Group social skills interventions (GSSIs) are a commonly offered treatment for children with high functioning ASD. We critically evaluated GSSI randomised controlled trials for those aged 6-25 years. Our meta-analysis of outcomes emphasised internal validity, thus was restricted to trials that used the parent-report social responsiveness scale…

There is a paucity of evidence concerning the patterns of multi-informant agreement in populations with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). This study compared ratings of behaviour and emotional problems and social functioning provided by 45 adolescents aged 12-18 years, with Autistic or Asperger's Disorder with ratings by their parents and teachers.…

Young children with challenging behavior may require individualized interventions to facilitate improved outcomes. Visual activity schedules (VAS) have been well documented for improving engagement, transition, and recreation behaviors with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (ID). However, children…

This study aimed to assess physiological arousal and behavioral regulation of emotion in the context of frustration in 29 children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and 45 typically developing children (41-81 months). Heart rate was continuously measured and emotion strategies were coded, during a locked-box task. Results revealed increases in…

This study examined relationships among behavior problems, social skills, and educational placement within a sample of children with autism spectrum disorder or ASD in public (mean age 7) and non-public (mean age 8) school settings (n = 56). Parent and teacher agreement on child characteristics ratings tended to be similar while differences…

This study aims to evaluate the long-term outcome of Children's Friendship Training, a parent-assisted social skills intervention for children. Prior research has shown Children's Friendship Training to be superior to wait-list control with maintenance of gains at 3-month follow-up. Participants were families of children diagnosed with autism…

Direct observation of peer relating is potentially a sensitive and ecologically valid measure of child social functioning, but there has been a lack of standardised methods. The Manchester Inventory for Playground Observation (MIPO) was developed as a practical yet rigorous assessment of this kind for 5-11 year olds. We report on the initial…