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A Comparison of Two Group-Delivered Social Skills Programs for Young Children with Autism

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Abstract

A social skills group intervention was developed and evaluated for young children with autism. Twenty-five 4- to 6-year-old (diagnosed) children were assigned to one of two kinds of social skills groups: the direct teaching group or the play activities group. The direct teaching group used a video-modeling format to teach play and social skills over the course of the intervention, while the play activities group engaged in unstructured play during the sessions. Groups met for 5 weeks, three times per week, 1 h each time. Data were derived and coded from videotapes of pre- and post-treatment unstructured play sessions. Findings indicated that while members of both groups increased prosocial behaviors, the direct teaching group made more gains in social skills.

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Acknowledgment

This study was partially funded by the Xavier University Mentoring and Project Chair Award and the Autism Society of Greater Cincinnati Student Researcher Grant. A debt of gratitude is owed to the families and children who participated in this study. Much appreciation is also due to the undergraduate and graduate group facilitators for their hours of dedicated service, Dr. Mark Nagy for his support in the statistical analyses of the data, Dr. Cynthia Crown for her critical review of the study, and Drs. Jennifer Brown and Cynthia Molloy for their wealth of resources in the field of autism. The article is adapted from the doctoral dissertation of the first author in partial fulfillment of the requirements of her doctorate of psychology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    K. A. Kroeger & Janet R. Schultz

  2. Kelly O’Leary Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, MLC 4002, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA

    K. A. Kroeger

  3. Southwest Ohio Developmental Center, Batavia, OH, USA

    Crighton Newsom

Authors
  1. K. A. Kroeger
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  2. Janet R. Schultz
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  3. Crighton Newsom
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Correspondence to K. A. Kroeger.

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Kroeger, K.A., Schultz, J. & Newsom, C. A Comparison of Two Group-Delivered Social Skills Programs for Young Children with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 37, 808–817 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0207-x

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