A systematic review of school-based social skills interventions and observed social outcomes for students with autism spectrum disorder in inclusive settings.
Every inclusive classroom social-skills program in the review helped students with autism when peers were part of the plan.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team hunted for every paper that tested social-skills lessons for students with autism inside regular classrooms. They kept 18 studies published between 2002 and 2020.
Each study had to take place at school and include typical classmates. The lessons ranged from peer buddies to video modeling to full group-training packages.
What they found
All 18 papers reported gains. Kids with autism asked more questions, shared toys, or stayed in games longer when peers joined the teaching.
The gains showed up right after the lessons and again at follow-up in most cases. No study reported zero benefit.
How this fits with other research
Dudley et al. (2019) warned that most social-communication programs are run by researchers, not teachers. Menezes et al. (2021) found the same pattern: only a handful of studies handed the program to classroom staff.
Lopata et al. (2025) tracked kids for up to four years and saw the gains stick. Their long view supports the short-term wins Michelle summarized.
Gilmore et al. (2022) focused on teens in pull-out groups and still saw moderate gains. Michelle’s wider age range shows the benefit starts early and holds across grades.
Why it matters
You no longer need to wonder if inclusive social-skills lessons work. The answer is yes, but someone has to run them. Start small: pick one peer-mediated tactic from the review, train two typical classmates, and measure one social behavior for one student with autism during recess or group work. Collect data for two weeks; if the line goes up, you have proof the setting can do the heavy lifting.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Most social skills interventions for students with autism spectrum disorder have been conducted in clinic-based settings. While students with autism spectrum disorder are able to acquire new skills, the generalization of these skills to authentic social environments, like school, is more difficult. To address this issue, there is an increase in research examining the implementation of social skills interventions for students with autism spectrum disorder who are educated in inclusive school settings. This review included 18 research studies that focused on school-based social interventions for students with autism spectrum disorder who were educated in inclusive school settings. Typically developing peers also participated in the interventions to varying degrees. Secondary aims explored naturalistic observation instruments and subsequent social outcomes used to record the social behaviors of students with autism spectrum disorder at school. Social intervention components varied across studies, but all studies reported improvement in the targeted social behaviors of students with autism spectrum disorder. There were many similarities in the ways in which researchers measured and defined social outcomes. Observation protocols were able to measure change in the social behaviors of students with autism spectrum disorder across a wide age range. The recognition of evidence-based practices used in school-based social skills interventions, as well as the identification of observation protocols and salient social outcomes, provides a starting point for school practitioners to consider as they move to implement social skills interventions for students with autism spectrum disorder into inclusive school settings.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2021 · doi:10.1177/13623613211012886