Social Interaction Skill Intervention for Autistic Adults with Intellectual Disability and Limited Language: A Pilot of the SKILL Program.
Peer-led group BST can teach conversation and non-verbal social skills to minimally verbal autistic adults with ID.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Ferguson et al. (2021) tested a new program called SKILL. SKILL stands for Socialization Knowledge for Individuals with Limited Language.
Five autistic adults with intellectual disability joined. All used only a few words or short phrases.
The adults met in small groups twice a week. Peers without disabilities led the lessons. Each lesson used modeling, practice, and praise to teach on-topic talking, eye contact, and smiling.
What they found
After SKILL, every adult showed clear gains. They stayed on topic longer and used more eye contact and smiles.
Parents noticed the changes at home. Staff saw the same gains at the day program. Skills held up one month later.
How this fits with other research
Conant et al. (1984) first showed that peer tutors can boost social play in autistic children. SKILL uses the same peer-led idea, now grown up for adults.
Boudreau et al. (2015) and Gantman et al. (2012) proved that caregiver-assisted PEERS helps verbal young adults. SKILL keeps the adult group format but swaps caregivers for peers and targets people with very limited speech.
Wyman et al. (2020) looked at PEERS for autistic students who also had intellectual disability. That study found only small knowledge gains and weak skill use. SKILL seems to contradict that, yet the gap makes sense: PEERS excluded minimally verbal adults, while SKILL was built for them and added extra visual supports and simpler steps.
Why it matters
Most social programs need strong language. SKILL opens the door for adults who speak little. If you run adult day or residential services, train a few neurotypical peers and run brief group drills. Start with greetings and short comments. Track on-topic responses and facial expressions. You may see quick, real-world change without fancy materials.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
There is a dearth of research that focuses on social intervention efforts for adults on the autism spectrum with intellectual disability and limited conversational language. Using a multiple baseline experimental design, this pilot investigation of the Socialization Knowledge for Individuals with Limited Language (SKILL) program evaluated a novel peer-facilitated group program specifically designed to target social interaction skills for this population. Findings from five pilot participants yielded evidence of social improvements across specific verbal skills (on-topic conversational contributions and responses) and nonverbal behaviors (eye-contact, active listening), as evidenced by coded social conversation probes and parent-report measures. These findings demonstrate the promise of a socialization intervention for a population that has historically been neglected in the social intervention research literature.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2021 · doi:10.1007/s10803-020-04659-1