Socio-dramatic affective-relational intervention for adolescents with asperger syndrome & high functioning autism: pilot study.
Six weeks of drama games can boost social skills in teens with Asperger or HFA.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers ran a six-week summer drama program called SDARI.
It served 13 teens with Asperger or high-functioning autism.
Kids acted out scenes, practiced emotions, and played social games.
They compared these teens to 13 matched peers who got no program.
Staff tracked social skills before, after, and six weeks later.
What they found
The drama kids scored higher on social tests right after camp.
Those gains held up six weeks later.
The no-treatment group stayed the same.
Parents and staff both noticed the teens were more social.
How this fits with other research
Płatos et al. (2022) later ran a larger, stronger study.
Their Polish PEERS program gave bigger gains that lasted six months.
This newer RCT now sets the gold standard, but SDARI still matters.
W Vernon et al. (2018) used similar drama-style games in the 20-week START program.
START’s RCT backs up SDARI’s direction, showing drama works.
Johnson et al. (2009) tested parent-coached social skills for the same age group.
Their earlier RCT laid groundwork that SDARI built on with group drama.
Wuang et al. (2012) moved the idea down to elementary kids with SCI-E.
They kept the group format but added theory-of-mind lessons.
Why it matters
You can borrow SDARI’s drama games for quick summer or after-school groups.
Use them when you lack time or staff for full PEERS.
Keep sessions active, role-play heavy, and fun.
Track social skills with simple checklists to show parents real change.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study examined the effectiveness of a novel intervention called 'socio-dramatic affective-relational intervention' (SDARI), intended to improve social skills among adolescents with Asperger syndrome and high functioning autism diagnoses. SDARI adapts dramatic training activities to focus on in vivo practice of areas of social skill deficit among this population. SDARI was administered as a six-week summer program in a community human service agency. Nine SDARI participants and eight age- and diagnosis-group matched adolescents not receiving SDARI were compared on child- and parent-report of social functioning at three week intervals beginning six weeks prior to intervention and ending six weeks post-intervention. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to estimate growth trends between groups to assess treatment outcomes and post-treatment maintenance. Results indicated significant improvement and post-treatment maintenance among SDARI participants on several measures of child social functioning. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2011 · doi:10.1177/1362361309353613