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An Evaluation of a Behaviorally Based Social Skills Group for Individuals Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Abstract

In this study we evaluated a social skills group which employed a progressive applied behavior analysis model for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. A randomized control trial was utilized; eight participants were randomly assigned to a treatment group and seven participants were randomly assigned to a waitlist control group. The social skills group consisted of 32, 2 h sessions. Teachers implemented a variety of behaviorally based procedures. A blind evaluator measured participants’ behavior immediately prior to intervention, immediately following intervention, and during 16 and 32-week maintenance probes. Results of the study demonstrated that participants made significant improvements with their social behavior (p < .001) following intervention, and the results were maintained up to 32 weeks after intervention had concluded.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Andi Waks, Michele Jessner, Clifford Anderson, Jan Arter, Lupe Ortega, and Andrew McEachin for their help on this project. We also wish to thank the families and the penguins (the children) who participated in this study.

Author Contributions

JBL conceived, helped design, and coordinated the implementation of the study, as well as drafted the manuscript; JAL participated in the implementation of the procedures and interpretation and analysis of the data; CM participated in the implementation of the procedures and interpretation and analysis of the data; MT helped design the study and was critical in drafting the manuscript; MOL participated in the acquisition and analysis of the data; NT participated in the acquisition and analysis of the data; DTC participated in the acquisition and analysis of the data; RL helped design the study and was critical in drafting the manuscript; JMC helped design the study and was critical in drafting the manuscript; PY helped in the analysis of the data and interpretation of the data and drafting the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Autism Partnership Foundation, 200 Marina Drive, Seal Beach, CA, 90740, USA

    Justin B. Leaf, Jeremy A. Leaf, Christine Milne, Mitchell Taubman, Misty Oppenheim-Leaf, Norma Torres, Donna Townley-Cochran, Ronald Leaf & John McEachin

  2. Vanderbilt Peabody College, 416B One Magnolia, Circle VU Mailbox, 228, Nashville, TN, USA

    Paul Yoder

Authors
  1. Justin B. Leaf
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  2. Jeremy A. Leaf
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  3. Christine Milne
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  7. Donna Townley-Cochran
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  8. Ronald Leaf
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  9. John McEachin
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  10. Paul Yoder
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Autism Partnership Foundation

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Justin B. Leaf.

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Conflict of Interest

This study was partially funded by a grant received from the Organization for Autism Research. This grant was directly provided to the first author, fourth author, fifth author, eighth author, and ninth author. The fifth author received an honorarium for her involvement. There are no conflicts of interest for the remaining authors. Additionally, the fourth, eight, and ninth author have commercial products for procedures used within this study and own an agency that provides behavioral intervention, which include procedures similar to those evaulated here, for individuals diagnosed with ASD.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Appendices

Appendix A

See Table 8.

Table 8 Skills taught in Group A
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Appendix B

See Table 9.

Table 9 Skills taught in Group B
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Leaf, J.B., Leaf, J.A., Milne, C. et al. An Evaluation of a Behaviorally Based Social Skills Group for Individuals Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 47, 243–259 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2949-4

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