Social Skills Training for Adolescents with Autism: Suggestions for an Age- and Setting-appropriate Intervention Program

This work addresses the need for age- and setting-appropriate social skills training for adolescents who have autism spectrum disorders. Such a program would be functional in a high school setting, as new policies support autistic students being mainstreamed into regular education schools. Literature is reviewed in the areas of social skills seen in normally functioning adolescents and the existing social skills training methods used both in and outside of schools, to address social skills deficits for those with autism. To limit the scope of this review, the population of focus includes individuals with Asperger?s disorder and mild autism. A plan for clinical interventions in a school-based program is presented.