Trusera

Want personalized recommendations? Sign up

Already a member? Log in

Welcome to Trusera. Find and share real-world experience about health and more.

We share health experience

Find ideas and recommendations, share your story and help others.
We answer questions

Need help on a health topic? Ask the community what's worked for them.
We connect

Tap into a network of people who've been there and want to help.

Javascript is required. For a full Trusera experience, please make sure you have javascript enabled in your web browser.

Social programs for autistic kids don't work, study says

September 26, 2008

autism, social skills programs, asperger's

Does this surprise you?

A meta-analysis of 55 published research studies reveals programs designed to teach social skills to children with autism are failing to meet their goals. The study, conducted at Indiana University, found that outcomes for social skills training were poor overall, but programs held in normal classroom settings were more likely to result in positive changes than programs held in other environments.

"The results of the meta-analysis are certainly hard to swallow, but they do shed some light on factors that lead to more beneficial social outcomes for children with autism," said lead researcher Scott Bellini, assistant director of IU's Indiana Resource Center for Autism and assistant professor in the School of Education. "These results underscore the critical need for researchers and practitioners to develop more effective social skills programming."

Comments (2)

ponderous said:
0 Give this a karma point.

Flag this for administrator review. You've already flagged this.
I put my son in a 'social skills training' environment for a short time and he got nothing out of it. However, in focused 'play groups' with his regular every day peers, I'...

I put my son in a 'social skills training' environment for a short time and he got nothing out of it. However, in focused 'play groups' with his regular every day peers, I've seen MUCH better success... so the story doesn't suprise me a bit.
It has been my own experience that I learn social skills by watching people I admire and emulating them. They never become second nature but I develop good scripts. My son does the same thing... so I think maybe the reason the social skills training didnt work for him and wouldnt work for me is that we have to choose who to emulate and then watch them in real life.

view less October 19, 2008
Whirlwind said:
1 Give this a karma point.

Flag this for administrator review. You've already flagged this.
It does surprise me. I would be interested to know how long the programs lasted, how often they met, and how consistent the participation in each group was. There are so many fac...

It does surprise me. I would be interested to know how long the programs lasted, how often they met, and how consistent the participation in each group was. There are so many factors to consider in determining the effectiveness of a program.
Nothing is perfect, however. There is always room for improvement. Even good programs can be made better.

view less October 18, 2008