Young adults with autism face significant challenges as they transition to the social and organizational demands of life after high school. Simultaneously, most individuals experience a decrease in available support services due to aging out of available special education programs. Targeted, comprehensive social programming is required to optimize the short and long-term outcomes of these individuals as they pursue higher education, more complex and intimate relationships, and a viable career path. The proposed research project, the Social Tools And Rules for Transitions (START) program, is intended to evaluate a newly developed social curriculum for simultaneously targeting the functional, conceptual, and motivational components associated with social competence. Using a randomized waitlist-controlled trial design, 42 young adults with autism will participate in the 20-week program. The intervention model incorporates a novel package of socialization strategies, including same-age peer facilitators, didactic (discussion) and experiential (social immersion) components, individualized and group social targets, regular planned social outings, and serial assessment of interpersonal functioning. It is anticipated that participants will experience dramatic, rapid gains to global social competence and their associated quality of life. These anticipated gains are likely to have a profound effect on social, emotional, and vocational outcomes.
Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC)
Autism Research Database (AFD)
