SUMMARY
Social skills deficits are a hallmark characteristic of autism spectrum disorders. While applied behavior analysis practitioners’ efforts at remediating deficits have been highly successful in many realms of functioning, the impact on social deficits has been more modest. Social and affective deficits remain among the most formidable treatment challenges. Significant progress has been made in the development of methods to teach social skills and to build bridges between
individuals with autism and their peers. Adult-mediated and peermediated strategies have both been successful means of building social responsiveness. Strategies aimed at building skills in the child with autism have also been fruitful. Among the most interesting of these are classwide interventions for inclusive settings and the use of scripts for developing complex social interactions. Much work needs to be done in assessing the relevance of this knowledge base to adolescents and adults with autism.