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 school settings participated in an 8-week intervention utilizing the intermediate skill components of the Superheroes Social Skills program. The intervention was presented once per week for approximately 30 min in the school settings. Analysis of data suggests that social engagements of participants during generalized recess periods increased following the introduction of intervention. Data on frequency of initiations and responses, as well as sociometric outcomes, were also collected as a secondary dependent variable and are discussed. Results suggest that pullout social skills training may result in effects that are generalized to more naturalistic settings. Limitations of the current study and suggestions for future research are reviewed.

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The present study evaluated the effects of the Superheroes Social Skills program, a social skills curriculum for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Previous research has found the curriculum to improve social engagements of children with ASD during unstructured recess periods but has been limited in research design and lack of maintenance data. Five elementary-age participants with current placements in inclusive public school settings were included in the study. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to determine the effects of the intervention on social engagement during unstructured recess periods, as well as teacher ratings of social functioning and sociometric status. Visual and statistical analyses of data indicate increased social engagement of participants during recess periods following introduction of social skills training. Improvements were also observed in teacher ratings of social functioning and sociometric status. Limitations of the current study are also discussed.

The present study investigated the effectiveness of a novel class-wide intervention, the Classroom Password, for increasing the academic engaged behavior of middle school students. The effectiveness of an independent group contingency was evaluated using a concurrent multiple baseline design across three seventh-and eighth-grade classrooms. Results indicated that the intervention was effective across all three classrooms in increasing students' academic engagement, or on-task behavior, as evidenced by visual analysis and moderate to large effect sizes. Decreases in disruptive behavior were also observed across all three classrooms. Off-task behavior was not substantially affected in any of the three classrooms. The intervention received mixed ratings by the classroom teachers regarding its social validity. Results of the present study suggest that the Classroom Password may be an effective class-wide intervention for increasing the academically engaged behavior and decreasing the disruptive behavior of middle school students during instructional time. C 2016

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 conversation skills. A multiple probe across social skills design, replicated across participants, was utilized to assess the effects of participation of the intervention on skill accuracy. Following introduction of the intervention, participants demonstrated abrupt improvements in skill accuracy in both training and generalization conditions. Additionally, parental reports of participant social functioning indicated improvements following participation in the intervention. Limitations and future directions are discussed.