A Preliminary Study on Social Validity and Assent in a Small Social Skills Group of Children with an DSA Disorder
Alessia Veltri, Elena Clò
Behavioural interventions in autism spectrum disorders highlight the importance of evidence-based practice. However, social validity and applicability in clinical practice and in community contexts are still a challenge. Contemporary reflections on social validity, consent and assent to intervention (Morris, Detrick & Peterson, 2021) underline the need to integrate acceptability and feasibility aspects into evidence-based practice. The present preliminary study was conducted in a small social skills group based on “The Autism Partnership Method” (Leaf et al., 2020) The study’s aim is twofold: detail a social skills clinical application with ASD children and evaluate its social validity in teachers’, parents’ and participants’ experiences. Teachers and families rated the social skills group as highly acceptable and feasible. Furthermore, the measurement of student participation is proposed as an indicator of assent, making it possible to monitor assent in clinical practice, regardless of participants’ verbal skills.
Keywords
Autism, Assent, Social skills, Social validity, Behavior analysis, Autism Partenership Method.
