Progress for remediating and expanding social skills (PROGress)

Abstract

Social interactions form the building blocks for much of human development. Children learn from other people and through play with peers. Their ideas, skills, and interests are shaped by these exchanges. For persons with autism spectrum disorders, interactions and friendships may be no less valuable, but they are far more difficult to establish. The ability to connect with others, participate in exchanges, learn from interactions, and enjoy relationships with others is impaired (American Psychiatric Association in Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV-TR, 2000; Bauminger and Kasari in Child Dev 71(2):447-456, 2000; Bauminger and Shulman in Autism 7:81-97, 2003; Daniel and Billingsley in Focus Autism Other Dev Disabl 25(4):220-229, 2010; Locke et al. in J Res Spec Educ Needs 10(2):74-81, 2010).