Social Skills Deficits in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Evidenced Based Interventions

 Impairments in social functioning are at the core of the defining diagnostic features of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In addition to these specific social skills challenges, children with ASD often present with complex learning needs. With the growing demand for children with ASD to integrate within regular education classrooms, the area of social skills interventions and research is growing at a rapid rate. On review of the current empirical literature the data are mixed and no single social skills intervention is without criticism. There are a number of difficulties when treating social skills deficits in children with ASD. At the kernel of the problem lies the fact that researchers do not concur on one definition for social skills and this can make the starting point for intervention and research difficult to ascertain.