Improving the Social Skills of Children with HFASD: An Intervention Study.

Waugh et al. (2015) tested a short story-based program called S.S.ToM. It teaches kids with high-functioning autism how peers think and how to make friends.

Kids met in small groups. They used picture stories, role-play, and games. The study used coin-flip randomization to pick who got the lessons first.

The S.S.ToM group gained more Theory-of-Mind and social responsiveness than the wait-list group. The gains stayed three months later.

Parents and teachers noticed the kids were better at reading others and joining play.

Begeer et al. (2015) ran a similar RCT the same year. They taught only ToM tricks like false-belief tasks. Kids passed tests but did not use the skills at recess.

Peters et al. (2018) later reviewed many studies. They concluded that ToM lessons must be bundled with real social-skills practice. The S.S.ToM package already did this in 2015, so the review backs its approach.

Frazier et al. (2023) extended the idea to teens. They blended ToM and social coaching and saw big gains, showing the combo keeps working as kids age.

If you run social groups, pair mind-reading lessons with live friendship practice. Use short visual stories, then have kids try the skill on peers right away. Skip stand-alone false-belief drills—they rarely travel beyond the table.