Background: This study evaluates the effectiveness of parent-assisted children’s friendship training intervention for enhancing friendship quality and social skills among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We conducted a quasi-experimental study to investigate the effective outcomes of social skills and friendship quality in the pre-and post-parent-assisted CFT intervention phases; Methods: to conduct a 12-week field session, 30 children with their parents were selected. The Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scales and the Quality of Play Questionnaire-Parent were used to assess the effectiveness of the parent-assisted children’s friendship training during pre-and post-intervention. A semi-structured interview with parents was conducted at the end of the session; Results: findings revealed that intervention improved the social skills of these children. Additionally, the friendship quality of children with ASD improved before and after the intervention, however, engagement remained unchanged. Parents also showed some sort of improvement after the session as they reported a heightened sense of fear and resistance, awareness, learning and adjustment, change is not easy, and identifying support; Conclusions: there was clear evidence that children with ASD benefitted from parent-assisted CFTs in terms of social skills and friendship quality. However, larger and controlled studies are required to draw firm conclusions about this kind of intervention.
Among the challenges faced by children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) involves developing social skills and building quality friendship through social activities, interactions and playing games. The purpose of this study was to find out the effect of Children's Friendship Training (CFT) on social skills among children with ASD. Utilising the quasi-experimental design of one-group-pretest-posttest study, this research was conducted on 40 children aged 7 to 12 years in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. The intervention lasted for 12 weeks and involved both the children with ASD and their parents. Data was collected twice for pretest and post-test scores using two sets of questionnaires, Social Skills Rating Scale (SSRS) and Quality of Play Questionnaire (QPQ). Descriptive and inferential statistical tools were used to analyse the data. The findings indicated that there were significant increase in the social skills of children with ASD after the intervention, based on both the teachers' (t(30) = -6.298, p = .000) and parents', (t(30) = -8.266, p = .000) evaluations. All the three subscales of Quality of Play also showed significant differences after the intervention, with significant decrease in conflict, (t(30) = 3.949, p = .000) and disengagement (M = 5.52, SD = 1.93), (t(30) = 3.474, p = .002), and significant increase in engagement, (t(30) = -4.892, p = .000). In conclusion, CFT effects were significant in enhancing social skills and quality of play among children with ASD. As social skills are very much related to social acceptance and ultimately self-concept and self-esteem, the potentials of CFT in overcoming social skill issues among children with or without learning disabilities should be explored further.
Background: Children’s Friendship Training (CFT) is a parent-assisted intervention programme that introduces children to basic sets of social rules to help them understand social contexts with specific guidance from their parents. It has been reported in several empirical studies that the friendship skills of children with autism spectrum disorder were enhanced after participating in CFT. However, previous studies only focused on the effectiveness of the training without exploring it from the parent’s perspective. As such, the objective of this study is to highlight the parents’ experience in assisting in the implementation of CFT. Purpose: To explore the parents’ experiences with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in CFT and examine the experiences using the CFT as a theoretical framework. Methodology: In this study, eight parents and their school-aged children with ASD participated in 12 CFT sessions. Upon completing the CFT, the parents participated in a focus group interview. The interview session was video recorded and transcribed with the parents’ consent. Thematic analysis was employed in analysing the collected data as outlined in six different phases. Results: The generated data revealed the similarities and differences in parents’ experiences in the CFT. The current study has identified four main themes: (1) fear and resistance; (2) awareness, learning, and adjustment; (3) change is hard; and (4) identifying support. Conclusions: The findings highlighted the processes that these parents experienced and encountered while attending the CFT programme, it is important to consider these processes based on how they might impact the effectiveness of the programme. The programme’s effectiveness is reliant on the ability to work closely with parents to understand their challenges and explore the type of support they need. This study has analysed the crucial factors that provide an overview of parents’ encounters in their participation in CFT.
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