Daily Living Skills Intervention for 9th and 10th Graders With Autism Spectrum Disorders

The Surviving and Thriving in the Real World intervention consists of 14 weekly concurrent adolescent and parent group sessions. The daily living skills to be targeted in the intervention include: Morning Routine (i.e., completing a morning personal hygiene routine); Laundry (i.e., sorting clothing, using a washing machine and dryer, and folding and putting clothes away); Kitchen/Cooking (i.e., cooking items in the microwave, oven, and stove, safe kitchen practices, cleaning up the kitchen after cooking, and grocery shopping); Self-Management (i.e., managing worry and stress related to learning daily living skills and transitioning to adulthood); and Money Management (i.e., using money to purchase items, evaluating the quality and price of items, understanding and using a checking and savings account, and budgeting money to cover expenses).

Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills is an evidence-based social skills training program for youth with social challenges between the ages of 13-18.The program includes a teen group and a parent group that meet concurrently. Teens learn about conversations, electronic communication, joining groups, humor, handling teasing and disagreements, and planning a get-together with other teens. Parents learn how to coach their teens to continue to use the skills when the program is complete.