1. Parent-Assisted Social Skills Training to Improve Friendships in Teens with Autism Spectrum Disorders Laugeson, E. A., Frankel, F., Mogil, C., & Dillon, A. R. (2008)
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2. Background Inclusion Increase social interaction complexity*
Decrease nonsocial activity*
Lonelier, poor quality friendships**
Isolation, rejection, bullying***
(*Sigman & Ruskin, 1999; **Capps et al., 1996; **Bauminger &Kasari, 2000, *** Tse et al., 2007)

3. Background Typical Teens vs. Teens with ASDs Typical Teens:
Best Friends
By 4th grade*
Aids resilience to life events**
Aids self esteem***
Aids social competence & social problem solving****
Neg correlated with anxiety and depression***
Teens with ASDs
Missing out on these experiences
Need extra support and instruction
(*Fankel, 1996; *McGuire & Weisz, 1982; **Miller & Ingham, 1976; ***Buhrmester, 1990, ****Nelson & Aboud, 1985)

4. Background Previous Research Exceptions: Mostly children
Lower functioning range
Not formally tested (social competence)
Exceptions:
Ozonoff and Miller (1995)
Tse et al (2007)
Ozonoff and Miller HFA adolescents basic interactional and conversational skills; infer mental states
Tse & colleaues year olds; no control group

5. Out-Patient Social Skills Program
PEERS intervention content
Adapted from Children's Friendship Training
Evidence base: ADHD, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum, children with ASD
(Frankel & Myatt, 2003), (O'Connor et. al., 2006), (Frankel & Myatt, 2007)Small Group Format
Small Group Format
Parent instruction
Separate concurrent sessions

6. Current Study PEERS intervention content: Evidence base practices
Didactic instruction, role playing, modeling, behavioral rehearsal, coaching with performance feedback, weekly socialization assignments with consistent homework review
Social etiquette
Social situations with accompanying rules & steps
Teens provided instruction in steps
Parents provided information to supervise

7. Targeted Skills Conversation Peer entry and exit Friendship networks
Expanding & developing
Bullying, teasing, arguments
Good sportsmanship
Good host
Changing reputations

8. Participants Teens (n = 33)
13-17 years of age, mean 14.6
Male (28), Female (5)
Diagnosis of ASD
HFA, Asperger's, PDD-NOS
Caucasian (14), Hispanic/Latino (6), African American (3), Asian (4), Middle Eastern (3), Mixed ethnicity (3)
Regular Ed (17), Special Ed (8), Pull out (2), Home-school (3), other Ed (3).
Participants were randomly assigned to either the Treatment or the Delayed Treatment Group

9. Outcome Measures Test of Adolescent Social Skills Knowledge TASSK
Teen
22 items, Sentence stems with 2 choices
Knowledge of teen social skills
(TASSK; Laugeson and Frankel, 2006)
Friendship Qualities Scale
23 yes/no questions regarding their best friend(ship)
(FQS; Bukowski et al, 1994)

10. TASSK Example Items The goal of a conversation is to
Make the other person like you
Find common interests
One of the rules for having a two way conversation is
To be an interviewer
Do not be an interviewer
If you try to join a conversation and the people ignore you:
Move on
Speak louder so they can hear you

11. Friendship Qualities Scale
Yes / No Questions
Think of Best Friend
My friend and I spend all of our free time together

12. Outcome Measures Social Skills Rating Scale
Parent & Teacher
38 item questionnaire, never, sometimes, very often
Social skills scale, problem behavior scale
(SSRS: Gresham and Elliott, 1990)
The Quality of Play Questionnaire
Parent & Teen
12 item questionnaire, frequency of get-togethers & conflict
Hosted & invited get-togethers
(QPQ; Frankel and Mintz, 2008)

13. SSRS Info and Sample Items
Social Skills
Cooperation
Follows your direction
Assertion
Invites others to join in activities
Responsibility
Requests permission before leaving the house
Self Control
Responds appropriately when pushed or hit
Problem Behaviors
Externalizing
Fights with others
Internalizing
Is easily embarrassed
Hyperactivity
Acts impulsively
** Likert
Never
Sometimes
Always

14. The Quality of Play Questionnaire
Frequency of play dates
Number of Dates invited vs. hosted
Level of conflict
Criticized or teased each other

15. Treatment Completely manualized & delivered over 12 weeks Students
Reciprocity in conversation
Diminishing importance of rejecting peer group
Reversing negative reputations
Instruction to promote get-togethers
Competence with teasing, bullying, conflicts
Didactic lessons
Modeling, Role-playing, Performance feedback
Homework assigned

16. Treatment Parents Teen and Parents reunited
Review of homework assignments
Troubleshoot homework problems
Instruction to help teen overcome homework problems
Teen and Parents reunited
Teens deliver review for parents
Homework finalized

17. Quick Recap Random Assignment Treatment & Delayed Treatment Group
Demographic information gathered
Pre-test outcome measures gathered
Teens, Parents, Teachers
Treatment
Post-test outcome measures gathered

18. Results
Non-Significant Differences at Baseline Between Treatment Group and Delayed Treatment Groups

19. Results
Statistically Significant scores for Pre and Post- test outcome variables for Treatment and Delayed Treatment

20. Discussion Findings Limitations Knowledge of social etiquette
Hosted get-togethers
Quality of friendships
Parent report of overall social skills
Limitations
Bias in Parent Report?
Increase Teacher report
Need Maintenance Data
Would have liked ADOS or ADI-R
SSRS not designed for ASD

21. Thank you ! TA McDonald Integrated Autism Education, Treatment, and Leadership Wendy Machalicek Colleen Moore