The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

A common method of addressing the social needs of individuals with high functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASD) is social groups that specifically teach and encourage social skills. While some studies have evaluated the outcomes of this intervention, there remains a need for further study on this topic (Bellini, 2007, Rogers, 2000). The research questions guiding this study include: (1) Will adolescents with HFASD participating in a social skills group for a 10-week period demonstrate improvements in social skills at the conclusion of the program? (2) What social skills and behaviors will be observed among adolescents with HFASD while participating in a social group with peers? Social skills are defined as learned behaviors that are socially acceptable and enable one to interact effectively with other people and to avoid situations that are considered socially unacceptable. Social skills will be measured using The Social Skills Rating System Questionnaire-Grades 7-12 developed by Gresham & Elliot (1990). Participants in the social skills program included six adolescents with identified difficulties in social relating and one peer mentor. Participants were 13-14 years old and attended grades 7-9 in urban and suburban middle schools and high schools. Three of the six participants were chosen for the case studies because they all had an autism spectrum diagnosis and participated in the assessment process at the start and conclusion of the study. All participants were in general education classes for the majority of their day and functioning at grade level academically. The study commenced during the spring of 2007 at a clinic facility in a college in a city in upstate New York. At the start of the study participants and their guardians were asked to complete a social skills assessment tool designed by the researchers along with a formal instrument used for assessment of social behavior called the Social Skills Questionnaire-Grades 7-12 (Gresham & Elliot, 1990). Two adults facilitated the program, one female who lead the group and has a doctorate in special education and extensive experience working with social groups and youngsters with ASD and one male who assisted, who was working on a Master's degree in counseling with little experience working with students with ASD. The peer tutor participated as a peer and was involved in planning the content and activities of the group. The program ran for eleven weeks and ten sessions were conducted. Each individual session lasted for 1.5 hours on one evening a week. Participants were asked for ideas regarding activities to be used during the sessions. They requested field trips so three outings occurred including a tour of campus, a local coffee shop, and a mall. The format of the group was semi-structured where social issues were discussed or presented informally using a “dilemma box” or through participants drawing illustrations of various “hidden curriculum” (Myles, 2004). Every session included time to discuss and review problems that the participants had experienced during the week. Often these situations were generated by the participants and submitted anonymously in writing and placed in the dilemma box. Homework assignments were given and participants were asked to bring in new dilemmas or carry out solutions that had been generated by the group. The peer tutor (author) frequently introduced situations for discussion in both the dilemma box and the hidden curriculum illustrations based on her knowledge of the participant's needs. The group would also play games together or share some of their favorite things. Quantitative data included an analysis of change in behaviors documented by The Social Skills Questionnaire-Grades 7-12 (Gresham & Elliot, 1990). Prior to the start of the program and after the conclusion of the program, both participants and guardians filled out the adolescent or parent versions of The Social Skills Questionnaire-Grades 7-12. The quantitative data was analyzed in order to determine if changes occurred in the social behavior during the 10 weeks of participation. The qualitative portion of the study involved the use of participant observation notes that were analyzed to determine the abilities, challenges, and needs of the individual participants when they were among a peer group An emergent theme approach was used for data analysis (Bogdan, 1992). This involved reviewing the notes from the observations numerous times until consistent categories were identified from the data. Based on the consistency of the categories both across and within participants, the codes were determined to be relevant to the group data if there were nine or more instances of the code among the three participants. Codes were determined to be relevant to a participant if there were five or more instances of that code for that individual. All codes determined to be meaningful to an individual were also determined to be meaningful to the group. Of the thirty-two codes used in data analysis, twelve emerged as meaningful and included: anxiety, body language, comfort with adults, confusion, connections, conversations, eye contact, humor, immaturity, literal thinking, social errors, and unwillingness to participate. The results showed a significant change in the parent evaluations for two of the participants, Anna and Martin. Prior to the program, Anna's mother evaluated her with a standard score of 86 and after the program she evaluated her with a standard score of 107. Prior to the program, Martin's mother evaluated him with a standard score of 88 and after the program she evaluated him with a standard score of 129. Both scores were significant at the p<.05 level. The participants' self -evaluations did not reflect any significant changes. Additional data will be provided in the poster session regarding changes in the scores among all the participants