    • Manages anxiety effectively.

  • Joint Attention

    • Participates in group structure and activities.

    • Attends to others.

  • Flexibility/transitions

    • Accepts peer’s initiation of activities.

    • Gets self “unstuck” without help.

Parents respond by rating on a scale of 1–5 as follows: (1) never; (2) once in a while; (3) often; (4) frequently; (5) all the time.

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Cotugno, A.J. Social Competence and Social Skills Training and Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 39, 1268–1277 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0741-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0741-4

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