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Social Skills Groups and Autism Ranking: Strong positive evidence

Aims and Claims

Aims

The primary goal is to improve communication and social interaction skills of autistic people through a range of activities and interactions with other people.

According to Rutten (2007) "For young children social skills training is likely to revolve around turn-taking and sharing, whilst for older children friendship skills and keeping safe are important. Adolescents and adults may want to concentrate on transition into adult life, and the life skills necessary for participating in society."

According to Reichow et al (2012) "The exact mechanism through which social skills groups change behavior is not known, but is theoretically based on learning theory. Social skills groups for people with ASD are thought to affect an individual’s social functioning by providing instruction on specific social skills in a group format that allows for immediate rehearsal and practice of the learned skills. The social skill group format also allows for immediate reinforcement for using the targeted skill (in an unstructured setting, the reinforcement for using a social skill might be social reinforcement, which may or may not be a reinforcer for an individual with autism). Providing immediate reinforcement for displaying the desired (targeted) social skill should increase the likelihood of the skill being used again, thereby providing the individual with additional repetitions and practice."

Claims

There have been various claims made for social skills groups including that social skills groups or peer groups will help improve social, communication and other skills of autistic people.

For example Barry et al (2003) reported that social skills groups were effective in improving greeting and play skills; Chung et al (2007) reported that social skills groups were effective in improving social communication skills; and Yoo et al  (2014) reported"‘significant improvement in social skills knowledge, interpersonal skills, and play/leisure skills, as well as a decrease in depressive symptoms and ASD symptoms."

Updated
17 Jun 2022
Last Review
01 Feb 2016
Next Review
01 Sep 2022