Abstract:

Since the 1986 the rates of Autism have been increasing exponentially from a rate of 1:188 to an alarming rate of 1:59 as of 2018 (Baio, et al, 2018). Social Skills and Executive Functioning skills are key struggles for individuals on the Autism Spectrum (DSM IV, 2013). Basic and effective social skills are critical for successful post-school outcomes for all youth. They are necessary to obtain and keep employment, understand and negotiate school and vocational expectations, acquire and maintain healthy interpersonal relations, and generally to be a good citizen (Gresham, Sugai, & Horner, 2001; Howlin, Goode, Hutton, & Rutter, 2004; Wehmeier, Schacht, & Barkley, 2010). Social competence is a primary deficit across many populations most specifically, those identified with autism, emotional impairments, or students identified as not ready to learn (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013; Gresham, et al., 2001). Individuals with social skills deficits benefit from being in social skills interventions with others who have a similar social skills struggles (Stichter, Herzog, Kilgus, & Schoemann, 2017). Small school districts and highly mobile families, such as those in the military, can find it difficult to find large enough numbers of individuals at a similar age, living close enough to participate in an in-person group, with students who are at the same level of social competence (Strange, et al. 2012; Stichter, et al. 2017). Stichter’s Social Competence Intervention for Adolescents (SCI-A) has been shown to be effective in improving social skills with adolescents with Autism. However, scholars have suggested that interventions should offer more focus on the core deficits unique to the specific population of students (Dawson, 2008; Lechago & Carr, 2008; Lord et al., 2005; National Autism Center [NAC], 2009; Rao, Beidel, & Murray, 2008; Stichter, Randolph, Gage, & Schmidt, 2007; White, Keonig, & Scahill, 2007).” From Christ, S. E., Stichter, J.P., O’Connor, K.V., Bodner, K., Moffitt, A.J., & Herzog, M.J., 2017. Stichter, et al, have demonstrated that the same SCI in-person approach has also shown the potential to also be effective in a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). (Wang, X., Laffey, J. Xing, W., Ma, Y., Galyen, K., Stichter., J.P. (2017); Laffey,J., Stichter, J.P., & Galyen, K. (2014); Stichter, J. P., Laffey, J., Galyen, K. & Herzog, M.J. (2014); Schmidt, M., Laffey, J., Schmidt, C., Wang, X., & Stichter, J.P. (2012); Schmidt, M., Laffey, J., Schmidt, C., Xianhui Wang, & Stichter, J.P. (2012); Laffey, J., Schmidt, M., Galyen, K., & Stichter, J.P. (2012). SCI was commercialized under the name iSocial. When Covid forced students to move to virtual learning the SCI clinical interventions were converted into an instructor led virtual format. Recent data from the instructor led virtual iSocial demonstrate equal ability to improve social skills in individuals with high functioning autism. A second version was developed for adults and the preliminary data is showing similar effects. This session will discuss the conceptual framework of this package of evidence based practices, share recordings of sessions with the participants, and review the results of the current studies. The model for helping to decrease the number of Neurodiverse adults who are unemployed or underemployed will be discussed.

Keywords:

Autism, Neurodiversity, Social Skills Interventions, Virtual Learning, Industry Partnerships.