Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a 7-month cognitive behavioral intervention for the
facilitation of the social-emotional understanding and social interaction of 15 high-functioning
children (8 to 17 years old) with autism. Intervention focused on teaching interpersonal problem
solving, affective knowledge, and social interaction. Preintervention and postintervention
measures included observations of social interaction, measures of problem solving and of emotion
understanding, and teacher-rated social skills. Results demonstrated progress in three
areas of intervention. Children were more likely to initiate positive social interaction with
peers after treatment; in particular, they improved eye contact and their ability to share experiences
with peers and to show interest in peers. In problem solving after treatment, children
provided more relevant solutions and fewer nonsocial solutions to different social
situations. In emotional knowledge, after treatment, children provided more examples of complex
emotions, supplied more specific rather then general examples, and included an audience
more often in the different emotions. Children also obtained higher teacher-rated social skills
scores in assertion and cooperation after treatment. The implications of these findings are discussed
in terms of the effectiveness of the current model of intervention for high-functioning
children with autism.

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 32, 283-298.