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The Importance Of Improving Social Skills For Children

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All of the articles stated the importance of improving social skills for children and teens with ASD in order to improve their relationships with others, and to improve their overall quality of life. The two articles that used a randomized control trial with delayed treatment control used children either: 13 to 17 years old (Laugeson et. al, 2009) or 2nd through 5th grade (Frankel et. al, 2010). Both of these articles used a specific social skills training program that lasted for 12 weeks and were either 60 to 90 minutes long. Both had parent-implemented training group sessions while their child was in a different group session happening at the same time. Both of these studies developed a curriculum for both the child and their parent. In …show more content…

For both of the studies, the delayed treatment group was measured at week 1, week 12 (prior to intervention), and week 24 (immediately following intervention). Therefore, the studies could compare the intervention group at week 12 to the no- intervention group, and also compare the progress of the individual group from week 1 to week 12. Results from Laugeson et. al. demonstrated that teens in the intervention group demonstrated improved knowledge about social etiquette applicable to making and maintaining friends (2009). The intervention group also reported that they hosted more peer get-togethers, and better quality friendships. Parents from the intervention group reported improvement in their child’s overall knowledge of social skills (Laugeson et. al, 2009). Results from Frankel et. al. children in the intervention group reported better scores on the Loneliness Scale, and parents reported an increased amount of hosted play dates with less disengaged behavior (2010). Parents also reported that their child displayed better self-control (Frankel et. al. 2010). Both of the studies’ results were based on mainly self-reports (and one criterion referenced test). The results would be stronger if it included more objective measures done by a blind examiner. The self-reports may not truly reflect the results of either study. The third study used for this review was a systematic review of single

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