Research: Interventions to Facilitate Social Interaction for Young Children with Autism: Review of Available Research and Recommendations for Educational Intervention and Future Research

This article reviews the research on techniques for improving social skills in children with autism, and concludes with several recommendations: 1) assess social skills in natural, everyday settings; 2) create environments that support social interaction; 3) teach social skills to children with autism as well as their peers; 4) fade out direct instruction over time; 5) extend treatment through the day and across activities; and 6) keep track of the effectiveness of interventions over time.

This is an article commissioned by the Committee on Educational Interventions for Children with Autism of the National Research Council. The author begins by describing the social difficulties of children with autism, which include: spending little time close to other children or focusing on other children; rarely speaking to other children; engaging in disturbing behaviors; and interacting less often with adults than other children do. Five different types of educational and/or behavioral interventions designed to improve social skills are reviewed: 1) ecological variations; 2) collateral skills interventions; 3) child-specific interventions; 4) peer-mediated techniques; and 5) comprehensive interventions. Although each of these interventions has been shown to successfully improve social interactions in children with autism, the author states that there is little research comparing them in order to determine which methods are most effective, and studies of the long-term effects of each intervention type are also lacking.