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Background: Physican activitiy (PA) benefits people of all age groups. PA can improve not only physical fitness, but also social skills, behavior as well as psychological well-being in neurotypican populations. Social skills and well-being are essential elements for life. Autistic children face deficits is both these apsects. Since positive effects regarding social skills and well-being have been found in TD population, positive benefits fllowing participation in PA may also be found in children with austism. Aim: This systematic literature review aimed is to identify how participation in PA affect social skills and well-being in autistic chlidren. Method: A literature search was performed in five databases to find peer-reviewed studies identifying effects of physical activities on social skills and well-being. Nine studies met the predefined selection ciretria. Results: Several types of physical activities improved various social skills and decrease challenging and adaptive behaviors in preschool and school aged autistic children. Promising findings were found regarding well-being aspects, relationships with peers and motor skills. Conclusion: Physical activity can improve social skills, behavioral problems and adaptive behaviors in preschool and school aged autistic children while results on well-being, peer relationships ans motor skills look promising.

This study was conducted to first evaluate the effects caregivers’ fidelity of the Cool Versus Not Cool (CNC) intervention using remote behavioral skills training (BST) and second, to evaluate subsequent treatment effects when caregivers implement intervention with their child with ASD. The components of behavioral skills training used were instruction, modeling, role-playing, and feedback. Past research has not evaluated the effects of the CNC intervention on children with ASD’s social skills when implemented by their caregivers. Thus, this research was needed to evaluate the effectiveness of remote based BST and the effectiveness of caregiver-implemented CNC intervention. Results suggested that remote-based BST is a useful training strategy to train caregivers and to support caregiver-implemented CNC to improve children with ASD’s social skills. During follow up and generalization conditions across dyads, caregiver and child skills maintained. During generalization, caregiver skills maintained when teaching new social skills for Caregiver 1 and Caregiver 2, but not entirely for Caregiver 3. / Applied Behavioral Analysis

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The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of a peer-mediated social skills intervention (PMI) on children 6-12 years of age diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Current literature discusses the effects of peer-mediated social skills interventions for children with ASD in schools and on the playground but has not been conducted in an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) clinic or in an Early Childhood Education/ABA-integrated preschool. Three dyads, each consisting of a typical peer and a target child diagnosed with ASD, participated in this study. The frequency of participants' initiations, responses, and continuations were collected throughout all phases, and levels of social anxiety were collected from both members of the dyad periodically using the Severe Measure for Social Anxiety Disorder Child Age (11-17) questionnaire (SMSAD). A multiple baseline across participants design featuring a baseline phase, peer training, intervention without materials, intervention with materials, and generalization probes was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the procedures on communication. The results demonstrate an increase in responses across two target children. The frequency of continuations increased for one target child and initiations increased in another target child. Levels of social anxiety decreased for two dyads while the SMSAD questionnaire was not administered to the other dyad. The results of this study indicate that there may be a relationship between peer-mediated interventions and social anxiety levels. The results also indicate that peer-mediated interventions may provide positive outcomes in social interactions between children with ASD and neurotypical peers in ABA settings. Implementing peer-mediated interventions in ABA settings may provide opportunities that could ease the social transition from ABA services to an integrated setting by increasing the number of social interactions between children with ASD and their peers. Peer-mediated social skills interventions may have more of an impact on children who emit limited, independent interactions with peers.

BACKGROUND: Social skills deficits may hinder learning, terminate relationships, and impede employment. Many individuals with autism and intellectual disability experience difficulties in social judgement, emotional regulation, and interpersonal relationships, all of which can lead to disruptive and aggressive behaviors. Explicit instruction, video modeling, and video feedback are research-based practices that have been used to teach conversation skills to individuals with developmental disabilities and social impairments. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effects of explicit instruction combined with video modeling and video feedback in teaching conversation-initiation skills to six adults ages 18-20 with autism and intellectual disability in a post-high school transition program. METHODS: A multiple baseline across dyads design was used, with number of correct initiation responses as the independent variable. The independent variable was an intervention package including explicit verbal instruction with interspersed video modeling clips, followed by video feedback. RESULTS: All six participants acquired the skills and were able to initiate a conversation; five of them maintained these skills over time, demonstrating them without the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Data supported a evidence functional relation between the intervention package and the participants' social initiation skills. Social validity responses indicated that participants enjoyed watching the videos of models and especially enjoyed watching the videos of themselves.

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