Improving Social Communication in Autistic Adolescents Through a Clinic-Home-School Collaboration.

Researchers tested a social communication program for autistic teenagers who can speak well but struggle with social interactions. The program lasted 6-7 weeks and included parents and schools. All teens improved their social communication skills, and these improvements lasted after the program ended. Both teens and parents were very happy with the program.

This study evaluated a manualized social communication intervention for highly verbal autistic adolescents using a concurrent multiple baseline design. The 6-7 week program involved clinic sessions with parent participation and school coordination. All participants showed improvements in social communication that were maintained at follow-up. Both participants and parents reported high satisfaction with the intervention.

The study adds to emerging evidence that targeted social communication support can benefit autistic adolescents, though specific sample size and participant characteristics were not detailed in the abstract.

Results suggest clinic-home-school collaborative approaches may be effective for improving social communication in verbal autistic adolescents. The short-term nature and high satisfaction rates indicate potential for practical implementation in clinical settings.

Sample size not reported in abstract. Study design details unclear. No control group mentioned. Limited information about participant characteristics, intervention specifics, or measurement tools used.

Differences in social communication are common in highly verbal autistic adolescents and can interfere with development of friendships as well as lead to other co-occurring challenges. The purpose of this initial study was to assess whether targeted areas of social communication would improve following the implementation of a manualized social communication package with parent participation and school coordination. Autistic adolescents who demonstrated challenges with social communication participated in this study in the context of a rigorous concurrent multiple baseline experimental design. Weekly intervention targeting social communication was implemented over a period of six to seven weeks (depending on preintervention scores).

Additionally, parents and participants completed standardized assessments of anxiety and depression and a post-intervention questionnaire was administered to assess their satisfaction with the intervention. This study demonstrated that social communication could be improved with a short-term intervention program with parent and school participation. All participants showed improvements in social communication, which was maintained at follow-up. Also, all participants and their parents reported high satisfaction with the program.

These findings corroborate a growing literature base suggesting that support in the area of social communication is needed and can benefit autistic adolescents.