ABSTRACT
The intervention includes separate parent and teen sessions that meet at the same time for 90 minutes each week over a 14-week period. The group focuses on skills like having conversations; entering and exiting conversations; using electronic forms of communication; choosing appropriate friends; handling teasing, bullying, and other forms of social rejection; handling arguments and disagreements with friends; and having appropriate get-togethers with friends, including how to be a good host and a good sport. When the manual is used as described, in the middle of the intervention therapists will often hear parent reports such as, “My teen (with an autism spectrum disorder) no longer stays in his room when company comes, but comes out to interact more.” By the end of the intervention, many teens will be having regular get-togethers with a small group of peers. For more detailed accounts of typical treatment outcomes, see Chapter 17, “Case Examples.”