when analyzing outcomes on the various subcategories used in the Social Skills Rating System. Each participant made some gains in the areas assessed by the instrument. Specific information will also be provided regarding each of the participants and their social abilities and needs, as documented through participant observation notes maintained by the peer mentor. In analyzing the qualitative data three major themes emerged. The first theme is that adolescents with HFASD display appropriate behavior much of the time they are around their peers. The second theme is that when social behaviors are inappropriate they are usually very obvious to others and result in the youngster standing out from his or her peers. The third theme is that anxiety or social discomfort occurs for the participants much of the time. The presence of appropriate social behavior varies from person to person but frequently the participants converse and interact appropriately. This is evidenced by the emergence of the codes conversation and connection. Both conversation and connection were meaningful codes for all three participants. At every group session spontaneous conversations took place between participants. Connections were less common, but still prevalent. Conversations demonstrated an application of social skills, while connections demonstrated an understanding of social skills. The “average” rating by both the participant and their parent in the cases of Anna and Martin attributes to the observation that, most of the time, these participants demonstrate socially acceptable actions. While participants demonstrate appropriate social skills most of the time, inappropriate behaviors are very obvious. These behaviors are often a strong marker of differences and were not represented by a single code. Instances of these extreme behaviors include Anna's reliance upon adults, Becky standing too close to others, and Martin's lack of eye contact or body movements. Such actions are interpreted by others in a negative manner and could lead to the formation of a negative and long-lasting image of an adolescent in the eyes of peers (Spence, 2003). Despite the display of good social skills most of the time, the participants in this study would be identified as “socially awkward” by peers for actions that they make only occasionally. The third major theme presented in this study is anxiety or social discomfort. In Anna's case, anxiety has a considerable impact on her life. Her anxiety is connected with her need to be around adults. Anna feels that adults are there to help her, therefore, their presence reduces her anxiety significantly. This is not the social norm for an adolescent girl and may lead to a negative image by her peers who often value independence. Martin has developed a method of dealing with his social discomfort in social situations that can be seen in both his qualitative and quantitative data. Martin had fewer codes than any other participant due to his ability to “disappear” during sessions. Martin chooses not to do anything socially that he does not have to because the fewer actions he makes, the less risk for making socially incorrect actions. Because Martin makes fewer social mistakes, he believes he does not have a problem with social skills. Martin's social skills rating data reflects this view. Martin saw himself as socially average, while his mother saw him less socially average. It appears that Martin's discomfort in social situations and uncertainty results in passivity. Becky's social discomfort is most often seen in the codes related to humor. When Becky does not know what to do, she resorts to doing something silly or immature. She is the participant whose social skills rating data began the lowest as well as the participant who demonstrated the least statistically significant improvement using the tool. However based on the qualitative data there was a beginning awareness of more appropriate social interaction. It is important to note that Becky is the youngest of the three participants and this age difference may play a significant role in the differences seen between her behavior and that of the other two participants. Overall it appears that all three participants experience this social discomfort and need to continue developing strategies for coping and responding in more appropriate ways. Several participants stated in the first social group session, “I don't care who you tell [about me in this social group] because they won't know me.” Participants did not feel anxious about attending the social group because they knew that no one at their schools would find out and label them. Adolescents' preference for attending social groups outside of their schools indicates self-awareness. Participants also stated that they had disliked previous experiences in school based social groups because they had to give up free time, lunch, or recess to attend and other students in the group did not have good social skills. They felt marked by the participation in a group with other youngsters with social problems. Social groups outside of school settings give participants privacy that school based programs cannot, especially during the adolescent years. A limitation of this study is the small sample size and the fact that it does not necessarily represent the broader population of individuals with ASD. The ability to generalize the findings is limited but it does provide a useful model for future research. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods should continue to be used. In combining these two methods, significant changes may be noted in quantitative data and supported and expounded by qualitative data, providing the best summary of the participants and any change. Further research should not focus solely on outcomes, but should study the perspectives of both participants and peers with whom they interact to achieve a better understanding of this population and their needs.