A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Social Skills Interventions for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
Remedial and Special Education
Bellini, S., Peters, J. K., et al. (2007).
Remedial and Special Education, 28(3), 153-162.
This meta-analysis investigates the effects of school-based social skills interventions on social functioning in young children, children, and adolescents on the autism spectrum.
Not stated
From 1980 to 2005
Published, peer-reviewed, single-subject design studies
55
When comparing the studies implementing group interventions and the studies implementing individual interventions, no significant differences of intervention and maintenance effects were observed. Findings indicated interventions implemented in the child’s classroom yielded significantly higher intervention, maintenance, and generalization effects than interventions implemented with the child removed from the classroom.
Results indicated school-based social skills interventions (i.e., collateral skills, peer-mediated, child-specific, comprehensive approaches) were minimally effective for students on the autism spectrum. The interventions demonstrated low treatment effects and generalization effects across participants, settings, and stimuli; however, the moderate maintenance effects suggest that the gains made during social skills interventions were maintained following the intervention.
"There were no significant relationships observed between the number of intervention sessions, hours of intervention, and length of intervention (total days from the beginning to the end of the intervention) and treatment outcomes" (p. 160).
