A Randomized Controlled Study of Parent-assisted Children’s Friendship Training with Children having Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

This study evaluated Children’s Friendship Training (CFT), a manualized parent-assisted intervention to improve social skills among second to fifth grade children with autism spectrum disorders. Comparison was made with a delayed treatment control group (DTC). Targeted skills included conversational skills, peer entry skills, developing friendship networks, good sportsmanship, good host behavior during play dates, and handling teasing. At post-testing, the CFT group was superior to the DTC group on parent measures of social skill and play date behavior, and child measures of popularity and loneliness, At 3-month follow-up, parent measures showed significant improvement from baseline. Post-hoc analysis indicated more than 87% of children receiving CFT showed reliable change on at least one measure at post-test and 66.7% after 3 months follow-up.

Bullying Experiences Among Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…Through scaffolding, adults can support children to acquire and develop important social skills such as: adaptive emotional and behavioral regulation strategies and coping skills, ignoring peer provocation, identifying and engaging with supportive peers, problem solving, and communicating assertively (Cummings et al, 2006). Recent research supports the effectiveness and importance of parent-assisted learning with respect to developing social skills among children with ASD (Frankel, Myatt, Whitham, Gorospe, & Laugeson, 2010;Laugeson, Mogil, Dillon, & Frankel, 2009). This relationship scaffolding, individualized for each child to capitalize on his or her strengths and support weaknesses, can help the child develop coping skills that may reduce the impact of the bullying on the victimized child (or at least appear that way) and in turn reduce the likelihood of bullying.…”

Nonmedical Interventions for Children With ASD: Recommended Guidelines and Further Research Needs

“…Social skills programs for higher-functioning children and adolescents Many controlled trials 21,23,24,29,[59][60][61][62][63][64][65] and observational studies 25,26,30,31,[66][67][68][69][70] of social skills programs have been conducted. We conducted several meta-analyses on social skills studies that used similar outcome measures.…”

Social Skill Group Interventions for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders: a Systematic Review

“…In addition, these researchers implemented an incentive system to encourage consistent homework completion. Homework assignments have been described as "key" to obtaining generalization of skills by Frankel et al (2010), as they encourage application of core socialization techniques outside of the time-limited context of each group session.…”