Abstract
Social skills refer to the behaviors that allow an individual to interact with others in a mutually reinforcing way and to adapt those behaviors to different situations (Schopler and Mesibov in Social behavior in autism. New York: Plenum Press, 1986). Individuals with autism often display profound deficits in social behavior (e.g., Kanner in Nervous Child 2:217–250, 1943; Rimland in Infantile autism. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1964; Rutter in J Autism and Childhood Schizophr 8:139–161, 1978), and one of the defining characteristics of this disorder is an unwillingness or inability to engage in social interactions (American Psychiatric Association in Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed, text revision). Washington, DC: Author, 2000). Researchers and practitioners have developed numerous interventions designed to address these deficits. The present chapter reviews social skills deficits commonly demonstrated by children with autism, the importance of improving the social skills of children with autism, and interventions that are commonly used to improve the social skills of children with autism.
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Erickson Tomaino, M., Miltenberger, C., Charlop, M. (2014). Social Skills and Play in Children with Autism. In: Tarbox, J., Dixon, D., Sturmey, P., Matson, J. (eds) Handbook of Early Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Autism and Child Psychopathology Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0401-3_17
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