The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

The content of this poster will briefly describe the Circle of Friends Social Skills Group in Ocean County, New Jersey, and the demographic characteristics of young children diagnosed with ASD who are members of the group. The group was developed as a collaborative effort with the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in response to child needs and parental requests. Using sound program development principles and best-practices literature, the plan for a social skills group for young children diagnosed with ASD was developed. Faculty and students of the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey were instrumental in developing and leading group activities/lesson plans during the one-hour group. The parents selected the name Circle of Friends Social Skills Group and were instrumental in finding a community-based location for the group (the local library).  

Parents and children participate together in each group session. Ongoing modification and revision of activities is a collaborative process among the group members (including parents), community partners (library personnel) and faculty/student support provided by the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. The findings of parent surveys conducted twice a year for three years (2007, 2008 & 2009) will be displayed and discussed. Parents actively participate weekly in the Circle of Friends Social Skills Group and are introduced to the themes and structure of the program through parent orientation and ongoing collaboration. This knowledge enables parents to report meaningful information regarding the success of the group and generalization of social skills from the group environment to other environments. The findings from parent surveys indicates measurable social skill progress and satisfaction with the group model used in the Circle of Friends Social Skills Group. 

The poster will also present the results of a child engagement study from 10 weekly sessions. These results demonstrate the levels of effectiveness of various types of activities to facilitate social engagement of the young child diagnosed with autism. 

Preliminary research data, combined with a growing need and interest in social skill development programs for the young child diagnosed with ASD, has resulted in new groups forming in Ocean County. Newer groups are being called Fun With Friends and are conducted using resources developed by faculty at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

In viewing and discussing this poster, participants will meet the following learning outcomes:

1. Participants will understand the implications and results of parental satisfaction surveys collected over three years of parent and child participation in the community-based Circle of Friends Social Skills Group in Ocean County, New Jersey.

2. Participants will analyze the results of the child engagement study from 10 weekly sessions of the community-based Circle of Friends Social Skills Group to determine the types of activities that facilitate playfulness and social engagement in the young child diagnosed with ASD.

3. Participants will understand the need for continued research and study of the social competence abilities and needs of the young child diagnosed with ASD.