Although social skills training for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often addresses deficits in social communication, restricted and repetitive social behaviors are less frequently targeted in the literature. The present study evaluated a manualized social skills training program, modified to incorporate lag schedules of…

This study investigated the efficacy of the Superheroes Social Skills program in increasing social engagement of four elementary-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Pakistan, where English was spoken as a second language. The investigators implemented the first six lessons from the program in the classroom and assessed its…

A substantial number of multicomponent interventions have been developed to address social functioning in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). For multicomponent interventions, identifying critical elements of the intervention related to behavior change is critical and may potentially improve the social validity of interventions. Such…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder display impairments in social interactions and communication that appear at early ages and result in short- and long-term negative outcomes. As such, there is a need for effective social skills training programs for young children with autism spectrum disorder--particularly interventions capable of being…

Five participants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) between the ages of 10 and 14 years attended a twice-weekly social skills group for 8 weeks. A multiple probe design across skills with concurrent replication across participants was utilized to assess the effects of social skills training using multiple exemplars and lag schedules on social…

The current pilot study investigated the effectiveness of the Superheroes Social Skills program in decreasing disruptive and aggressive behavior of elementary-age students with high-incidence disabilities. Six students in a self-contained classroom, identified as displaying high rates of disruptive and aggressive behavior toward peers, were…

Social difficulties represent a major area of concern in children with specific language impairment (SLI). Social skills interventions targeting communication or language skills of children with SLI have been generally ineffective. The current study tested the efficacy of a social skills intervention consisting of multiple behavioral interventions…

Due to impairments in social interactions and communication, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have a need for effective social skills training programs. However, many programs fail due to a lack of acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of target skills. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and…

Teachers must be skilled in providing differentiated instruction to adequately meet the needs of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who require additional attention and support. Peer-mediation intervention is suggested as a tool to assist teachers. In peer-mediated interventions, peers may be trained to initiate social interactions and…

The present study provides a preliminary evaluation of the effects of the Superheroes Social Skills program, a practice-ready, multimedia social skills program, on social engagements of elementary-age children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Four children with ASD between the ages of 8 and 10 with current placements in inclusive public…

In 2 studies, we evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of peer-mediated, school-based discrete trial training (DTT) for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the first, 6 typically developing elementary-age students were trained to use DTT procedures to teach target academic skills to 3 students with ASD who had been educated in a…

The current study evaluated the use of Superheroes Social Skills to promote accurate use of discrete social skills in training and generalization conditions in two children with autism spectrum disorder. Participants attended a twice weekly social skills training group over 5 weeks, with lessons targeting nonverbal, requesting, responding, and…