Comprehensive intervention for highfunctioning autism spectrum disorders: An in-depth case study

Students with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs) are characterized by significant deficits in social interaction, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities which substantially restrict development of age-appropriate social relationships. These students are of particular interest as their numbers are increasing, along with the need for educators and school personnel to provide effective social and behavioral interventions. Although research on interventions for students with HFASDs is limited, recent reviews suggest that several strategies are promising for this population. One intervention shown to be effective was developed by Lopata and colleagues (2006, 2008). Data has supported the effectiveness of their comprehensive social intervention across a range of social and behavioral measures for elementary students with HFASDs. While group data has supported the social intervention, no case-level descriptions have been provided. This chapter provides an overview of HFASDs and the comprehensive social intervention, followed by an in-depth examination of its effectiveness with an elementary student with Asperger's Disorder. The 9-year-old male received intensive instruction in social skills, face-emotion recognition, interpretation of non-literal language, and interest expansion. Instructional elements included direct instruction, modeling, role-playing, performance feedback, and transfer of learning. Behavioral observations were conducted 4 days per week over the 6-week intervention using 5 operationally defined social and problem behaviors. Outcome data indicated an increase in on-task participation in social activities and a decrease in both whining, and verbal aggression and verbal defiance. These findings were supported by staff ratings (BASC-2) indicating increased social skills, and decreased withdrawal, atypical behaviors, and overall problem behaviors. No conclusive trend was apparent in conversational behaviors.