The Manual

Dear Readers,

I made it through the research and learned so much in the process. I purchased the PEERS manual online for $52 so that I could get a first hand look at the program. It arrived in 2 days!

What is so cool about this program is that it is manualized- so not just researchers can provide the program for kids. The manual is to be used as a complete program. The material is presented in structured steps with homework assignments required in order to carry over what is learned during the lesson to home, community, and school. A neat feature of this program is the "get-togethers" the teens in the program host so they can practice the social skills they are learning. Parents are an important part of the PEERS program and even have their own classes. A teen group leader and a parent group leader and two coaches are needed and the manual provides a clear description of their duties. The manual is to be used during each highly structured session and an outline is provided to make sure everything is taught. The manual is clear, easy to follow and contains everything needed to run the PEERS program.

I found out that complete results of a follow-up to the study we just reviewed are underway. A sneak peek shows a significant increase in parent-reported social skills and social response, as well as an increased frequency of hosted-get-togethers, and improvement in knowledge of social etiquette.

The special needs teacher and I are going to approach parent council and the principal about using this manual to address social skills deficits in our school. We are also reaching out to parents and teens who may be seeking information about adolescent social skills deficits through this blog, Facebook, and the school website. Take a look at the websites located on the "Resources" page and stay tune for further updates.

Caveats

As with anything new, the study of PEERS does come with a few caveats.

1. While the numbers of hosted get-togethers increased, a significant increase in invited get-togethers was not reported. This suggests that although teens were effectively able to organize social activities in the home and community with friends, these invitations were not significantly reciprocated by the end of the treatment. However, we are only looking at a period of 12 weeks, which is a short period of time to expect close friendships to develop and reciprocal invitations extended. This observation should be revisited in a follow-up study.

2. As well, the human factor involved in research surfaced. For example, less than half of the teacher reports were returned to the researchers and believe it or not, parents may be biased reporters of the activities involving their child.

The Results! (This is pretty impressive)

The PEERS study provides one of the largest numbers of participants reported in socials skills literature for adolescents with ASD.

Compared to the Delayed Treatment Group the teens in the Treatment Group:

-demonstrated improved knowledge of rules of social etiquette to make and keep friends

-made a significant increase in the frequency of hosted get-togethers

-had significantly better quality friendships at the end of the treatment than the delayed treatment group

Still Reading: Pages 601-602

Group Participation

In 2003, researchers Frankel and Myatt developed a social skills intervention for children in grades 2 to 7. The PEERS intervention is an extension of this program.

-To keep the level of anxiety down among all participants, teens were told that they would not be required to share personal experiences or be forced to participate in role-playing or other activities with which they felt uncomfortable

-This was a huge relief to my son and to me since we were both worried about being put on the spot and having to share our feelings

-The groups were really solution based. Instead of having teens talk about ways they had been bullied in the past, the teens were given strategies to handle teasing or bullying to reduce the likelihood of repeated abuse. How proactive is that?!

The Article----What Does it all Mean?!

Between pages 598-600 the study is described. I wasn't sure I understood what it all meant so I emailed the teacher who gave me the article in the first place. This was her response:

-All of the participants were between the ages of 13 and 17 years, had social problems reported by a parent, and had a diagnosis of HFA, Asperger's disorder, or Pervasive Development Disorder-NOS

-The study only included teens who wanted to be involved in the group and they also knew that they were being "studied" by a researcher

-The group that got the PEERS were compared with a group that did not. The teens were randomly assigned to the groups. Random assignment is the most effective way researchers have to make the groups similar and is seen as the "gold standard" in experiments that try to figure out if a treatment works, or not

-Since it is unethical for a group not to receive treatment, the other group eventually received the treatment

-Parents and teens were free to withdraw from the study at any time

The Article-Part 2

I am reading the article slowly and carefully. Today I am halfway through the second page and I am learning about the results of a short-term outpatient social skills program. It is called the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS). This is what I learned:

-Instruction took place in a small group, using evidence-based methods to teach social skills to teens with ASD

-They used brief, direct instruction, role play, modeling, practiced good behavior, coaching with performance feedback, and weekly socialization assignments with homework that is reviewed

-Parents took part in this program during the same time frame, but in separate sessions for the kids. The article says that previous research found including the parents is important because parents can have significant effect on their child's friendships

-The PEERS intervention focused on teaching rules of social etiquette such as conversational skills, joining and leaving a group, friendship networks, good sportsmanship, and handling teasing, bullying, and arguments

The Article-Part 1

Dear Readers:

I was excited to read that this article focuses on the improvement of friendship quality and social skills among teens 13-17 years of age with ASD. My child continues to be in inclusive classes but things are not working as well in Jr. High as they did in Elementary school. For example, my child starts each day with a different teacher, sitting in a different desk in a different classroom. Some of the classes are same sex like PE, some are a mix of grade 7 students from a 7A, 7B, and 7C like shop and Home Ec. Fortunately the core subjects are taught to the homeroom class, but then subject to teacher changes.

So far the article has mentioned a few things that I found helpful:

-having a best friend or two would help my child with the every day stress of Jr. High life

-having a good friend raises self-esteem and lowers anxious and depressive symptoms

-adolescents with ASD need to be taught social skills directly because they do not pick them up by observation

-most social skills interventions for teens with high functioning autism and Asperger's have not been formally tested to see if they improve social competence, the development of close friendships, or help with social functioning in real life