Kasari, C., Dean, M., Kretzmann, M., Shih, W., Orlich, F., Whitney, R., … & King, B. (2016). Children with autism spectrum disorder and social skills groups at school: A randomized trial comparing intervention approach and peer composition. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57(2), 171-179.
Allison Hawkins
Rutgers University,
Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
Why research this topic?
School-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently struggle with making friends and understanding social expectations. In order to improve their social skills, many of these children participate in social skills groups both in and out of school. Currently, the research on school-based social skills groups for children with ASD is lacking because most studies take place in clinic settings. The benefits of such groups may be limited for children with ASD who are in general education because these children tend to be the only student with ASD in their classroom, which makes it difficult to find friends with similar interests. To address the need for evidence-based, effective, school-based social skills interventions for students with ASD, Kasari and colleagues compared different types of social skills groups in schools.
What did the researcher do?
Researchers from four universities and research centers conducted the study in local public schools. The participants were 137 individuals with ASD, ages 6- 11 years. The participants were randomly assigned to participate in one of two types of social skills groups – SKILLS or ENGAGE. Both groups took place at school during morning or lunchtime recess and occurred in 2, 30-45 minute sessions per week for 8 weeks.
The SKILLS group contained only children with ASD and focused on social skills lessons, which were delivered by a graduate research assistant, with free time at the end of every session. During each session, participants earned points on a punch card that they could exchange for weekly rewards from a Treasure Box. The ENGAGE group included both children with ASD and their neurotypical peers and focused on peer engagement by allowing the children to choose activities to play during each group. Graduate research assistants facilitated the activities when needed, but mostly allowed the children to play independently, when possible.
What did the researchers find?
The researchers found more positive outcomes in SKILLS than ENGAGE. Thus, adult-led, didactic social skills training for children with ASD appeared more effective for improving peer acceptance and engagement on the school playground than a naturalistic intervention that grouped children with ASD with neurotypical peers. This is important because clinic-based, lecture-style social skills groups have previously been unsuccessful at helping participants generalize their skills to school, where most interactions with peers take place.
What are the strengths and limitations of the study?
An important strength of this study is the inclusion of children from across the country, which suggests that the SKILLS intervention could be utilized successfully in many different schools. Limitations of this study include loss of participants due to teachers or students changing classrooms. Additionally, the interventions were complex, making it difficult for the researchers to pinpoint exactly what caused the results.
What do the results mean?
Despite these limitations, the results of this study suggest strong benefits of using a lecture-based social skills group with students with ASD in schools, and that such groups should be adopted more widely and studied more frequently.
Citation for this article:
Hawkins, A. (2018). Research review: A randomized trial of social skills groups at school. Science in Autism Treatment, 15(2), 18-19.
#Adolescents #School #SchoolAge #SocialSkills #SocialWorkers #Teachers
