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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2012

Abstract

This study evaluated the social skills of adolescents with high-functioning autism (HFA), Asperger's syndrome (AS), and neurotypical development (NT). Currently, it is unknown whether there are significant differences in the social skills of individuals in these three groups, especially in the adolescent population. This study employed a group comparative design with 5-10 subjects in each respective group. The Social Language Development Test-Adolescent (SLDT-A) yielded standard scores for quantitative analysis that were analyzed using appropriate inferential statistics.

This study found that adolescents with AS performed somewhat better on a standardized measure of social skills than those with HFA. As predicted, neither group with autism spectrum disorders performed as well as subjects with NT development. Therefore, the social skills of adolescents with AS and those with HFA are impaired and in need of remediation. No one area of social skill development was more impaired than another. The results of this project will contribute to our understanding of social skills and behavior of individuals with autism spectrum disorders, and how best to evaluate the social aspect of HFA and AS.

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