Promote and increase social skills in a child with autism spectrum disorder through psycho-educational training on emotional skills

Abstract

Background: This study evaluates the effects of a psycho-educational intervention on the promotion and strengthening of emotional skills and investigates, through evidence-based procedures, the impact of these on the social skills of a school-age child (7 years old) with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Speaker-Listener level of verbal development. The initial evaluation highlighted the need to expand the child's emotional vocabulary by introducing new bodily and behavioral cues, as well as verbal expressions. It highlighted shortcomings in reporting episodes consistent with the described emotion, indicating difficulty attributing the emotional state to personal situations or others.
Methods: Using a single-subject experimental design with pre- and post-probes, the first dependent variable measured is the child's ability to correctly recognize the four basic emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, and anger) and attribute an interpretation to the behavior of others. The second dependent variable measured is social competence, assessed in two 15-minute sessions of symbolic play. The independent variable measured, instead, in this study is psycho-educational training offered to the student in a small group.
Results: The results indicate a general improvement in the skills taught; however, they do not currently enable us to assess the generalization of these behaviors in everyday life contexts.
Conclusions: Future studies could extend this research to different contexts and participants.