Promoting social skill use and generalization in children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Social skills training is a frequently utilized intervention for addressing social deficits of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study investigated the effects of the Superheroes Social Skills program, a social skills training program consisting of multiple evidence-based practices, in promoting accurate demonstration of target social skills in both a training and generalized setting. Three children with ASD between the ages of 10 and 14 attended 10 social skills training sessions over five weeks, with social skills lessons targeting participation, conversation, perspective taking, and problem solving skills. A multiple probe design across behaviors and replicated across participants was utilized to evaluate accurate demonstration of target social skills. Results suggest improvement in skill accuracy in both the training and generalization settings. Indirect secondary measures of participant social functioning and parental stress were also collected and suggest improvements associated with social skills training.