Parent-assisted Friendship Intervention for Improving Play and Social Skills in Pakistani School Children with Autism: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Abstract

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are mostly excluded from mainstream classrooms in Pakistan due to difficulties in their social skills to keep up with the class. The purpose of the current pilot study was to test run the Children’s Friendship Training program for children with ASD. The sample consisted of the parents and their children with ASD, ages ranging from 7 to 12 years, studying in inclusive schools in Pakistan. The training program focused on teaching social skills to children with ASD through parent assistance. Participants were assigned to treatment or control groups through randomization process. A pre–post testing was done with a treatment group (n = 6) and a control group (n = 4). Data were collected on the Social Skills Improvement System and Quality of Play Questionnaire. The results of this pilot study suggest that the intervention can be successfully implemented on a small scale. The next step would be to expand the intervention to a larger population and evaluate its effectiveness in the broader context.