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UCLA (CA Tarjan Center UCEDD) Autism Research Alliance: PEERS Virtual Social Coach Study

February 15, 2013

The Program for Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) is an evidence-based parent-assisted intervention for teens with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in middle school and high school who are having difficulty making and/or keeping friends. Classes focuses on skills like having conversations, joining conversations, choosing appropriate friends, having get-togethers with friends, handling arguments and peer conflict, and handling teasing and bullying.

In a new study conducted through the UCLA Tarjan Center UCEDD by Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson, Director of the UCLA PEERS Clinic and The Help Group - UCLA Autism Research Alliance, researchers are investigating the effectiveness of a virtual social coach mobile application for teens with ASD.  Parents and teens meet weekly in separate co-occurring groups for 90-minutes in the evening over a 14-week period. Parents are taught how to help their teens make and keep friends by acting as social coaches outside of the group. Teens are presented with social skills lessons and then practice the skills they just learned during socialization activities. Homework assignments are also given each week to make sure teens are practicing the skills they are learning. The study aims to test the effectiveness adding a mobile application used as a supplementary social coaching tool in conjunction with the 14-week PEERS® intervention. The PEERS® Virtual Social Coach mobile application consists of a menu of lesson plans based on the PEERS® curriculum with embedded video demonstrations of what the skills should or should not look like, providing step-by-step instruction and video modeling of the targeted social skills. As part of the study, teen participants will receive an iPod iTouch mobile device with the PEERS® Virtual Social Coach application to keep even when the study is over.

For more information on the Virtual Coach Study, please contact Dr. Laugeson at (310) 267-3377 or [email protected]. For more information on the PEERS Clinic, visit www.semel.ucla.edu/peers.