"I Met Someone Like Me!": Autistic Adolescents and Their Parents' Experience of the KONTAKT® Social Skills Group Training

Bahareh Afsharnejad; Marita Falkmer; Tanya Picen; Melissa H Black; Tasha Alach; Anna Fridell; Cristina Coco; Kelly Milne; Jill Perry; Sven Bölte; Sonya Girdler

doi:10.1007/s10803-021-05045-1

"I Met Someone Like Me!": Autistic Adolescents and Their Parents' Experience of the KONTAKT® Social Skills Group Training

J Autism Dev Disord. 2022 Apr;52(4):1458-1477. doi: 10.1007/s10803-021-05045-1. Epub 2021 May 3.

Authors

Bahareh Afsharnejad^{1

2}, Marita Falkmer^{1

2

3}, Tanya Picen^{1

2}, Melissa H Black^{1

2}, Tasha Alach⁴, Anna Fridell⁵, Cristina Coco⁵, Kelly Milne⁴, Jill Perry⁴, Sven Bölte^{1

2

5}, Sonya Girdler^{6

7

8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Curtin School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia.
² Curtin Autism Research Group (CARG), Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia.
³ CHILD, Swedish Institute for Disability Research, School of Education and Communication, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
⁴ Autism Association of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
⁵ Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research, Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet & Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁶ Curtin School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia. Sonya.girdler@curtin.edu.au.
⁷ Curtin Autism Research Group (CARG), Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia. Sonya.girdler@curtin.edu.au.
⁸ Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research, Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet & Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden. Sonya.girdler@curtin.edu.au.
⁹ School of Allied Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia. Sonya.girdler@curtin.edu.au.

PMID: 33942186
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-021-05045-1

Abstract

This study captured the experiences of 35 autistic adolescents and their parents after completing a 16-session variant of social skills group training KONTAKT® (ACTRN12617001117303). Semi-structured interviews explored participants' and relatives' perceptions of KONTAKT® and associated social outcomes. Adolescents were classified as either high (HR, n = 23) or low (LR, n = 12) responders based on the primary outcome effects during the previous trial. Thematic analysis revealed that both HR and LR participants their parents were satisfied with KONTAKT®, noting consistent patterns of improvement in adolescents' social understanding, communication, relationships, and empowerment, although positive reports were more frequent among HR than LR groups. This study enhances the understanding of the impact of SSGT, which is key in improving their content, principles, and administration.

Keywords: Adolescents; Autism; Intervention; Lived experience; Social skills; Thematic analysis.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Autism Spectrum Disorder*
Autistic Disorder* / therapy
Communication
Humans
Parents
Social Skills