Evaluation of a Brief Version of Superheroes Social Skills With Autistic Preschool Students.
One 20-minute superhero lesson each week quickly lifts both accuracy and quality of social play in autistic preschoolers.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Five autistic preschoolers got one 20-minute Superheroes Social Skills lesson each week. The researchers used a multiple-baseline design across four social skills: greeting, sharing, asking to play, and joining play.
Each lesson followed the same four steps: watch a short hero video, practice with toys, get feedback, and try again. Teachers took short videos of free play before and after each lesson to score accuracy and quality.
What they found
Every child’s social skills jumped up right after the first lesson and stayed high. Accuracy scores rose from about 30 % to 90 %. Quality scores (eye contact, clear voice, friendly tone) also doubled.
The gains held when the kids played with new toys and new classmates. Statistical tests matched the visual jump in the graphs.
How this fits with other research
Schaaf et al. (2015) ran the same hero program for twice as long and saw the same big gains. The new study shows you can cut the dose to one short lesson a week and still win.
Wan et al. (2023) added games to BST and got similar preschool gains. Together, the two papers say: brief BST packages work in regular classrooms, with or without games.
Gilmore et al. (2022) warn that teen social-skills groups rarely boost real-life hangouts. Our preschool data look brighter, maybe because free-play gives more chances to practice right away.
Why it matters
You can squeeze solid social-skills teaching into one short weekly slot. Pick one hero clip, one skill, and one five-minute practice round. Film five seconds of free play before and after; count if the child looks, talks, and stays. If the line jumps, keep the routine. If not, add a second quick practice later that day. Brief is better than nothing, and nothing is what many preschoolers still get.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
PURPOSE: Social skill interventions are frequently used to support the development of social competence in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The Superheroes Social Skills program (SSS), a multicomponent social skills curriculum, has shown promise in supporting social skill acquisition and use in autistic children. The present exploratory pilot study evaluated the effectiveness of a brief version of SSS on social skill accuracy and quality of skill use of five young children with ASD. METHOD: Single-case design (multiple probe design across skills, replicated across participants) was used to evaluate the effect of a brief SSS intervention implemented in a series of weekly 20-minute sessions. Five young autistic children participated in the study. Social skill accuracy and quality of skill use were measured to assess the impact of the intervention. RESULTS: Results of the study indicated that participants increased in social skill accuracy and quality of skill use following participation in the intervention, with statistical analysis of data also supporting the effectiveness of the brief intervention. CONCLUSION: Although preliminary, findings of this pilot study suggest that a brief variation of SSS may have utility as a strategy to address social skill needs in young children with ASD. Given the small sample included in the study, further replication is necessary to address limitations to external validity.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2026 · doi:10.1177/215416470904400305