Through a conversation analytic approach, we investigate the emergence of accounts provided by autistic children in small-group discussions. Nine Finnish children (7-10 years old) attending school with special support participated in a five-month-duration pedagogical practice purposefully designed to enhance children's participation in groups. We…

Despite widespread clinical use of group-based social skills training (SST) for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there remains a lack of follow-up data, generalisation effects, common definition of social skills, and teacher report data. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an 8-week SST intervention with a play component…

Social skills training is a common treatment method for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet very few evidence-based interventions exist to improve social skills for high-functioning adolescents on the spectrum, and even fewer studies have examined the effectiveness of teaching social skills in the classroom. This study examines…

Young adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have low employment rates and job interviewing presents a critical barrier to employment for them. Results from a prior randomized controlled efficacy trial suggested virtual reality job interview training (VR-JIT) improved interviewing skills among trainees with ASD, but not…

This randomized controlled trial evaluated the efficacy of a computer software (i.e., "Mind Reading") and in vivo rehearsal treatment on the emotion decoding and encoding skills, autism symptoms, and social skills of 43 children, ages 7-12 years with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD). Children in treatment (n = 22)…

Students with ASD are often taught in individual instructional arrangements, even when they receive educational services in inclusive settings. Providing intervention in small group arrangements may increase opportunities for social interactions, particularly when these opportunities are systematically planned. In this study, academic instruction…

Researchers have highlighted engagement as a critical component of effective interventions for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet there is limited research related to engagement in school-age children with ASD. This descriptive study was designed to examine joint engagement and its relationship with classroom factors and student…

Thirty-four children, with autism spectrum disorders, ages 4-14 years, were matched and randomly assigned to one of two conditions for learning a novel juice-making task and producing two novel words about the event. Seventeen sighted children were manually guided to perform the task and tactually prompted during imitated productions of novel…

We examined whether "discrete trial training" (DTT) could be used to identify learning impairments in mathematical reasoning in boys with fragile X syndrome (FXS). Boys with FXS, aged 10-23 years, and age and IQ-matched controls, were trained to match fractions to pie-charts and pie-charts to decimals either on a computer or with a…

An increasing body of literature has indicated that social stories are an effective way to teach individuals diagnosed with autism appropriate social behavior. This study compared two formats of a social story targeting the improvement of social skills during game play using a pretest posttest repeated measures randomized control group design. A…

This study evaluated the acquisition of incidental and observational information presented to 6 children with autism in a small group instructional arrangement using a constant time delay (CTD) procedure. A multiple probe design across behaviors, replicated across 6 participants, was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the CTD procedure and to…

The context for this work was an evaluation study [Carr, D., & Felce, J. A. (in press)] of the early phases of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) [Frost, L. A., & Bondy, A. S. (1994). "The picture exchange communication system training manual." Cherry Hill, NJ: Pyramid Educational Consultants, Inc.; Frost, L. A., & Bondy, A. S.…

Five principles of Daily Life Therapy are examined: group-oriented instruction; highly structured routine activities; learning through imitation; reduction of unproductive activity levels through rigorous exercise; and a curriculum based on music, movement, and art. These tenets are discussed in terms of current theory, research, and educational…

This study investigated the relationship between theory of mind and executive functioning in children with autistic spectrum disorders through a training study. Ten children were trained on theory of mind, whilst ten were trained in executive function. Seven children were assigned to a control group, receiving no intervention. Training programmes…

The article describes a social skills training group for 10 British autistic children (ages 9-16 years) which aimed to integrate them into the regular classroom. The weekly sessions were held over 4 years and followed guidelines of G. Mesibov and S. Spence. (Author/DB)