Content area
Full Text
J Autism Dev Disord (2007) 37:15931604 DOI 10.1007/s10803-006-0245-4
BRIEF REPORT
Brief Report: Individual Social-Multi-Modal Intervention for HFASD
Nirit Bauminger
Published online: 27 October 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2006
Abstract This research is the rst part of a 2-year cognitive-behavioral-ecological (CB-E) social skills training for high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorder (HFASD). Current study examined efcacy of an individual CB-E intervention in facilitating childrens dyadic interactions (immediately after treatment and 4 months later) and their social cognition capabilities (e.g., emotion understanding and recognition, social problem solving). Participants were 19 HFASD children aged 7 years and 7 months to 11 years and 6 months. Results demonstrated improvement in childrens social cognition and positive dyadic interaction and decrease in childrens low-level social interaction behavior. Long-term evaluation revealed maintenance of improvement. Progress in childrens cooperation, self-control, and assertiveness was reported by their teachers. Discussion focused on CB-E intervention efcacy in promoting integral social functioning for HF children with ASD.
Keywords High-functioning children with autism asperger syndrome social skill intervention cognitive-behavioral therapy
Introduction
The focus of the social-communication decit in high-functioning (HF) children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) comprises the childs lack of intuitive,
spontaneous learning about the social and emotional world (Howlin, 1998; Klin & Volkmar, 2000; Frith, 2004) that results in major difculties both in social-emotional knowledge and in effective peer and group social interactions (Krasny, Williams, Provencal, & Ozonoff, 2003). These difculties attain special significance during adolescence in light of the reported loneliness (a reection of social motivation) and high rates of affective disorders (65% specied in Attwood, 2004) such as anxiety and depression among HF adolescents with ASD (Klin & Volkmar, 1997; Bauminger & Kasari, 2000; Bauminger, Shulman, & Agam, 2003; Paul, 2003; Attwood, 2004), emphasizing the need for interventions to help them develop theoretical and practical social-emotional knowledge.
Social-Emotional Functioning in HF Children with ASD
Spence (2003) suggested that a multitude of social cognitive processes determine the actual behavior of children in social situations. Social information processing, a core skill in social cognition (Crick & Dodge, 1994), consists of an interplay between social perceptions and social problem-solving skills. Social perceptions include attention to and knowledge of relevant social-emotional cues, correct interpretation of verbal and non-verbal information, the ability to take anothers perspective (i.e., theory...