The Outcome of a Social Cognitive Training for Mainstream Adolescents with Social Communication Deficits in a Chinese Community

Abstract

The use of cognitive-based strategies for improving social communication behaviours for individuals who have solid language and cognition is an important question. This study investigated the outcome of teaching Social Thinking^®, a framework based in social-cognition, to Chinese adolescents with social communication deficits. Thirty-nine students (33 with Autism Spectrum Disorders and six without), ranging in age from 12 to 15 years with social communication deficits, participated in a 12-week intervention. Students’ pre- and post-intervention social behaviours were measured by six aspects of the Social Thinking-ILAUGH Scale involving 115 familiar raters. Students showed significant improvement in all the six subscales of the Social Thinking-ILAUGH except humour after training. Agreements on ratings among parents and school personnel were satisfactory. A framework based in social cognitive strategies, with appropriate linguistic and cultural adaptations, appears to be a promising tool for Chinese adolescents with social learning issues. Social behaviours improved across school and home settings as noted by groups of raters familiar with the students.

Keywords:

• adolescents
• autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
• asperger
• inclusive education
• intervention
• social cognitive training
• social communication
• social thinking

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to our research project consultant Ms Michelle Garcia Winner as well as all the participating schools, professionals, parents, and students. The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of May Chan, Lisa Cheng, Penita Cheung, Fanny Hung, Kwok Siu Ling, Tammy Lau, Luke Kit Ling, and Ivy Wong in planning and implementing the training sessions. We also thank Joffee Lam, Kit Chan and Kristy Chung for their statistical analysis of the data.

Disclosure statement

Dr Crooke serves as the Chief Officer of Research for Social Thinking, and therefore receives a salary as part of this role. No other financial benefits or compensation relate to her position.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Quality of Education Fund, Hong Kong SAR [project number 2006/0019].