Effectiveness to teach body language skills program on social skills of autistic children with high performance

Disadvantages in social skills and, consequently, inability to create, the preservation and development of social relationships and interactions has been reported as a clear indication of Autistic children and are highly emphasized in diagnostic evaluations of these characteristics. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Teach Body Language Skills Program on Social Skills of Autistic Children with High Performance.

In this quasi-experimental study, 30 autistic children with high performance 7-12 years old in Semnan city, Iran were selected through convenience sampling method. Then, randomly, 15 of them were placed in the experimental group and the other 15 were placed in the control group.Experimental group participated in body language training in 8 sessions (week a meeting and each session is 45 min). The control group was given no training. The subjects completed Elliott & Gersham Social Skills Questionnaire (1990) prior and after the training and 3 month later in follow-up. ANOVA with repeated measure was used to analyze the data.

According to the results, the mean of social skills and its components (assertiveness, self-control, collaboration) in the experimental group in the post-test stage were increased compared to the control group (p<0.05) which remained stable three month after the end of training.

The results showed that body language training program is effective in increasing the performance and acquiring changes in the social skills of Autistic Children with High Performance. Therefore, parents and coaches of children with autism are advised, given their evolutionary level, they will benefit from body language training that improves autism studentschr('39') social adjustment and social skills.