Improving Social Skills for Children with High Functioning Autism (Research Frontiers: Understanding Science, Unlocking Potential‪)‬

If you've ever vacationed in a foreign country or have friends who have recently come to the United States, then you have probably noticed the importance of understanding social rules. In some nations, certain gestures can have a completely different meaning than they do in the United States and using the wrong ones, making physical contact, or even infringing on someone's personal space can result in an embarrassing, awkward, or even dangerous situation. For children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a group of developmental disorders which include autistic disorder, Asperger syndrome, and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), difficulties arising from the lack of understanding of social rules and cues are everyday occurrences. These can be especially troubling for affected children and adults who are "high functioning," a group that has grown dramatically in size in recent years and represents at least 40 percent of all children with an ASD. Because people within this group do not have substantial impairments in their overall cognitive functioning and have relatively good language skills, their peers, teachers, and even their parents can find it very hard to appreciate the seriousness of their disability. These children typically receive a diagnosis of either high functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger syndrome (AS), but despite the criteria indicated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition Text Revision (DSM-IV TR) for telling one from the other (e.g., early language delay only with HFA), respected clinicians have pointed out that the distinction can be hard to draw in practice. Therefore, many people have been focusing more on the similarities between these groups, especially since research has suggested that similar interventions are helpful for both groups of children.