questionable social skills curriculum for autism

While each identified treatment utilized a group format, there was significant heterogeneity among the implemented procedures and evaluative methods.

Initial disagreements were jointly reviewed and analyzed by the authors until 100 % agreement was obtained. Original consensus was reached on 88 % of the articles (44 of the 50 originally identified articles). In order to ensure that all articles were identified correctly, a minimum of two co-authors independently evaluated the merits of each article using an inclusion criteria checklist. Inter-Rater Reliability of Search Procedures Additionally, at least one outcome/dependent measure was required to be directly related to social skills, competence, and/or engagement. Described procedures were required to include explicit instruction, discussion, and/or practice of social skills/competencies and not just exposure to an ongoing recreational activity and/or general environmental manipulations. Finally, studies were required to both directly (a) target and (b) measure social competency changes/outcomes. Because of the focus on group-based interventions, at least three individuals were required to concurrently participate in the same intervention and they could not all be members of a single family. Participants were required to be adolescents with autism (i.e., most of the participants were between the ages of 13–17 and possessed an ASD diagnosis). Next, they needed to describe an intervention procedure (not simply a descriptive study highlighting characteristics or differences between populations). Articles were required to be a peer-reviewed original research investigation (not a review/summary article) published in (or translated to) English through August 2013. Search results were required to meet pre-established criteria in order to be included within the current review. In addition to the initial yield of search results obtained through available databases, additional studies were identified through systematic analysis of the reference lists of articles meeting inclusion criteria. The following broad keyword search categories were used (specific search queries included within parentheses): a focus on social skills (i.e., social skills or social competence or social engagement or social interactions or socialization), a group intervention format (i.e., group or intervention or treatment or program), and a focus on individuals with an autism diagnosis (autism or Asperger or ASD or PDD or pervasive developmental disorder). Online searches were conducted within multiple research databases, including PsycINFO, PsycArticles, and Education Resources Information Center (ERIC). As friendships have consistently been found to be a protective factor against mental health issues (Miller & Ingham 1976), it is reasonable to assume that by helping adolescents with ASD to develop friendships, we may be able to improve not only their ASD symptoms, but their comorbid symptoms as well. A recent study found that 70 % of adolescents with ASD had symptoms consistent with at least one comorbid disorder, and 41 % had two or more comorbid diagnoses (Simonoff et al. In addition, adolescence is a time when many individuals with ASD begin to experience the devastating effects of other comorbid psychiatric diagnoses, such as depression and anxiety (Ghaziuddin et al. Evidently, these teens’ social and communicative difficulties result in a susceptibility to bullying, and social skills interventions are unmistakably warranted to help prevent this unfortunate outcome.

2010), with evidence of victimization rates up to four times higher among adolescents with ASD. Bullying and victimization rates are much higher for individuals on the autism spectrum in comparison with their typically developing peers (Carter 2009 Little 2001 van Roekel et al. Without the appropriate skill set to negotiate complex social situations, adolescents with ASD can unfortunately fall victim to a host of unpleasant consequences.

Questionable social skills curriculum for autism