Interventions to Improve Social and Play Skills for Autistic Children

Socialization is a critical area of development that impacts functioning across domains. Deficits in social skills are a main component of the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder. Interventions to increase social and play skills can improve quality of life and impact other developmental domains. While there are many benefits to targeting social skills, some considerations should be examined when identifying interventions. Even with young children, interventions should consider their perspective and foster their self-advocacy. The child’s age, sex, comorbidities, strengths/weaknesses, and culture should inform the selection of goals and strategies. With young children, generalization of skills and the use of natural environment teaching is especially important. It is also critical to incorporate evidence-based interventions. This chapter provides a review of evidence-based interventions that can be used to target social and play skills, including visual supports, video modeling, self-management, social skills training groups, parent-implemented intervention, peer-based intervention, technology-aided intervention, and social narratives.