A Pilot Study on the FEST program - Friendship and Emotional Skills Training for Children on the Autism Spectrum.
A 9-week child-only social skills class gives small but lasting gains for 10-12-year-old autistic students.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers tested a new 9-session group program called FEST. It teaches friendship and emotional skills to autistic children aged 10-12.
Kids met in small groups once a week. They practiced greetings, joining games, and reading feelings. Parents did not attend.
The team used a randomized design. Half the children started FEST right away. The other half waited. Then they switched.
What they found
After FEST, parents and children both said social skills got better. The gains were small but real.
Three months later the skills were still there. Repetitive behaviors also dropped a little. The wait-list group showed no change until they got the program.
How this fits with other research
FEST builds on two earlier programs. Wuang et al. (2012) ran a similar class for younger kids aged 5-8. Poppes et al. (2010) tried it with middle-schoolers. Both saw parent-reported gains, but they had no control group. FEST adds a randomized design and shows the idea still works for the 10-12 band.
Johnson et al. (2009) did add a control group, yet they also added parent coaching for teens. Their teens made bigger gains. FEST kept the control but dropped the parent part. The smaller effects here hint that leaving parents out may blunt the punch.
Tse et al. (2007) ran a 12-week program for older teens and saw medium-sized gains. FEST produced only small gains in a shorter 9-week span. The pattern suggests we may need either more sessions or parent help to reach the same level.
Why it matters
You now have a short manual you can drop into any elementary school. Nine sessions fit one quarter. Kids practice real peer moves like asking to join four-square. The skills stick for at least three months. If you want bigger change, think about looping parents in or adding booster sessions.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
PURPOSE: Social skills difficulties among children on the autism spectrum can impede social, emotional, and academic development, especially with increasing age and social demands. This pilot study examined the efficacy of a 5-week skill-building program for children on the autism spectrum. Although effective social skills programs are available for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), very few programs are explicitly intended for 10-12-year-old children. METHODS: This pilot study examined the efficacy of the 9-session Friendship and Emotional Skills Training (FEST Program) for children with ASD without intellectual disability. Participants were 22 children randomly assigned to the FEST Program or a delayed intervention control group. Eleven children (boys = 8; girls = 3) received the FEST Program in two separate groups, and 11 were wait-listed for a delayed intervention. Parents, teachers, and the children answered questionnaires at baseline, post-intervention, and a 3-month follow-up. RESULTS: Upon completing the FEST Program (post-intervention), parents reported an increase in overall social skills (on the Social Skills Rating System - SSRS) and a reduction on the Autistic Mannerisms factor (on the Social Responsiveness Scale - SRS) compared to the control group. These changes were also maintained at the 3-month follow-up. The children's assessment also showed a significant increase in assertion (on the SSRS) post-intervention. Teachers also reported a significant reduction on the Autistic Mannerisms factor at the 3-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that the FEST Program shows some promising results as one possibility for supporting children with ASD and their families in everyday life.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1007/s10803-009-0791-7